“We believe that with better food for their families and reliable income from their businesses, farmers can build for the future.”

With this maxim, the Hope Development Initiative is working to give poor, rural women farmers access to tools, capital and education. They are provided with opportunities to better processing of the harvested food, as well as with access to local and national markets. In all that, the Initiative strives for the communities of farmers to follow their own values and ambitions, and to realize their full potential. The communities are considered to be the hub and the core of strength and solidarity within society, representing an integral part of daily life.

Dr. Agnes Atim Apea, the founder and CEO of the HDI recognizes that strengthening the leadership of women in these communities is an important contribution towards sustainable future development. It is only through good leadership that a community can cooperate towards actual improvement of living standards and a better life for the coming generations. In northern Uganda, an area with little development and attraction for investors, leadership out of and for the sake of the community is a key factor in this endeavor. With her Initiative, Dr. Apea strives to educate leaders from the community to embody this kind of leadership.

Yo-Yo Ma initiated the Silkroad Project in 1998. Ma is a Chinese-American cellist, composer and Harvard as well as Juilliard graduate, initiated. His project received both its name and inspiration from the historical Silk Road where people of diverse backgrounds came into interaction.

In 2000, the project created the Silk Road Ensemble – a musical collective consisting of around sixty artists bringing together music and instruments from different regions of the historical Silk Road. Their phenomenal performances which create an entirely new sound encourage the audience to think about the way humans and cultures can interact and what enormous creative potential can emerge thereby. The performances are online via their YouTube channel.

From the promotion of multicultural exchange between artists from all over the world as initial aim of Silkroad, the project developed into being active in more fields.

Silkroad engages in education, learning about culture and the corresponding artists performing. The educational programs conduCted by Silkroad focus on passion-driven learning channelLed through arts integration.

»One of the ways I think of Silkroad is that it’s a lab where openness is absolutely fundamental. You can actually go from one world to another and then create something that values the differences as well as celebreates commonalities.« Yo-Yo Ma

The third and newest part of Silkroad is the topic of Cultural Entrepreneurship. This project tackles the question of how to keep the art makers in the center of the society and, therefore, tries to bring artists and entrepreneurship together. Silkroad and Ma believe that artists and entrepreneurs are important scouts because they are forerunners and sensitive to changing conditions – and for that reason unlocking a powerful impact in our communities.

The Silkroad project has over time been always on the move! And we are sure they will keep going.

To successfully tackle the world’s enormous challenges as fighting climate change, creating social justice, or solving integration problems, people who engage in public leadership are needed.

The aim of the Berlin-based center LEAD is to support those who take responsibility in civil society on all levels in Germany and worldwide.

To do so, the Mercator Capacity Building Center for Leadership and Advocacy is pursuing three goals:

• Enabling relevant actors to take leadership responsibility and advocacy with an innovative curriculum
• Conducting research in collaboration with leading research institutes and unversities on leadership and advocacy focusing on socio-political issues
• Enhancing a global discourse and creating a network to bring relevant leaders and stakeholders together

Throughout the curriculum, four core competences for multisectoral leadership are provided. The competence of reflection, of strategy, of communication and advocacy, and – most relevant to the Transcultural Caravan – the multistakeholder competence.

The multistakeholder competence consists of various interpersonal competences:

1. to be emphathetic, to listen, to respect
2. to reflect one’s own values and to integrate divergent values
3. to be able to collectively purse the own and the others’ interest in cooperation

»The welt_raum initiative enables refugees and citizens to meet, share with, and learn from each other by creating spaces defined through mutual appreciation and respect. welt_raum aims at generating spaces in which commonalities can be found and differences overcome. To make this possible, welt_raum generates space. Space to commonly learn togetherness«

According to the founders, the welt_raum initiative does not stigmatize refugees as victims. Rather it generates societal value through viewing them as a regular group of society which can successfully contribute to our world in a mutually enriching way. These ways are based on two pillars: creating new spaces and opening already existing ones.

welt_raum acknowledges differences but focuses on commonalities. The founders believe that human experiences across borders can lead to a transcultural identity that is necessary in a globalized world.

»A main objective of our initiative is to avoid excluding effects, also between refugees, and foster community spirit. welt_raum spaces are open to everyone and we welcome participants from all parts of society. As such our projects are not aimed at specific groups or individuals«

The initiative was founded in 2014 by students. However, the initiative sees itself not as a student initiative and rather as an initiative by active and responsible citizens. An inspiring project of welt_raum is the »Learning Community«: welt_raum – in cooperation with the artsprogram of the Zeppelin University – transforms the new exhibition space of Zeppelin University, the White Box, into an artistic space of mutual encounters towards a sustainable future. They enable artistic workshops, weekly meetings and a variety of events to learn community together – with refugees, students and neighbors.

In Berlin religious communities from Judaism, Christianity, and Islam collaborate to build one house for all three religions. The House of One will contain a synagogue, a church, a mosque, and – most importantly – in its center a place where all religions can come together and merge.

»At the oldest location in Berlin, where its first church was built, we want to look towards the future«

The House of One will be located where Berlins first Church was built, at Petriplatz. It is supposed to become a house of prayer and learning. The three religions will each observe their own traditions, and will use these as a starting point for seeking out dialogue with each other and with those from outside the three faiths. Science, culture, and art will also play a role in these exchanges, as will socially controversial issues. The debates will not gloss over or bemoan the differences and contradictions that exist between and within the various groups. Rather, they will see them for what they are: assets that can enrich all those who are willing to engage with them.

»The three religions have travelled different routes, but actually they have the same goals«

Preliminary a charter was set up which regulates peaceful relations between the religions. In this charter shared values are being defined: In social interation with one another and society the religions shall foster a culture of nonviolence and respect for all live – promoting the worth and idiosyncratic identity of their all fellow humans. All parties respect their partners’ lives, dignity, individuality, and differences. All conduct and contribute to a live of integrity which enables a discourse in worship and faith. At the heart, then, lies equality between all religions.

But the House of One is not build yet. The costs for the project aggregate to 43.5 Million Euros. The first 10 Million Euros will allow the project to start and complete the first stage of construction. Having completed the first stage, it can already be used as a place for encounter. The House of One is funded through donations as a crowdfunding project.