Rolfe was one of seven people honored for their efforts in fostering cross-cultural understanding. The awards, which included one for actor Robert Redford for founding the Sundance Institute, were presented during the U.S. Summit and Global Initiative for Citizen Diplomacy conference Nov. 16-19.

They are veteran Mexican pianists but James Demster and Fernando Garcia Torres are just beginning to savour the delights of Carnatic and Hindustani classical music and dance on their maiden tour to India. It has bred in them a desire to collaborate on a fusion project.

In fact, efforts have been underway since 2009: the Earth Institute’s International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) has been working for the past two years with India’s Ministry of Agriculture and other institutions to improve forecasts of the seasonal monsoon rains that water much of the nation’s farms, and to help farmers manage drought.

The film was inspiring and profound, and presented the true colors of citizen diplomacy as a connecting force between people of different nations, cultural systems, and religious identities.

Last week I was in Prague, meeting with young leaders from across Central Europe and other young leaders from the United States. Before that, I was in Dubai attending a conference of young entrepreneurs from across the Middle East and their American counterparts. This is indeed citizen diplomacy at work.

Many South Koreans are now coming to the Philippines to learn Spanish. Jose Rodriguez, Instituto Cervantes-Manila director, said the number of South Koreans enrolled at the Spanish-language school in Manila has dramatically rose to almost 7,000 students.

Kurt Blum, the general manager of Swiss Art Gate UAE, said: "I came up with this idea to set up Magic Lantern throughout the Emirates over the next three to four years." Swiss Art Gate is a non-profit group that aims to promote cultural ties between Switzerland and the UAE.

The World Peace Forum, a Seoul-based private research institute, hosted an international workshop to exchange expert views on enhancing peace in the world as well as on the Korean Peninsula on Wednesday in Seoul.