We The Curious
Next Gen Earth is a national youth-led programme run by ASDC and funded by the Natural Environment Research Council, part of UKRI.
Project vision
To enable the next generation of environmental advocates through creative youth-led engagement with NERC science, research and innovation, championing regional diversity by elevating youth voices across the UK.
Project mission
To co-create inclusive, youth-led programmes that connect young people with environmental science and inspire action and ownership. Leveraging the place-based network of science and discovery centres and museums to amplify diverse regional perspectives and to understand the barriers that prevent young people from accessing and engaging with NERC science, research and innovation.
Why you should apply!
Have you been looking for opportunities to platform young people’s voices and concerns about the environment?
Do you have – or are you establishing – a youth panel to bring young people into the heart of your engagement activities and decision making?
Are you looking for funding that supports co-creation with your local communities and creates space to listen and respond to the young people in your region?
ASDC is delighted to announce an exciting and innovative new grant programme funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC, part of UKRI). Grants are available this financial year to support in-depth involvement and engagement with young people from diverse backgrounds across nine regions of the UK. Leveraging the UK network of science and discovery centres and museums, this national programme will represent and platform the views and values of young people from diverse regions and backgrounds, supporting belonging, agency and developing skills for these key stakeholders in the future of environmental science, research and innovation.
Grants
ASDC is looking to partner with nine science and discovery centres and/or museums from their membership network. They are offering each delivery partner a grant of £9,000 to design a model of equitable youth engagements with NERC science. Proposals are encouraged to be co-developed with the involvement of a youth partner and small development grants of up to £250 will be available for their time, upon request.
Programme timeline:
April 2025 - 31st March 2026, with a delivery period of August 2025 - February 2026
Invitation to participate
For more details about the programme and its key objectives, target audiences, training, and evaluation approach, please read the full Invitation to Participate.
Next Gen Earth Invitation to Participate
Is your organisation eligible to apply?
All ASDC members can apply for the grant programme. Those who apply must demonstrate:
- Experience and/or partnerships in place to surface the opinions of young people (aged 7-16) through school, family and/or community engagements, and to ensure equity and agency is foregrounded within these interactions.
- Ability and/or previous experience utilising NERC science, content, people and/or places as the catalyst for inclusive engagements with young people.
- Understanding of the unique characteristics of their regions that may influence the relevant and meaningful engagement of participants with NERC science.
- Capacity to fully engage with the language and evaluation process within this programme.
Bidder’s Q&A session
ASDC will hold a bidder’s Q&A session via Zoom on 21st May 2pm-3.30pm, where all ASDC members interested in applying will have the opportunity to hear about the programme from the ASDC team, have their specific questions answered and hear the responses given to others who would be bidding.
This open and informal opportunity has been used in all previous ASDC programmes, to answer questions and give clarity over what centres need to deliver, schedules, audiences, grants, budgets and reporting before each centre applies.
Please book your place now
Deadline for applications: Thursday 19th June 2025, 4pm
Please note the application form will be released w/c 19th May
Recommended Reading
YESTEM Insight report: How to set up an equitable youth board
NERC Public Dialogue: contemporary issues of environmental science
