Join a Global Youth Activism and Education Festival 2026: How to Get Into the YouthxYouth Global Learning Festival

Some opportunities don’t come with a price tag attached, but they still pay out—handsomely. Not in cash, but in the kind of social capital, clarity, and momentum that can change what you work on (and who you work with) for years.

The YouthxYouth Global Learning Festival 2026 is one of those. It’s a hybrid, international gathering built around a simple premise: education doesn’t need another polite panel discussion. It needs people—especially young people—who are willing to interrogate what schooling is doing, who it serves, and what it could become if we stopped treating injustice like an “unfortunate side effect.”

YouthxYouth describes itself as a global collaborative of youth activists and adult allies committed to reimagining education for collective liberation. Translation: this isn’t a “future leaders” photo-op. It’s a working convening where you meet others doing real organizing, community learning, curriculum experiments, mutual aid education, classroom resistance, youth leadership work, and all the messy, necessary stuff that rarely fits into a neat NGO slide deck.

Also: it’s billed as the 6th and final Learning Festival. If you like being part of “the last one,” this is your moment. Final editions tend to have a special electricity—like the closing night of a tour, when everyone stops conserving energy and just plays.

At a Glance

What This Opportunity Actually Offers (And Why It Matters)

Let’s be honest: “networking” can mean anything from life-changing introductions to awkward small talk over weak coffee. YouthxYouth’s festival is closer to the first—because it’s organized around shared work, not just shared attendance.

First, you’re stepping into a global room of people who care about education as a justice issue. That matters because education spaces can be isolating. If you’re the student organizer pushing back on punitive discipline, the youth worker trying to build culturally rooted learning, or the teacher experimenting with liberatory pedagogy while your system begs for compliance, you can start to feel like you’re shouting into the void. This festival puts you in conversation with others who speak your language—sometimes literally, always politically.

Second, the festival promises access to YouthxYouth’s pedagogy and resources co-created over years. Think of this like getting a peek into someone’s well-worn toolkit: the stuff they’ve tested, revised, argued about, and improved in the field. That’s very different from downloading a shiny “best practices” PDF that has never survived contact with reality.

Third, the structure is designed as a 3-day learning journey guided by a central learning question. The flow—What Is → What If → What Now—is simple and quietly brilliant. It keeps the gathering from getting stuck in either doom (“everything is broken”) or fantasy (“imagine if…” with no next step). You start with what’s real, you imagine what’s possible, then you land on what you’ll do.

Finally, because it’s hybrid and tied to Glocal Hubs, you’re not limited to one geographic center. The festival is built to be both global and local: the big connective tissue of an international convening, with the groundedness of local participation. If you’ve ever felt that international conferences can float above real community needs, this model is a corrective.

Who Should Apply (With Real-World Examples)

YouthxYouth says they invite “everyone and anyone”—and then clarifies the vibe: youth activists, adult allies, community members, organizers, weavers, friends, fellow dreamers, and anyone drawn to transformative education and collective liberation.

Here’s what that looks like in the real world.

If you’re a youth organizer working on education access, language justice, disability justice in schools, decolonial curriculum, school safety that doesn’t rely on policing, or community-led learning spaces, you’ll likely find this festival both validating and useful. You’ll meet others who understand that “education reform” isn’t just policy; it’s power.

If you’re an adult ally—a teacher, nonprofit staffer, researcher, librarian, parent organizer, mentor, or community educator—this can be a rare chance to practice being in rooms where youth leadership isn’t symbolic. Come ready to listen, contribute thoughtfully, and not center yourself. (Yes, that’s direct. It’s also the entire point.)

If you’re building something experimental—a youth-run learning circle, an after-school community garden program, a pop-up classroom, a mutual aid study group, a storytelling project—this is the kind of gathering where your “weird little pilot” suddenly makes sense as part of a global pattern. You might find collaborators, or simply the reassurance that you’re not alone in trying to do education differently.

And if you’re simply drawn to the work—maybe you’re early in your journey, still learning the vocabulary, still figuring out how education and liberation connect—this can be an entry point. You don’t need to have all the answers. You do need to show up with humility and curiosity.

The Festival Experience: What You’ll Likely Do in Those 3 Days

YouthxYouth describes the festival as a “convergence” for learning and co-action, with multiple sessions ranging from Activist Classrooms to Community Gardens, and even an Open Mic.

