Global initiative to foster creativity and innovation
On November 16th, BE OPEN will host a session at the Impact Studio in the Green Zone of COP29 in Baku. Starting from 1.30 pm we will be talking about our competition programme in support of the UN SGDs and share our experience of evaluating and awarding the best design ideas from young people around the world.
Designing Futures 2050 is the 6th international competition held by philanthropic educational initiative BE OPEN and partners. It is open to students, graduates and young professionals. The competition aims to encourage creation of innovative solutions by younger creatives, for a more prosperous and sustainable future, and the focus of the competition is the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Programme.
BE OPEN Art continues with a competition for emerging artists, aimed to support those whose art best represents their regional, cultural and ethnic identities – BE OPEN Regional Art.
Throughout 2024, BE OPEN expert community continues selecting artists to feature them in the BE OPEN Art gallery and offer greater visibility. The third stage of the second year of the programme run covered the countries of Central America: Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama.
The fourth stage of the second year of the BE OPEN Regional Art ccompetition programme run will cover the countries of Southern Africa: Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
BE OPEN contributed to the 2024 UNECE Forum programme by organising a lecture on the future of education by a world-renown futurist Gerd Leonhard, which was attended by 300 participants from all over the world: young sustainability leaders, entrepreneurs, educators and activists, as well as policymakers, and representatives from NGOs and businesses interested in fostering youth engagement in sustainability solutions.
The UNECE ESD Forum and the MED9 Forum issued the Youth Statement, which captures the key contributions and perspectives of the young delegates, whose presence and active engagement were crucial during the special sessions. Their insights and energy provided a unique and vital perspective to the discussions, highlighting the importance of youth involvement in shaping a sustainable future..
The outcomes of these forums will play a significant role in shaping the discussions at the Summit of the Future, ensuring that the voices and ideas shared will have a lasting impact.
BE OPEN Art completed the second stage of the competition for emerging artists, aimed to support those whose art best represents their regional, cultural and ethnic identities – BE OPEN Regional Art.
Every month of the 2nd quarter of 2024, works by 20 emerging artists from the countries of Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen were posted at the online gallery for the public to select the Regional Artist of the Month.
BE OPEN Art continues to run BE OPEN Regional Art, the regional competition for emerging artists aimed to support those whose art best represents their regional, cultural and ethnic identities. Throughout 2024, BE OPEN expert community will continue selecting those artists who best represent the artistic tradition of a certain region to feature in the BE OPEN Art gallery and offer them greater visibility.
On June 27 and 28, BE OPEN Foundation took part in the panel sessions of the MED9 Ministerial Summit for Education for Sustainable Development and the UNECE Forum on ESD: Empowering Youth for Sustainable Futures, two of the most important education and sustainability focused events in the global agenda.
The competition awards two prizes outside the main three: the Public Vote prize, allocated as a result of an open online vote, and the Founder’s Choice prize awarded by the Founder of BE OPEN Elena Baturina, international philanthropist and businessperson.
