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The international conference of the European Council of International Schools (ECIS) was held in Hamburg from 18 to 22 November. ECIS represents the interests of around 370 international schools and numerous further international educational institutions and promotes Best Practice Standards for international school education. In addition to this, ECIS encourages its member schools to demonstrate a commitment within the context of humanitarian projects to help children and young people, particularly in emerging and developing countries. The best projects received awards on 20 November 2009.
In 2008 the Sir Peter Ustinov Foundation took up the good idea of ECIS to give prizes to outstanding projects every year during the international conference and this is how the to Sir Peter Ustinov Outreach Award was born. Parallel to the award of the ECIS prize, the Ustinov Outreach Awards were also presented on 20 November – another highlight of the conference in Hamburg.
The projects that win the Sir Peter Ustinov Outreach Awards are involved in an exemplary way in combating prejudice against children and young people and in favour of a culture of mutual respect. In this way, the Foundation is continuing Sir Peter Ustinov’s commitment towards a world free of prejudice. Two target groups benefit from the projects, reflecting the humanitarian ideals of the founder, Sir Peter. These are, firstly, the ECIS students involved, whose social skills are enhanced by “Service Learning”, and, secondly, the children and young people locally, who benefit directly from the project activities that are implemented.
“We want our projects to build bridges between people from very different social and cultural backgrounds. This is because we are convinced that prejudices can only be broken down through active dialogue,” says Dr. Peter Sicking, head of educational projects at the Peter Ustinov Foundation.
A total of four projects have received a Ustinov Outreach Award and received assistance of between 1,160 and 3,000 euros.
For instance, one project is involved with female orphans in India. The aim of the project is to set up a community area where orphans and members of the local parish can meet to play and talk to each other. The purpose of this is to help to combat discrimination on the basis of gender, ethnic origin and caste in a sustainable way.

Robert Landau (left), Chairman of the ECIS Board of Trustees and Igor Ustinov (middle), Chairman of Council of the Peter Ustinov Foundation present the Sir Peter Ustinov Outreach Award to David Batten (MYP Coordinator), Sotogrande International School, Apartado, Spain for the project “Providing a Community Area” in India.

The conference, which started on 18 November 2009 and lasts until 22 November, is the largest and most comprehensive of its kind worldwide. In total, 3,000 international participants, including teachers, pupils and employees of the school authorisation offices could meet during the five-day event and share their experiences. With over two hundred lectures and an exhibition, conference delegates were able to find out about trends and the latest developments in teaching methods and materials used by schools internationally.

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