So picture it less like a single-track conference, and more like a village market of ideas: structured sessions, informal exchanges, unexpected art, practical workshops, and the kind of conversations that start as “Where are you from?” and end as “Let’s build something together.”

The guiding question and the What Is/What If/What Now arc suggests you’ll move through:

• Sense-making (naming the challenges and realities in education systems and communities)
• Imagination (prototyping alternatives, sharing models, questioning assumptions)
• Commitment (co-action, next steps, collaborations, resource sharing)

This design matters because many gatherings are either heavy on critique or heavy on optimism. YouthxYouth is aiming for a third thing: critique with traction.

Insider Tips for a Winning Application (Even If It Feels Open-Ended)

Because eligibility is broad, the “competition” (if we can call it that) often comes down to clarity. Here are concrete ways to stand out—without performing or exaggerating your work.

1) Tell a story with stakes, not a résumé with titles

If you’re a “youth advocate” or “education consultant,” that’s fine—but it’s abstract. Instead, share one specific moment that explains your why. The day a friend was pushed out of school. The community circle that changed how you think about learning. The project that failed and taught you something real.

A good application reads like: Here’s what I’ve seen. Here’s what I’m trying. Here’s what I’m hungry to learn next.

2) Name your community, not just your identity

Plenty of applications say “I’m passionate about education.” Okay—whose education? In what context? If you work with rural learners, refugee communities, informal settlements, disabled students, language-minoritized youth, or girls navigating unsafe school routes, say so plainly.

Specificity signals seriousness.

3) Show how you’ll participate in a hybrid space

Hybrid gatherings reward people who can engage without needing perfect conditions. If you’re applying virtually, mention how you’ll make the most of it: joining from a hub, hosting a small watch-party, facilitating a local reflection circle, or bringing insights back to a youth group.

If you expect barriers (connectivity, time zones, caregiving), name them—and share your plan. Organizers prefer a realistic participant over an idealized one who disappears.

4) Translate big values into actual practice

“Collective liberation” is a huge phrase. Don’t hide behind it. Give one example of what it means in your work: shared decision-making with youth, community accountability practices, participatory curriculum design, conflict transformation, or moving resources toward those closest to the problem.

5) Make your learning goals embarrassingly clear

A strong application can answer: What do you want to leave with? Examples:

• A better way to run youth-led learning spaces without adult takeover
• A curriculum approach that centers local history and language
• Strategies for safety and care that don’t rely on punishment
• New partners for a cross-country youth education project

Clear learning goals make it easy to say yes to you.

6) Don’t oversell; demonstrate reflection

This festival is about learning. If you only describe wins, you’ll sound polished but uninteresting. Mention a challenge you’re still working through—burnout, resistance from school leadership, funding constraints, internal team conflict—and what you’ve learned so far.

7) If you’re an adult ally, state your ally stance

Not a manifesto—two sentences will do. Signal that you understand youth leadership is not decorative. If you’ve practiced co-creation, shared power, or youth governance, mention it.

Application Timeline (Working Backward From January 12, 2026)

With a January 12 deadline, you’re applying during the season when many people are juggling holidays, exams, travel, family obligations, and end-of-year fatigue. Your best strategy is to treat this like a short sprint, not a last-minute scramble.

Aim to have your core responses drafted by mid-December. That gives you time to step away for a day, reread with fresh eyes, and tighten your story.

In the last two weeks of December, ask one trusted person to read your draft and answer one question: After reading this, do you understand what I do and why I want to attend? If they can’t summarize it, revise.

During the first week of January, finalize and submit. Don’t wait until January 12 unless you enjoy avoidable stress. Airtable forms can be friendly, but internet connections and file uploads have a talent for misbehaving at the worst time.

Finally, block 30 minutes after submission to write down what you hope to get from the festival. If you’re accepted, you’ll already have your intentions ready—and that alone can change your experience.

Required Materials (What to Prepare Before You Open the Form)

The official link goes to an Airtable application form, so expect typical form-based inputs. You’ll make your life easier if you prepare a small “application kit” in advance:

• A short bio (50–150 words) that explains who you are, where you’re based, and the education/community work you’re connected to.
• A longer statement (250–500 words) describing your work, your values, and what you want to learn or contribute at the festival.
• Examples of your work (links to a project page, Instagram, writing, a community initiative, a video—anything that shows your practice). Keep it relevant; two strong links beat six random ones.
• Basic logistics you might be asked about: time zone, preferred mode (virtual or hub-based), accessibility needs, language considerations, and any support needs.

