CTCN Youth Climate Innovation Labs & Academy MENA

An opportunity to co-create business ideas for enhance climate action!

The Youth Climate Innovation Lab is a fast-paced three-day event during which youth innovators from across the MENA region, 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 program will 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.

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 program 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.

Who can participate?

People can apply either as a team (a minimum of 2 members) or as individuals (who we will group into teams).

For Startup Teams:

• Already formed team of at least 2 members who are tackling or looking to explore ideas in Climate change mitigation innovation and technologies. The criteria listed below for Individuals apply to the members of the team.
• Startups at idea or prototyping stage are welcome to apply.

For individuals

Anyone who is:

• Between 20 and 30 years old
• Attending university or has completed higher education
• An aspiring or early-stage entrepreneur or student interested in building entrepreneurial muscle and launching an idea to address climate change
• Passionate about solving climate technology needs and challenges in the MENA, especially those listed in the focus challenges, especially the following focus challenges: Renewable Energy and Hybrid Energy Systems; Circularity and Waste Management; AgriTech and FoodTech; Ecology and Reforestation; Transportation; and Urban Planning, Smart Cities, and Construction.

Program Benefits

• Gain insights into the entrepreneurial mindset
• Understand how innovation can be a key force in tackling climate change challenges
• Learn the lean startup methodology
• Learn by doing thanks to the immediate execution of theory
• Learn tools and frameworks to build and test innovative ideas
• Learn how to pitch an idea to a Jury
• Receive feedback from peers and mentors
• Get connected to a network of climate technology and entrepreneurship experts and like-minded peers from across the MENA region

Winner prizes

At the end of the Climate Innovation Lab, the winners from the MENA region will participate in the 6-8 week Climate Innovation Academy Program delivered by Seedstars, and the CTCN. They will receive follow-on support to implement and scale their solutions.

The top 3 teams will receive a prize of 1,860 USD and the chance to attend the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in November in Egypt.

Program timeline

August 15 2022

Launch call for applications

September 4 2022

Application deadline

September 9 2022

Application outcomes

September 13 2022

Team formation results

September 16 – 18 2022

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