Open Fellowship Call for Indigenous Youth Changemakers

It is an opportunity to develop capacities in Indigenous rights, Indigenous languages, cultures, and traditional knowledge. Fellows work to represent the voices of their communities and bring awareness of local issues to global conversations through their proposed projects while strengthening their cultural identities and leadership.

Area of Focus

• Currently, the world is immersed in the challenges of mitigating the impacts of natural resource exploitation and its effects on the well-being of the planet. The demand for transition minerals (nickel, lithium, cobalt, and copper), related to the production of electric vehicles, wind turbines, and solar panels has skyrocketed due to the demand for renewable energy for a green, low-carbon economy. The field of green economy envisions this as a solution to address climate change issues, arguing that these energy generation technologies have low carbon emissions.
• However, these minerals are mostly found on or near Indigenous territories, and their extraction is often linked to the violation of the rights of Indigenous Peoples. Furthermore, local biomes and environments have been severely affected by these extractive industries, degrading ecosystems and exacerbating natural disasters caused by climate change, with the deforestation, erosion, and contamination of water and soil due to the infiltration of toxic chemicals into the ground.
• These factors, the extraction of transition minerals and natural disasters caused by climate change, directly affect Indigenous communities worldwide. This call aims to encourage response projects from Indigenous youth and promote actions that counteract or mitigate these situations.

Funding Information

• Fellowship range: $2,500 – $6,000

Type of Project

• Creative and innovative projects that are community-based and involve actions pertaining to transition minerals (nickel, lithium, cobalt, and copper) or climate change-related disaster prevention and response, climate change solutions, and a land and livelihoods approach.
  • Advocacy: campaigns, lobbying, and proactive strategies.
  • Writing: journalism, storytelling, investigative reporting, community research, articles.
  • Capacity Building: training and workshops, meetings and exchanges.
  • Arts and Multimedia: audiovisuals, photography, cinema, documentaries, radio, podcasts, graphic illustrations, murals and paintings.
  • Technological Innovation: development of alternative technologies that do not harm the environment or protect the environment and strengthen communities without altering Indigenous traditions.
• The health of Indigenous lands, including the forests and rivers, is also integral to Indigenous livelihoods. The ability of Indigenous Peoples to maintain their traditional livelihoods and economies, harvest foods, fish, hunt, keep bees, herd animals, and gather materials for housing, crafts, clothing, and ceremony are all dependent on uninterrupted access to their land; hence, they include livelihoods in the land approach.

Eligibility Criteria

• Indigenous youth between 17 and 28 years old: The application can be individual or collective.
• Residents of the United States, Canada, Mexico, Central America, Panama, South America, Nepal, India, DRC, Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria, Mali, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Indonesia, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Sweden, Finland, Greenland, and Norway.
• Those with access to the internet can collaborate creatively with other fellows, the Cultural Survival team, and can participate in video conferences.
• They highly value the participation and inclusion of women and underrepresented genders (cis women, trans women, trans men, Two-Spirits, non-binary people, and other marginalized genders).
• Individuals previously receiving a Cultural Survival grant will not be prioritized.

For more information, visit Cultural Survival.