In response to a changing climate, where disruptions such as pandemics, extreme weather events, financial crises, and other shocks are increasingly interconnected and amplifying impacts across sectors and geographies, we launched a Call for Proposals to identify and support bold, transformative resilience solutions.
Moe Babiker, DARAJA
The Call was structured around three thematic Challenges:
- Surfacing nature-positive solutions that strengthen rural livelihoods and ecosystems through the Resilient Agriculture Innovations for Nature (RAIN) Rural Challenge,
- Supporting locally led innovations that address the realities of informal urban environments through the Resilience Innovation in Informality through Scaling Entrepreneurship (RISE) Urban Challenge, and
- Advancing the use of Artificial Intelligence to enhance humanitarian preparedness and response through the Technology for Evolving Challenges in Humanitarian Contexts (TECH)4Resilience Challenge.
After receiving over 1,900 applications and reviewing these in record time, we are proud to present the most geographically diverse and thematically ambitious cohort we have selected to date. From mangrove cooperatives in Lombok to flood early warning systems in Kinshasa, 89 finalists across 44 countries, 35 of which are the primary countries of implementation, are redefining what climate resilience looks like when it is built from the ground up. Finalists participated in a virtual Leadership Academy from 6–9 July and will continue to receive tailored mentoring and support.
Build Up Nepal
This Call for Proposals has been developed with support from the Trafigura Foundation, Shockwave Foundation, and Munich Re Foundation. We are also working in collaboration with the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and the SEACAR Alliance. There is still room for additional co-funding partners to join this cohort, commitments are welcome until November 2026.