Our experience with managing Project Lawud has shaped how we all think, act and lead. We’ve shifted away from data-only thinking to listening to communities with first-hand environmental knowledge because that is just as critical.

The Youth Funding Toolkit started as a resource about fundraising. It ended up becoming a reminder that funding is not only about money. It is about what and who we choose to believe in.

Every mangrove we plant is a statement: that young people are not waiting for the world to solve the climate crisis. We are building solutions, root by root, on our own coastlines in our own contexts.

The funding landscape for grassroots environmental organisations, particularly those led by young people and women in the Global South, remains deeply inadequate relative to the scale and quality of the work being done.

From 1,301 applications across 108 countries in total, The Iris Project is excited to announce this year’s shortlist made up of 28 incredible projects!

Youth-led environmental work is not inherently too risky to fund. The greater risk may be continuing to underfund it, while expecting young people to carry the future of climate and nature work without the resources, trust and long-term sup

Through three testimonies, we spotlight members of The Iris Project community and their tireless efforts to save the elements their communities, and any living being, can’t survive without.