2024 International Grant Program

Participants with diverse backgrounds across countries build relationships of collaboration and co-creation in which they “think, act, and create together” as colleagues working on the same issues, and this relationship is based on nationality, age. They hope that this two-way learning process that goes beyond the boundaries of affiliated organizations will develop into a partnership that will lead to social change.

The theme of the international grant program is “Asia’s common issues and mutual exchange – from mutual learning to empathy.” The countries and regions eligible for the grant are East Asia, including Japan, Southeast Asia, and South Asia. The purpose of this program is to enable people working to solve common issues in Asia to interact and learn from each other, thereby gaining new perspectives and expanding the possibilities for the future that will be borne by the next generation.

Expectations for the project: 4 keywords 

• They are looking for projects that address common issues in Asia that match the keywords below.
  • International: Set issues that are common to two or more target countries/regions, and work on them individually in each country/region.
    • All members participating in the project participate equally.
  • Cross-border: The team is made up of multiple sectors, and in addition to researching and analyzing existing initiatives, will also contribute to solving problems.
    • Do practical activities.
  • Interactivity: Activities incorporate interaction among the people on the ground (local supporters. people involved. local residents. etc.) and encourage mutual interaction.
    • Realize mutual learning.
  • Foresight: Gain insight into important issues that society is likely to face in the future, and think beyond traditional frameworks.
    • Through active learning with diverse stakeholders, they aim to acquire new perspectives that will lead to future development.
• While meeting the five points of the Toyota Foundation’s Fundamental Philosophy of Grants, they are Instead of the traditional one-way relationship of “supporting/being supported” and “teaching/being taught,” participants with different backgrounds are working together to “think, act, and create together” as friends working on the same issue. It is desirable to build a relationship of co-creation. They hope that this relationship will develop into a partnership that will lead to social change through a two-way

Themes eligible for funding 

• This program meets the five points of the “Toyota Foundation’s Fundamental Philosophy of Grants,” and supports common causes in two or more of the countries and regions of East Asia, Southeast Asia, and South Asia targeted by this program. They support projects in all areas that focus on common issues. They are looking forward to creative and challenging proposals that aim to solve these common issues and improve the situation based on free ideas and without fear of risk.
• Furthermore, they believe that the Toyota Foundation has great significance not only in resolving issues that are already evident in society, but also in discovering and disseminating pioneering issues. With the intention of leading to the discovery of future priority themes for funding, they will also consider providing funding for projects on themes that are currently not sufficiently recognized.

Funding Information

• Please record only the amount directly necessary for project implementation, within the range of not exceeding the upper limit (2-year grant: 10 million yen, 1-year grant: 5 million yen). The validity of the budget basis is also an important selection criterion. The total amount of personnel expenses and honoraria shall not exceed 30% of the total budget.

Essential Activities and Results 

• First half of the project
  • Research and analysis: Project members will work together on common issues in two or more countries/regions targeted by this program. Setting a topic and conducting research and analysis of existing efforts to address it. If there are precedent cases or studies, explain their strengths and weaknesses, points that need improvement, and future plans. It is hoped that issues will be discovered and utilized in the project to which you are applying. Found a precedent If not, why hasn’t it existed before? What is the significance of tackling that issue? It is hoped that this perspective will be included.
• Mid-term project Mutual 
  • exchange and learning: Through mutual learning by members from multiple countries and multiple sectors,
  • Conducting practical activities that contribute to problem solving. Fieldwork, workshops and symposiums, and project reports in target countries and regions They welcome a variety of activities based on flexible ideas, including meetings. In implementing mutual exchange and learning
  • The content and methods of exchange and learning. the active involvement of participating members from the preparation stage, and the content and methods of exchange and learning, as necessary.
  • There are also ways to realize more fulfilling exchange activities in terms of follow-up and dissemination.
  • It is expected that.
• Late stage of the project
  • Dissemination of results: policy recommendations based on the above, video works, websites, research materials, holding exhibitions, etc.
  • To create results and disseminate them to society.
  • When disseminating results, in addition to the purpose, setting the destination, its validity, and the purpose of outreach are important. It is required that you comprehensively consider ways to improve the quality of your work. Not only during the project period, but also from a long-term perspective. They will also actively evaluate results that are expected to have a positive impact.

Target Countries/Regions

• The target countries and regions of this program are East Asia, Southeast Asia, and South Asia.
• East Asia: Japan, China, Hong Kong, Macau, Mongolia, South Korea, Taiwan
• Southeast Asia: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Vietnam
• South Asia: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka

Eligibility Criteria

• Applicants (representatives and project members) must meet the following requirements:
  • The representative must be a person whose primary residence is Japan.
  • Track record of research, activities, creation, policy proposals, etc. related to the target area in multiple target countries/regions to have
  • Practitioners, stakeholders, researchers, and creators related to the target area in multiple target countries/regions
  • They operate projects that span multiple target countries and regions and are based on networks of diverse stakeholders.

For more information, visit The Toyota Foundation.