Deadline Date: January 16, 2026
Entries are now open for Sustain Champions Awards Program to support promising youth-led innovations that strengthen water and climate resilience through adaptation and mitigation efforts.
The awards place young people at the center of sustainable development, recognising their role in shaping locally grounded solutions that respond to climate and water challenges while contributing to long-term resilience.
Through this initiative, the Awards aim to surface grassroots innovations with the potential to scale through community or institutional support. A strong emphasis is placed on amplifying diverse voices, using storytelling and profiling to highlight youth champions and their work across SUSTAIN’s communication platforms. By doing so, the program seeks to advance inclusion and build momentum for youth engagement in nature-based solutions and integrated landscape management.
Selected applicants receive targeted support to help advance their ideas. This includes a small financial award of up to $5,000–$7,000 to pilot or scale their innovation, increased visibility through IUCN and SUSTAIN social media and publications as part of a Youth Champions spotlight series, and access to remote mentorship or coaching from SUSTAIN technical partners, subject to availability. Awardees may also participate in knowledge exchanges, webinars, or in-person landscape events.
Eligible ideas and innovations span a wide range of focus areas connected to water and climate resilience. These include catchment and ecosystem-based approaches such as watershed restoration, wetland protection, and sustainable land use practices that reduce erosion and improve water infiltration. Innovations may also draw on indigenous knowledge, integrating customary water management practices into climate adaptation and local planning processes.
Projects addressing climate and disaster risk management linked to water are also encouraged, including initiatives focused on drought and flood preparedness, risk awareness, and youth-led advocacy around climate and water issues. Other relevant areas include water management and monitoring solutions such as water quality and quantity tracking, early warning systems, decision-support tools, sustainable irrigation, and water recharge or storage approaches. Inclusive governance and coordination mechanisms that strengthen multi-stakeholder platforms, water user associations, and transparent local decision-making are equally important.
Special consideration is given to proposals that demonstrate strong inclusivity, particularly those engaging women, youth, and marginalised groups. Innovations that show clear potential for replication or scaling are prioritised, as are initiatives rooted in SUSTAIN landscapes such as Vanduzi and Báruè districts in Mozambique, and Kilombero, Ihemi, and Sembawang in Tanzania, or in similar agro-ecological contexts.
The Awards are open to young people aged 18 to 30 who are citizens and current residents of Mozambique or Tanzania. Applicants must be working on locally relevant innovations for water and climate resilience and be willing to participate in follow-up storytelling and monitoring activities. Innovations should be at the idea, pilot, or early implementation stage and not fully commercialised. Both individuals and small teams of up to three people may apply, including youth-led start-ups, while established consulting firms or fully registered companies are not eligible.
For more information, visit IUCN.
