Applications are now open for the 2025 Global Environmental Education Partnership (GEEP) Youth Innovation Challenge. The Taiwan Ocean Conservation Administration (OCA) and GEEP invite young people (ages 15–30) everywhere to propose an innovative solution that addresses a marine conservation issue! The 2025 YIC explores how we can address marine issues and support people of all ages to be engaged stewards to protect marine environments. GEEP is looking for solutions that are informed by research, feasible, innovative, and address one of this year’s key topics using environmental education.
The Challenge
The Youth Innovation Challenge invites applicants from 15 to 30 years of age to propose a solution to address marine issues, including conservation, biodiversity, and marine debris. Solutions can incorporate a variety of approaches but must include environmental education. Solutions must be innovative, feasible, and informed by research.
Eligibility
The Youth Innovation Challenge is intended for young leaders and innovators aged 15–30. Your innovative solutions must provide a solution to one of the following key areas, using environmental education as a key component:
- Marine biodiversity and conservation: Managing, protecting, and/ or restoring marine biodiversity for its ecological, cultural, economic, and other values.
- Marine debris: Reducing and/or mitigating the effects of marine debris, including the monitoring, clean-up, and recycling of marine debris, and educating communities about how to address
these issues. - Public-private collaboration: Collaborating between the private sector, governments, and the public to protect marine environments. This might include ideas for cooperation between government and corporations to fulfill corporate social responsibility (CSR) goals, civic engagement opportunities for the public to engage with government programs, and other initiatives that foster collaboration between public and private sectors.
- May 2025: Applicant webinar to learn tips and tricks for submitting a strong Youth Innovation
Challenge video pitch and proposal. Registration information and a recording of the webinar will
be posted to the program webpage. - June 30, 2025: All applications due through Submittable by 11:59 PM U.S. Eastern Time (convert to
your time zone). - July—August 2025: Applications reviewed by YIC expert panel.
- September 2025: Finalists and winners notified. All applicants are welcome to request feedback
about their submissions. - October 2025: Winners attend award ceremony in Taiwan.
Application Deadline: June 30 2025 at 11:59 PM U.S. Eastern Time.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
