Young African innovators creating climate technology solutions are invited to join a three-day launchpad where the best projects will be invited to a further Climate Innovation Academy programme to help build their start-ups.
This
call was made by the Youth Climate Innovation Lab. Applications are invited
from start-ups across Africa and the Middle East. Organisers confirm that entries
will close on Sunday, 4 September 2022.
The
Youth Climate Innovation Lab – a collaboration between the UN Climate
Technology Centre and Network, the Swiss Association for Entrepreneurship in
Emerging Markets (SAFEEM), and Seedstars – is described as a fast-paced event.
Youth
innovators, with the support of climate technology, entrepreneurship, and
business experts, will explore design thinking tools to ideate and validate
innovative solutions for climate mitigation and adaptation within selected
sectors and technology fields.
The
programme vows to help participants flex their entrepreneurial muscles, and by
the end create business solutions for enhanced climate action in response to
climate change threats to the MENA region.
“With
governments across the MENA region leapfrogging their nations towards oil-independent
economies, it is time to equip our youth with the knowledge and tools to drive
climate action initiatives,” shared Mohamad Fanous, Seedstars programme manager
in Africa and the Middle East.
Supported
by private sector experts, entrepreneurs, and innovation facilitators, the
participants will be challenged to think outside of the box and co-create
timely solutions and business ideas to address pressing challenges in climate
change.
This
programme will provide a hands-on learning space in which participants explore
and implement frameworks for ideation and validation to solve common and
critical problems in innovative, viable, and sustainable ways.
The
launchpad comes as the third edition of its global series, bringing together
climate tech innovators from Africa and Asia-Pacific as well as Latin America.
The
programme accepts individuals (to be grouped into teams later on) or groups
with a minimum of two members. Participants must fit the following criteria to
be eligible for the programme:
- must
be between the ages of 20 and 30 years old;
- attended
or completed higher education;
- must
be an aspiring or early-stage entrepreneur or a student interested in
launching an idea on climate change and building entrepreneurial muscle;
and,
- must
be passionate about solving climate technology needs and challenges in the
Middle East or Africa.
Innovators
must preferably focus on challenges in the following fields: renewable energy
and hybrid energy systems; circularity and waste management; agritech and
foodtech; ecology and reforestation; transportation; and urban planning, smart
cities, and construction.
At
the end of the Climate Innovation Lab, the regional winners will participate in
the six- to eight-week Climate Innovation Academy programme delivered by
Seedstars. They will receive follow-on support to implement and scale their
solutions.
The
top three teams will receive a cash prize of $1 800 and the chance to attend
the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) happening in Egypt this
November 2022. Entries can be summitted online.
Source: ventureburn