Climate Patch Series
The Climate Patch Series is an interactive participatory workshop designed to generate ideas and insights on some of the most prominent systemic obstacles that constrain youth-driven innovation. As the name indicates, we are shaping new structures for these systemic barriers with a collective “patchwork approach” acknowledging that change must be rooted in tailored techniques that are informed by a diversity of systems thinking, experiences and know-how. Under the banner of designing inclusive systems that enable youth-led initiatives to thrive, we bring together campaigners, community leaders, innovators, and expert insiders to co-design solution-oriented frameworks to ‘patch’ the current flawed system.
What Are We Hatching and Patching?
Young people across the globe are clear: the current system does not work for us. Too often, our inclusion is framed as tokenism, youth invited to conversations to fill quotas, but rarely positioned to drive real, structural change. While financing avenues for youth-led innovation have increased in recent years, they remain fragmented and insufficient, disconnected from the realities of young people building solutions on the ground.
The Climate Patch Series responds to this gap by reclaiming youth agency and redefining what meaningful participation looks like. Designed through collective insights from young people across diverse disciplines, the Series is not another consultation but rather a framework for action. It positions youth not as participants, but as architects of systems change, generating practical strategies that center our lived experiences, creativity, and leadership.
We are convening a cohort of young innovators to model how youth-driven systems of change can be rooted, nurtured, and scaled. We are drawing a bold line: moving from tokenistic inclusion to authentic co-creation, from being spoken for to speaking as equals. The Climate Patch Series demonstrates that when young people lead, innovation is not symbolic, it becomes transformative, impactful, and necessary for lasting change.
Patching Systemic Change By Weaving Key Themes Together
I. Bridging Financing Gaps on philanthropic support for youth initiatives and long-term investment for youth innovation.
II. Redesigning Adaptation Outlook to incorporate indigenous rights, while embedding resilient goals with development plans.
III. Advance Circular Economy to reach small economic sectors that provide jobs and social security for low-income households.
IV. Futuring Sustainable Cities that are equitable and resilient, serving as spaces of care, security and subsistence for people of all economic classes.
Building A Knowledge Base
The Climate Patch Series will be accompanied by the The Patchwork Collection, a participatory cross-cutting knowledge toolkit that brings together a range of tools, guidelines and resources developed and refined throughout the program’s life cycle.
Join Our Participatory Workshops
Climate Patch I
Addressing the persistent financing gap for youth-led climate solutions in Africa requires rethinking how capital is designed, delivered, and supported. Creating youth-tailored instruments such as micro-grants, small blended seed funds, and grant-to-equity bridges, would provide flexible entry points for early-stage initiatives that are often excluded from traditional finance.
Register for the Two-part Session Here
About the Futures Lab
The Futures Lab is a space where young people are empowered to co-create real world solutions to climate challenges. Using hands-on activities and creative insights, we turn ideas into action. Connecting youths with the tools and skills needed to build a better future, the lab will create a generational shift by preparing them not just to respond to the climate crisis but to lead through them.