Joseph Wilhelm
Greeting 2010
Thank you for your interest in our topic of a fair and sustainable globalization and our “One World Award”.
Let me briefly explain to you the idea of the “One World Award“. Although it has already been three years that we established the concept and two years that we celebrated the first price award ceremony on the occasion of the international IFOAM Conference in Modena/Italy, the concept of the OWA still remains more than relevant. In fact, today the results of a false and misapplied globalization understanding can be seen everywhere on the globe.
Globalization does not mean prosperity and affluence on one side of the globe (mostly the Northern hemisphere) and poverty and hopelessness on the other side. This is the linear consequence of centuries of colonization. On the contrary, humane and sustainable globalization means balancing and sharing available resources in all respects, may they be material or economic, spiritual or social.
Prosperity and well-being cannot be permanent and sustainable if they are achieved at the expense of others. Definitely and ultimately, we all sit in “the same boat”! In order to promote a turnaround in the awareness and the underlying school of thought, we initiated the “One World Award” that honors individuals and/or institutions for their courageous, self-responsible actions. This award shall encourage to take action and not to fall into passiveness and despondence in the face of global challenges and problems whose complexity often appear to be overwhelming at first.
For the second OWA nomination, we received 29 high-quality applications from Peru to Laos. Each of these applications would have deserved to be a winner. I would like to thank the nominees, also on behalf of the jury, for the applications and the effort associated with the application process. Unfortunately, our means are not sufficient to reward and support each one of them.
The jury I would like to thank for the inspiring cooperation and for making difficult decisions. It was fun working with you! Thanks a lot to our patron IFOAM and especially to IFOAM Director Markus Arbenz and IFOAM Vice President and new jury member Roberto Ugas/Peru who actively participated in the decision-making process. Congratulations to the winners and finalists who are presented on the following pages! May their achievements and projects encourage many people and initiatives in their efforts for a just and liveable future and fair globalization.
Joseph Wilhelm
Initiator of the One World Award
Founder and Managing Director Rapunzel Naturkost
