Templeton Freedom Prizes for Excellence in Promoting Liberty

Templeton Freedom Prizes for Excellence in Promoting Liberty

Templeton Freedom Prizes for Excellence in Promoting Liberty are awarded in four categories: Free Market Solutions to Poverty, Social Entrepreneurship, Ethics & Values, and Student Outreach. Winning institutes in each category receive $10,000, while the runners-up receive $5,000 each.

Free Market Solutions to Poverty
The Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty in Michigan won first place for its “Connecting Good Intentions to Sound Economics” advertising campaign, which used the power of the popular media to challenge common beliefs about how to alleviate poverty. Using the tagline, “Don’t Just Care, Think!,” the project used documentaries, short films, public service announcements, print ads, and other educational materials to make the case that good intentions alone will not help the world’s poor. The second place winner was the Montenegro Business Alliance for its “Flat Tax Project,” which helped move a proposal for a flat tax from theory to implementation. Montenegro now has a flat 9 percent corporate tax rate—the lowest level in Europe—and a flat 15 percent personal tax rate, which is scheduled to be reduced to 9 percent by 2010.

Social Entrepreneurship
The Property and Environment Research Center in Montana won the top prize for its two-week “Enviropreneur Camp” for environmental entrepreneurs or “enviropreneurs.” The Camp encourages participants to discover how individual initiative, property rights, and the free market can be used to solve environmental problems. The second-place prize was awarded to Civitas: The Institute for the Study of Civil Society of the United Kingdom for its “Supplementary Schools Project.” Rather than just documenting problems in the educational system, Civitas launched its own schools to provide an alternative. The no-frills schools focus on high-quality teaching of a traditional curriculum, including phonics-based reading and math without calculators, as well as small class sizes and regular contact with parents. The schools target children from the London’s poorest neighborhoods—including recent immigrants from Bengal and Bangladesh.

Ethics & Values
In response to the deteriorating image of the Argentine government after the 2001 social and economic crisis, the Foro de Estudios Sobre la Administración de Justicia in Buenos Aires (Forum for the Study of Judicial Administration) created the “Prize for Judicial Excellence” (PJE) to reward and encourage ethical, unbiased judges, and the efficient administration of justice. Sweden’s Ratio Institute received second place for its research on “Markets, Morality, Trust and Growth.” This project analyzed how a free economy provides incentives for moral behavior, largely because economic activity depends upon creating trust among unfamiliar parties.

Student Outreach
The top prize in this category was given to the Scientific Research Mises Center of Belarus for various educational programs, which are conducted despite threats of reprisal from Belarus’ totalitarian government. The weekend schools, seminars, and camps help students understand the concepts of individual, economic and political freedoms, which are relatively unknown in the country. The runner-up was the Liberalni Institut of the Czech Republic, whose Summer Education Programs about the importance of a free society targeted not only high school and university age students, but also high school teachers. In addition, the Institute founded a High School Teachers Education Association in 2006, and provides member teachers with excerpts of classical literature on economics and philosophy, teaching manuals, and tests on key economic concepts and principles


The Enterprise Initiative The Fraser Institute: Build Enterprise-Based Prosperity in the Arab World Enterprise Africa! The Center on Global Prosperity The Entrepreneurial Spirit and the Birth of China’s Free Enterprise Economy Seven Fund The Cultural Change Institute Religion and Social Capital Free Enterprise: Values in Action Templeton Freedom Awards Templeton Freedom Prizes for Excellence in Promoting Liberty Templeton Freedom Prize for Initiative in Public RelationsM Templeton Freedom Award Grants	Templeton Freedom Prizes for Excellence in Promoting Liberty Templeton Freedom Prizes for Excellence in Promoting Liberty are awarded in four categories: Free Market Solutions to Poverty, Social Entrepreneurship, Ethics & Values, and Student Outreach. Winning institutes in each category receive $10,000, while the runners-up receive $5,000 each. Free Market Solutions to Poverty The Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty in Michigan won first place for its “Connecting Good Intentions to Sound Economics” advertising campaign, which used the power of the popular media to challenge common beliefs about how to alleviate poverty. Using the tagline, “Don’t Just Care, Think!,” the project used documentaries, short films, public service announcements, print ads, and other educational materials to make the case that good intentions alone will not help the world’s poor. The second place winner was the Montenegro Business Alliance for its “Flat Tax Project,” which helped move a proposal for a flat tax from theory to implementation. Montenegro now has a flat 9 percent corporate tax rate—the lowest level in Europe—and a flat 15 percent personal tax rate, which is scheduled to be reduced to 9 percent by 2010. Social Entrepreneurship The Property and Environment Research Center in Montana won the top prize for its two-week “Enviropreneur Camp” for environmental entrepreneurs or “enviropreneurs.” The Camp encourages participants to discover how individual initiative, property rights, and the free market can be used to solve environmental problems. The second-place prize was awarded to Civitas: The Institute for the Study of Civil Society of the United Kingdom for its “Supplementary Schools Project.” Rather than just documenting problems in the educational system, Civitas launched its own schools to provide an alternative. The no-frills schools focus on high-quality teaching of a traditional curriculum, including phonics-based reading and math without calculators, as well as small class sizes and regular contact with parents. The schools target children from the London’s poorest neighborhoods—including recent immigrants from Bengal and Bangladesh. Ethics & Values In response to the deteriorating image of the Argentine government after the 2001 social and economic crisis, the Foro de Estudios Sobre la Administración de Justicia in Buenos Aires (Forum for the Study of Judicial Administration) created the “Prize for Judicial Excellence” (PJE) to reward and encourage ethical, unbiased judges, and the efficient administration of justice. Sweden’s Ratio Institute received second place for its research on “Markets, Morality, Trust and Growth.” This project analyzed how a free economy provides incentives for moral behavior, largely because economic activity depends upon creating trust among unfamiliar parties. Student Outreach The top prize in this category was given to the Scientific Research Mises Center of Belarus for various educational programs, which are conducted despite threats of reprisal from Belarus’ totalitarian government. The weekend schools, seminars, and camps help students understand the concepts of individual, economic and political freedoms, which are relatively unknown in the country. The runner-up was the Liberalni Institut of the Czech Republic, whose Summer Education Programs about the importance of a free society targeted not only high school and university age students, but also high school teachers. In addition, the Institute founded a High School Teachers Education Association in 2006, and provides member teachers with excerpts of classical literature on economics and philosophy, teaching manuals, and tests on key economic concepts and principles