The CLINK Youth Solutions Challenge 2026 opens this September under the theme “Young people solving problems that affect young people.”
The pilot is our first full demonstration of how CLINK works. Rather than launching a programme we designed alone, we start by listening to young people, documenting the problems they identify, and then connecting youth teams with the specialists, mentors and institutions that can help them turn ideas into tested responses.
What happens in the pilot
The process runs in stages. We listen to young people and document priority problems. Teams form and pitch. Specialist partners are matched to the teams that need them. Teams co-design, build prototypes and test their solutions with real users. In October, the work is presented publicly, alongside what we learned.
The pilot is ambitious on purpose. It gives us a real test of whether the ecosystem model produces better solutions than the usual approach, and it will show us what to change before we scale.
How to get involved
Young people with a problem they care about can apply as teams. Mentors and technical experts can express interest through the mentor network. Organisations and funders can support the pilot or discuss longer-term partnership.
All current calls are listed on the opportunities page.
What we will publish
We will document the pilot as it runs, including what did not work. A learning brief will follow the public showcase in October, and the model will be refined before the first full programme portfolio is designed in December.