Call for Nominations: UNESCO/Jikji Memory of the World Prize

Deadline Date: April 30, 2024

Donor Name: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

Grant Size: $10,000 to $100,000

https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/call-nominations-unesco/jikji-memory-world-prize

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is now inviting nominations for the 10th edition of the UNESCO/Jikji Memory of the World Prize.

The Prize was created to commemorate the inscription of the Buljo jikji simche yojeol – the oldest known book of moveable metal print in the world – on the Memory of the World International Register. As such, it has become an important symbol of the Memory of the World Programme’s efforts to support the preservation and accessibility of documentary heritage as a common heritage of humanity.

Areas

• Programme Development and Management: Programmes, projects and studies developed and implemented whose results can be demonstrated by one or more of the following: increase in access to certain materials; identification and acquisition of documentary heritage previously dispersed; establishment of an academic programme on preservation and access; or development of a scientific research project. If an individual is nominated, the motivation should indicate whether this person was individually responsible for the achievements identified, was the leader of a team, or was a member of the team that was involved in bringing about the change.
• Innovation: The design or development of new technologies, products, methodologies, concepts, and services or the original adaptation or use of existing ones in ways that fundamentally alter future developments in preservation and access. The description of the activities should provide clear evidence of the results, and/or successful implementation outcomes. The Jury’s evaluation will focus on the outcomes of the use of technologies, products, methodologies, concepts and services with an emphasis on their benefit for other countries, organizations, or professionals.
• Education: Publications authored by the organization or individual, courses organized or taught, conferences and seminars offered or presented at, that demonstrate that the nominee’s original concepts, approaches or methodologies, and strategies significantly influence developments in preservation and access. The Jury ‘s assessment will be based on qualitative considerations and not necessarily on the number of publications, lectures, conferences and seminars, and on the audiences to which they are directed.
• Professional and Organizational Leadership: Unique contributions made to advance associations serving the preservation and access professions or national and international organizations, public or private, supporting the preservation and accessibility of the world’s documentary heritage.  Validation of this contribution may include awards or certificates received and, in the case of individuals, offices held that demonstrate the nominee’s specific role in impacting change.

Funding Information

• Funded by the Republic of Korea, this Prize of US $30,000 is awarded every two years to individuals or institutions that have made significant contributions to the preservation and accessibility of documentary heritage.

Each Nomination must Emphasize:

• the impact of the candidate’s contribution to the preservation and accessibility of documentary heritage, through activities piloted and developed, innovations, education, leadership, etc.;
• any unusual difficulties which the candidate has had to overcome in undertaking preservation and access work in the area of documentary heritage; and
• the uniqueness of expertise which candidates might utilize in preserving and accessing documentary heritage.

Eligibility Criteria

• Member States, in consultation with their National Commissions, are invited to submit nominations, as are the international non-governmental organizations maintaining official relations with UNESCO and whose work involves the preservation and conservation of documentary heritage.
• The nominees must conduct the preservation and access work for  which they are nominated in respect of the relevant deontological codes, professional standards, and best practices.
• The work for which the organization or person is nominated must not have grown out of emergency responses to malpractice or neglect.

For more information, visit UNESCO.