With the Young Global Changers Recoupling Awards, the Global Solutions Initiative aims to identify, recognize, and reward young changemakers from all over the world who contribute actively towards a better alignment—a “recoupling”—of economic prosperity with environmental sustainability and the needs and demands of societies, communities, and individuals.
The award seeks to recognize concrete practices and impactful youth-led projects and initiatives that drive change on the ground, while also serving as examples and inspiration beyond their immediate impact. Projects can be social enterprises as well as youth-led nonprofit initiatives.
Categories
Reimagine Business Award: Business and commercial activities can drive economic growth, provide employment opportunities, and spark innovation. At the same time, many current business practices lead to excessive waste production, contribute to the depletion of natural resources, exacerbate climate degradation, and perpetuate poor working conditions. They are looking for businesses and social enterprises that have implemented a business model that fosters social prosperity and environmental goals.
Reimagine Social and Climate Action: Many individuals, and disadvantaged groups around the world face significant challenges in accessing basic services like healthcare, food, housing, or education. At the same time environmental crises like climate change, environmental pollution and biodiversity loss are accelerating – threatening our natural environment and exacerbating social imbalances. They are looking for projects that directly support societies impacted by systemic inequities or climate degradation.
Reimagine Civic Engagement Award: Around the world, citizens’ trust in government, administration, and public institutions is declining – populism and nationalism are on the rise. At the same time, they are witnessing a lack of transparency and accountability for decision makers and a lack of opportunities for citizens and civil society to engage and participate actively in important decisions that affect their lives. They are looking for projects directly supporting the powershifting towards citizens to engage in the civic space.
Eligibility
Only individual people can apply. You cannot apply as an organization, only as its representative.
Participants should have a leading position in the project or initiative they are applying with. (This can be the founder, co-founder, project-lead, initiator or a similar role.)
Participants must have a command of the English language strong enough to present their work in front of a jury and an audience, and to participate in group conversations.
The Young Global Changers program aims to empower youth. Applicants should preferably be between the ages of 18 and 35.
The applicants should show motivation to become active members of a global network which aims at bringing about lasting global change.
The following criteria need to be fulfilled by all projects to be eligible, independent from the category in which they apply:
Recoupling: The project, business, or initiative with which you apply needs to aim at recoupling, i.e., a better alignment of economic or political activities with social well-being and environmental sustainability. This means putting the needs of people and environmental sustainability at the center of economic and/or political activities.
Organizational Stage: The project or initiative must be beyond the idea stage. It should be currently active and running.
Benefits
They are offering a full scholarship for the finalists of the Young Global Changers Recoupling Awards 2024 to come to Berlin and attend the 2024 Global Solutions Summit.
The scholarship includes the following:
Travel expenses to and from Berlin;
Accommodation for the time of the Global Solutions Summit (five nights, May 3-8, 2024);
Free admission to the Global Solutions Summit 2024;
Networking opportunities with great minds from academia, business, politics & civil society;
Access to an exclusive global network of like-minded Young Global Changers;