Write your longer statement in a separate document first. Form fields are not a safe place to draft prose. They are where prose goes to die.

What Makes an Application Stand Out (How Organizers Likely Think)

YouthxYouth is inviting a broad crowd, which usually means organizers are curating for a healthy mix: geographies, experiences, roles, and perspectives. While they don’t publish a scoring rubric in the text provided, gatherings like this typically prioritize:

Alignment. Do you actually care about transformative education and liberation work, or are you shopping for a certificate and a LinkedIn line?

Contribution. Not “what can you teach everyone,” but what you can bring into the shared space—stories, practices, questions, creative work, facilitation energy, local context.

Learning posture. People who are curious, reflective, and honest about what they don’t know tend to be better participants than people who sound like they’re auditioning to be keynote speakers.

Follow-through. If you can explain how you’ll take insights back to a community—youth group, classroom, organization, hub—your participation becomes more than personal development. It becomes distribution.

In short: they’re not just picking attendees. They’re building a temporary community. Show that you know how to be part of one.

Common Mistakes to Avoid (And How to Fix Them)

1) Writing in slogans instead of specifics

If your application is full of big phrases—“empower youth,” “transform education,” “create change”—but contains no concrete example, it’s hard to trust. Fix it by adding one story and one project detail (who, where, what you did).

2) Making it all about you

Yes, it’s your application. But the festival is communal. If you never mention your community, collaborators, or who benefits from your work, you’ll sound disconnected. Fix it by naming the people you’re accountable to.

3) Hiding your needs

If you have access needs, time zone barriers, or connectivity issues, don’t pretend you don’t. Hybrid events work best when organizers can plan for reality. State what you need calmly and clearly.

4) Treating “adult ally” as a participation trophy

If you’re an adult, avoid language that positions you as the savior of youth. Fix it by describing how youth leadership shapes decisions, and what you’ve learned from youth organizers.

5) Submitting something that reads like a first draft

Even a short form deserves a second pass. Remove repetition, shorten long sentences, and cut anything that sounds like you wrote it to impress someone you don’t respect.

6) Waiting until the last hour

Online forms don’t accept “my Wi-Fi betrayed me” as an excuse. Submit early enough that a technical issue is just annoying, not fatal.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this a grant or paid fellowship?

No. This is a learning festival / convening, not a cash award. The value is in connection, learning, visibility, and shared resources.

Who is eligible to apply?

YouthxYouth frames eligibility broadly: youth activists, adult allies, and anyone drawn to transformative education and collective liberation. If your work or curiosity sits at the intersection of learning and justice, you’re likely within scope.

Do I have to be based in Africa because the tag says Africa?

The listing is tagged “Africa,” but the festival is described as a global gathering. If you’re outside Africa, you can still apply unless the form states otherwise. Check the application for any region-specific questions.

What does hybrid mean here?

Hybrid typically means there’s online participation plus in-person participation via local hubs (“Glocal Hubs”). You may not need to travel internationally to be meaningfully involved.

What if I am not a student or teacher?

That’s fine. This festival isn’t limited to formal schooling roles. Community educators, artists, organizers, parents, and youth workers often have the most practical insight about how learning really happens.

Is this competitive?

Likely yes, simply because global festivals attract lots of interest. But “competitive” here usually means curated for fit and mix—not a winner-takes-all academic contest. A clear, grounded application goes a long way.

Can adults apply without a youth partner?

The description suggests adults can apply as allies. If the form asks how you practice allyship or youth partnership, answer honestly and concretely.

What should I emphasize if I am early in my activism journey?

Emphasize your learning goals, your commitment to show up, and any local context you bring. Curiosity plus sincerity beats inflated claims every time.

How to Apply

Treat the application like a doorway conversation: Who are you, what do you care about, and how will you show up in the space? Draft your key answers in a separate document first, then paste them into the form once they read cleanly.

Before you submit, do a quick final check: your story is specific, your learning goals are clear, and your tone sounds like you—not like a brochure. Then submit with at least a couple of days to spare, because January 12 comes fast.

Ready to apply? Visit the official opportunity page here: https://airtable.com/appYm9UwzGZxELiYA/pagddQoeSdspFB2yw/form

If you want to be extra strategic, keep a copy of every answer you submit. If you’re accepted, those same answers become your personal roadmap for the festival: what you came for, what you plan to build, and what you refuse to let slip away once the closing session ends.