The Swarovski Foundation’s Creatives For Our Future programme, in collaboration with the United Nations Office for Partnerships, is now accepting applications from young creatives who are accelerating sustainable development.
The programme is open to young creatives worldwide, aged 21 to 30, from a multitude of disciplines including fashion, design, art, architecture and engineering.
Successful applicants should be working on an original project or product that drives awareness, technology or solutions for sustainable development.
Successful candidates will secure a grant of €20,000 each, along with a training programme, including one-on-one mentorship and industry networking opportunities.
Since launching in 2021, the programme has supported 27 projects in innovative design, founded and initiated by young creatives who have ground-breaking ideas that address the world’s sustainability and development challenges.
The programme has enabled them to develop and scale their projects – either with funds to build on their research, or through mentorship and networking opportunities.
“What started as an effort to address the barriers amplified by Covid-19 has evolved into a thriving community of innovators and changemakers advancing new approaches to social and environmental challenges through the power of creativity,” says Maika Nakaoka, head of creativity at the Swarovski Foundation.
“To create sustainable, future-ready cities, we must move beyond carbon-intensive conventional materials and explore materials that can contribute to both thermal performance and environmental regeneration,” says Mangesh Kurund, an architect in India who was a grant recipient in 2025.
Kurund specialises in bio-integrated design and is developing bioreceptive materials for kinetic architectural facades.
“The Swarovski Foundation’s Creatives For Our Future programme has supported me in advancing my bioreceptive material through successful prototyping and thermal testing, while building key industry relationships and exploring pathways for its integration into existing facade systems.”
The fifth cycle of the Creatives For Our Future programme is set to begin in the autumn of 2027.
Each successful applicant will be awarded a €20,000 grant to support their creative project and will be matched with a mentor who has experience in a similar industry.
Entries are open until 9 November 2026 at https://creatives.swarovskifoundation.org/.
Successful applicants will be notified and announced publicly in April 2027 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.
