The MIT Climate CoLab organizes contests to solicit the world’s best ideas to prevent and adapt to climate change. Some contests pose social and political questions, while others focus on issues in science and technology. Each year, the contest winners are invited to a conference at MIT’s campus in the USA, where a pool of prize funding is shared among the best ideas. Current contests include one on managing and reducing carbon contributions, with submission deadline on 20 January 2017. Another contest focuses on anticipating climate hazards, with deadline on 10 February 2017. Link
social enterprise
Rolex Awards — Rolex Awards for Young Leaders 2018
Five Rolex Awards will be offered to young leaders (ages 18 to 30) anywhere in the world who have ground-breaking proposals or initiatives that will help expand knowledge of the world and improve the quality of life on the planet. Applications can be submitted in three categories: the environment, applied science and technology, or exploration. Projects should be planned for the future, or be only partially completed. Each winner will receive CHF 100 thousand in order to help her/him with project implementation. The application deadline is 30 June 2017. Link
Smart Villages — Off-Grid Energy in West Africa
The Off-Grid Energy Challenge invites applications from early-stage energy entrepreneurs in West Africa who are running businesses that generate or can be powered by off-grid energy. Businesses must have at least an existing prototype and business model to enter. The winners of the competition will receive free business, legal, and financial services and the chance to pitch for up to US$5 thousand in prize capital. Up to three teams will be accepted into the programme. The deadline for applications (English, French, Portuguese) is 21 November 2016. Link
U.S. Department of State — Global Innovation through Science and Technology
GIST is the flagship U.S. government international program on innovation and entrepreneurship. GIST participants in low and middle-income economies can develop skills, build networks, find mentors, and access financing through a combination of in-country training, a global pitch competition, interactive online programming, and direct connections to U.S. experts. Funding Opportunity OES-OPP-17-001. The application deadline is 15 December 2016. Link
World Bank — Big Data Innovation Challenge
The World Bank is interested in how “big data” can be used to address development questions, including how climate change affects food security and forestry and watersheds. Solutions may include but are not limited to analytical methodologies, APIs, algorithms, software applications, tools, and new data set generation. Technologies may include artificial intelligence, crowd-sourcing applications, data science, dynamic visualizations, machine learning, and predictive analytics. The Challenge will award US$10 thousand to the winner in each of the following two categories: (i) food security or nutrition, and (ii) forestry or watersheds. Submissions are invited from individuals, students, entrepreneurs, start-ups, university labs, private companies, nonprofits, and public sector agencies legally established in member countries of the World Bank Group. The closing date for submissions is 09 November 2016. Link
OpenIDEO — Economic Opportunities for Youth in East Africa
OpenIDEO convenes a global community to collaboratively create solutions addressing the world’s biggest challenges. Among these challenges is the Youth Empowerment Challenge for East Africa, which aims to empower young people in East Africa to participate in the economy. OpenIDEO invites new ideas that motivate and inspire youth; build skills; support their transition into financial stability; include the private sector; or harness the potential for the participation of young people in agriculture. The Challenge is looking for ideas that answer its challenge question and that are targeted at youth between ages 18-35 in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. At least five winners of this challenge will receive a grant of between US$50 thousand and US$150 thousand, plus training and design support from IDEO. The challenge is open to all creative thinkers worldwide, and in any discipline. The deadline for submissions in the ideas phase is 31 October 2016. Link
Global Social Venture Competition — Competition 2017
The Global Social Venture Competition (GSVC) is a partnership of business schools in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa to provide aspiring entrepreneurs with mentoring, exposure, and funding to support their social ventures. Past winners include plans for water supply, energy micro-credit, agricultural processing, ecological building materials, and other environmental themes. The GSVC will award cash prizes up to US$25 thousand. The deadline for the first entry round in most regions is 05 December 2016. Link
European Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) — Enterprises in e-Agriculture
“Pitch AgriHack!” is sponsored by the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU, in partnership with other organizations. The aim is to help young start-ups in e-agriculture develop business services. The programme is open to start-ups whose owners are ages 18 to 35, and who have a prototype or operating mobile application or ICT service for agriculture in any of the ACP (Africa, Caribbean, and Pacific) countries. There will be a selection to determine which start-ups and teams will attend a boot camp and pitching event in Kenya. Winners for proof of concept will receive grants up to €7.5 thousand; winners for scaling-up will receive grants up to €15 thousand. The deadline for applications (English, French) is 25 September 2016. Link
The DO School — Apprenticeship Challenge
The DO School sponsors and funds the Entrepreneurship for Good Program to build the capacity of social entrepreneurs in strategies and methods of promoting on-the-job learning, e.g., apprenticeships. The Apprenticeship Challenge will accept 20 individuals for a 10-week incubation phase in Brazil, followed by 10 months of implementation in the participants’ home countries. Applications are invited from talented young adults worldwide regardless of their socioeconomic or educational backgrounds whose interests may include green economy, sustainability, international development, etc. The course is subsidized; financial support is offered in relation to the specific needs of each applicant. The application deadline is 15 September 2016. Link
Securing Water for Food — SWFF Grants, Round 4
The Securing Water for Food Grand Challenge for Development (SWFF) is a collaborative initiative among the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Swedish International Development Agency, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Government of South Africa. The current call for proposals focuses on improving water efficiency and reusing agricultural wastewater; effective water capture and storage systems for extending temporal availability of water supply; and management of salinity in water supplies. Awardees will receive between US$100 thousand and US$2 million in funding and acceleration support to bring their innovations to scale. The deadline for applications is 10 October 2016. Link