DaimlerChrysler and UNESCO Encourage Cross-Cultural Learning and Understanding With the Launch of Mondialogo

- Students invited to participate in global interactive contests to expand cultural awareness and understanding - Cash prizes up to $20,000 will be awarded to winning entries

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Dec. 17 -- DaimlerChrysler and the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) have launched the "Mondialogo School Contest" and "Mondialogo Engineering Award" to promote cultural understanding, respect and tolerance. The contest and award are the two main pillars of a partnership known as "Mondialogo."

"In a global economy, projects like Mondialogo offer the opportunity to create dialogue between students, countries, cultures and communities," said Frank Fountain, Chrysler Group Senior Vice President-Government Affairs and President-DaimlerChrysler Corporation Fund. "Through Mondialogo, students will share their experiences and exchange their views; and as an added bonus, establish a new, international network of friends, while enhancing the prospects for world peace."

Mondialogo will utilize technology to facilitate both contests. A special internet portal has been established, www.mondialogo.org , to provide information and to accept applications. Participants will be encouraged to use the portal to communicate with each other and to complete their projects during the contest period. Also, the site will contain information to help students understand and appreciate cultural differences.

"By encouraging young people to interact with their peers from other parts of the world, Mondialogo will help them to know and understand each other better," said Koichiro Matsuura, UNESCO Director-General. "By working and solving problems together, young people can set an example for everyone to follow."

Mondialogo School Contest

The "Mondialogo School Contest" targets the 4,000 secondary schools that are members of UNESCO's Associated Schools Project Network (ASPNet), as well as interested secondary schools from throughout the world. Each participating school will be partnered with a school located in another country to work on a specific project.

All forms of expression and media will be permitted. The teams may develop a game, compose music, paint pictures, record a video, create a photographic documentary or collage, publish a newsletter or newspaper, write a story, play or poem, design an article of clothing or jewelry or create an internet page. The application deadline is January 15, 2004, and all entries must be submitted by June 30, 2004.

An international jury will review the entries and select the top 25 teams. Two delegates from each team will be invited, along with a supervising teacher, to participate in the International Mondialogo Symposium in Barcelona, Spain, in September 2004. Additionally, the top three entries will receive cash awards of $1,500, $1,000, and $500, respectively.

Mondialogo Engineering Award

The "Mondialogo Engineering Award" encourages university students from throughout the world to create sustainable development projects focused on the following themes: water supply, food production and processing, housing and shelter, sanitation and waste management, medicine and health care, energy development, transportation and mobility, communication, industry and manufacturing, development of natural resources, emergency and disaster response and reconstruction.

The deadline to register for the Mondialogo Engineering Award is February 28, 2004. As with the Mondialogo School Project, each participating college or university will be partnered with a higher education institution located in another country. In March 2005, an international jury will select the top 20 entries. Each will receive cash awards of $15,000.

Interested participants can register for the Mondialogo School Contest and the Mondialogo Engineering Award at www.mondialogo.org .

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