The fight against climate change requires collaboration, innovation, and resilience. To strengthen youth-led climate movements and social justice initiatives, Urban Movement Innovation Fund (UMI) is offering the Youth Climate Convening Grant, a unique funding opportunity for young leaders and organizations worldwide. This grant is designed to support convenings that foster networking, capacity-building, strategy development, and collective action among climate activists.
If you are a young changemaker passionate about climate and social justice, this is your chance to secure funding for impactful gatherings that drive meaningful change.
Why Convenings Matter
Convenings play a crucial role in movement-building. They provide spaces where activists and organizations can forge new connections and strengthen alliances, exchange ideas and co-create solutions, develop strategies for effective climate action, and enhance resilience and well-being within the movement.
By supporting convenings, the grant aims to nurture collaboration, innovation, and sustained activism, ensuring that young leaders have the tools and networks needed for long-term impact.
Who Can Apply
The Youth Climate Convening Grant is open to individuals and groups who are actively engaged in climate and intersectional social justice work, are aged between 16 and 33 years old, and operate globally, with priority given to the Global South and communities facing systemic challenges.
This funding opportunity is not open to applicants based in India.
Grant Details
Grants range from GBP 500 to GBP 6,000, offering flexible financial support to ensure convenings are accessible and impactful.
What This Grant Funds
The grant covers various convening-related activities, including capacity-building such as skills training, mentorship, coaching, and workshops, community and network-building through sharing best practices and co-creating solutions, networking to facilitate collaboration among organizations working on similar issues, partnership development by creating opportunities for joint initiatives, strategy development by planning collective action for campaigns and advocacy efforts, and resilience and well-being support for mental, emotional, and physical well-being within activist communities.
Additionally, the grant provides logistics support for convenings, covering travel for regional climate youth gatherings, venue and equipment hire including catering and sound systems, and facilitator fees to ensure effective session delivery.
What the Grant Does Not Fund
This grant does not fund attendance at large-scale global events such as COP, Stockholm50, G7 or G20, or Climate Weeks.
Application and Selection Process
The selection process is thorough yet accessible, ensuring that impactful projects receive support.
How Decisions Are Made
A steering committee composed of youth climate leaders from Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America, and South America, along with a representative from UMI, will review all applications.
The selection process takes between four and six weeks. Applicants may be contacted for additional information, and final decision notifications will be sent via email.
If selected, recipients will receive guidance on managing their grant, keeping expense records, and reporting on project outcomes. Successful applicants are encouraged to share photos and videos of their convenings.
Upcoming Information Webinar
To help applicants better understand the grant process, UMI will host an information webinar covering the purpose of the microgrant and eligibility requirements, insights from past recipients on leveraging convenings for impact, a strategic session with a facilitator to strengthen proposals, and a live Q and A session to address applicant queries.
The webinar will be held on 13 February 2025 from 14:00 to 15:30 CET. Interested applicants can register via the provided link Here.
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Grant Application Deadline
The deadline for applications is 3 March 2025. All funded activities must be implemented by 30 November 2025.
Applicants who are ready to apply can fill out the Application Form HERE.
For questions or technical issues, email at microgranting@umifund.org
About UMI Fund
The Urban Movement Innovation Fund works to connect, align and strengthen citizen engagement and activity for a more socially just, zero carbon future. We support innovative projects and foster collaboration across critical sectors and locations worldwide.
About SCN
The Social Change Nest specialises in creating and supporting people-powered networks and social movements. They manage the granting process including, due diligence, grant agreements, and transferring the grants to selected grantees.
