SLP Youth Microgrants for Sustainability

SLP Youth Microgrants for Sustainability give students the opportunity to turn their ideas for a better planet into real, measurable impact. How? With funding, mentorship, and technical support that mirror the tools of entrepreneurs changing the world today.

Big ideas start early. The future belongs to those who build it, and this is where it begins.

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Our vision?

Fueling young entrepreneurs today for catalytic change tomorrow.

Every solution that reshaped the world began as an idea. The SLP Youth Microgrants for Sustainability give students aged 16 – 21 the means to act on theirs.

Through micro catalytic grants, students design and implement sustainability projects, tackling real-world challenges like circularity, clean energy, or sustainable food systems, while learning what it takes to lead, innovate, and scale impact.

Each microgrant combines capital, knowledge, and mentorship, helping young innovators build the skills and confidence of future entrepreneurs – through hands-on experience.

How it works

Students receive a microgrant of AED 500 to implement a sustainability project in their school, campus, or community.

Every big idea starts small, and every entrepreneur begins with their first seed fund. With the SLP Youth Microgrant, students receive AED 500 which acts as seed capital or the first step toward developing scalable, real-world sustainability solutions.

This capital helps bring sustainability ideas to life, whether that is a project that reduces waste in school or creates a new use for recycled materials.

This grant is a first investment in the young entrepreneur’s potential, and a chance for them to prove that their idea can make a measurable difference.

Students complete a 20-hour interactive course designed by experts at Sustain Labs Paris, covering key themes in sustainability, from circular design to systems thinking.

Delivered through an easy-to-use digital platform, each student receives a personal login, enabling them to learn at their own pace, anytime and anywhere; yet keeping each student on pace, the course is completed within a broad timeframe.

The course blends knowledge, creativity and practical insight to help students understand not just why sustainability matters but how to act on it.

The course includes:

Fundamentals of sustainability and climate change:

Explore the science, challenges, and opportunities driving global sustainability action.

Deep dive into the theme of microgrant:

Under the AGSI Youth Microgrant for Circularity, focus on circular systems, and see how materials, systems and industries can be redesigned so that nothing goes to waste - the foundation of tomorrow’s circular economy.

Interactive case studies from the corporate and young entrepreneurs’ world:

Discover and analyse how global companies and young changemakers are making changes with powerful ideas in action.

Engaging reflection assignments and peer feedback:

Apply what you learn through creative exercises that deepen understanding and inspire original thinking, without the pressure of grades.

Each student attends three grant clinics with mentors who guide them on budgeting, project design, and implementation.

No great idea grows alone. That’s why every student attends three grant clinics with leaders across sustainability, business and innovation.

Building a budget and allocating their microgrant effectively.

Navigating real-world challenges like stakeholder engagement, communication and scale.

Designing their project, identifying their stakeholders and target market, and setting measurable goals

Mentors guide students step by step through:

Students walk away with a practical toolkit to drive change and a blueprint they can use for community implementation of their project along with building a blueprint for future ventures.

Putting to use the microgrant to drive their idea to action, students implement their project and see it in action.

This is where it all comes together. Armed with knowledge, funding and mentorship, students put their ideas into motion, making real impact in their schools, campuses, or communities.

Solve problems on the ground

See innovation come to life

Collaborate with stakeholders

Students experience first-hand what it means to:

Each student will document their impact through tangible outcomes, whether that is waste reduced, energy conserved or water saved, providing measurable evidence of impact and innovation at scale.

Every idea is powerful when its impact can be seen, felt, and measured. Students document their project outcomes and each project contributes to a larger movement of measurable, youth-led impact. This shows that small steps, when multiplied, can reshape the future.

Through this process, students don’t just gain certificates or recognition but they build portfolios of real-world impact that can strengthen their university applications, future careers, and most importantly, their entrepreneurial journeys.

Why Apply?

You launch your first venture:

Your chance to be an entrepreneur today and not wait for tomorrow.

You gain real skills:

You learn how to design solutions, build budgets, engage stakeholders and measure environmental impact.

You create measurable change:

See your idea in real life and not just as a concept, track results and share your impact.

Build your portfolio:

Documenting your project gives you a standout story for building your further education and career trajectory.

Be part of the solution:

Circularity matters and you can lead it. Your project helps your community and the planet.

We’re looking for ideas that solve a sustainability challenge, are innovative, and implementable in your school, university, neighbourhood, community or city. And, then we can help you implement and scale your solution with an AED 500 microgrant, a 20-hour interactive course, and mentorship and grant clinics

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Who can apply?

Students aged 16 - 21 years

(high school and undergraduate level)

Residing in the UAE

Applicants must have a project concept related to material and resource circularity

How to apply?

Complete the application form

share your project through a video submission. your submission should:

be no more than 2 minutes

outline the challenge you will address

explain your propsed solution

highlight the impact on community

What could your project look like? See these examples.

Campus up-cycling workshop - transform discarding plastic into durable furniture for the school/university

Community sharing rack - create a platform for re-usable sports gear across neighbourhoods, reducing new-product demand

Materials-loop map - collaborate with local businesses to look at material flows, propose circular business models, sign local commitments and publish a community circular-blueprint

Partner with us

Launch your own Youth Microgrant

Organisations and institutions can co-create their own Youth Microgrant with SLP, focusing on sustainability themes that align with their mission, from biodiversity to clean water.

All funds go directly to students. 100% of what you give creates opportunity and measurable environmental impact.

Join leaders to help 200 young people in the UAE solve local community challenges through circular design.

To partner or launch your own Youth Microgrant, contact sustain@labsparis.com

Apply now

Be part of the next generation of builders

If you’re a student ready to build, a teacher who believes in hands-on learning, or an organisation with a mission to invest in youth innovation, this is your invitation.

Let’s turn early ideas into enduring impact.