ThisIsCool Challenge 2023 – Winners Announced!

The This Is Cool Challenge aims to recognize and support innovative youth-led solutions that have high potential to accelerate sustainable cooling for all.  

As the planet warms, young innovators are implementing solutions in their communities and countries to make affordable, sustainable cooling solutions accessible to all. However, especially in the Global South, they need to access funding, networks and resources to demonstrate their ideas, scale their businesses and influence sector trends. 

Who can participate? 

Entries may be submitted by individuals or groups of up to 5 individuals, all under 35 years of age 

What are we looking for? 

Project proposals should fall into one of the following four categories: 

• Cooling for Thermal Comfort - Passive or active solutions for personal cooling, buildings, cities 
• Cooling for Food, Nutrition and Agriculture - Sustainable agricultural cold chain solutions 
• Cooling for Healthcare - Sustainable vaccine and medical cold chain solutions 
• Cooling and Artificial Intelligence - AI-powered solutions to revolutionize sustainable cooling 

How are ideas assessed? 

A panel of experts from SEforALL and partners evaluate submissions based on: 

• Solution scope, motivation and innovation 
• Impact and emission reduction 
• Growth potential and scalability 
• Quality of video pitches  

What do the winners receive? 

• Cash prizes for one winner in each track 
• One additional grand-winner cash prize 
• One Cool Up Special Prize for natural refrigerants 
• Spotlight features, networking and exhibition opportunities from SEforALL and partners for top 3 finalists in each track 

"Today we have a new site with 2000 trees and over 100 youth who are watching over these trees. We were also able to use the resources from this ward to do a site mapping exercise [...] and start engaging local government authorities to secure support for long-term viability" 

Ronny Mutua, Miti Mitaani (2022 Winners)