The H&M Foundation is looking for bright minds that can transform fashion and change the way it is seen, worn, and made. For this, it has decided to award the Global Change Award to candidates with an idea. The competition is active for the academic year 2023-2024. 

The participants of the competition must be Swedish or international students who have a planet-positive early-stage idea. Participants must either be an individual or a group of a maximum of four people no less than 18 years of age to be eligible. Five winners will be selected and awarded a grant of 200,000 Euros, including invaluable coaching and support from the H&M Foundation and our partners Accenture, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, and The Mills Fabrica.

The H&M Foundation is a privately funded philanthropic foundation for the public good, headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. The foundation is supported by the Stefan Persson family, founders and main owners of the H&M Group. The foundation is also supporting the Global Change Award, which was first launched in 2015. 

The H&M Foundation contributes to real systems change and openly shares breakthrough innovation and solutions for anyone to adopt and scale along with providing emergency relief. The vision of the foundation is to enable an inclusive and planet-positive textile industry which they plan on achieving through exploring new opportunities, collaborations and different partners. 

Application Deadline: Interested individuals can submit their application to participate till 8th December 2023. 

Brief Description

• University or Organization: Global Change Award and H&M Foundation
• Department: NA
• Course Level: Competition
• Award: 200,000 Euros
• Number of Awards: 5
• Access Mode: Online
• Nationality: Domestic and International
• The award can be taken in Sweden.

Eligibility

• Eligible Countries: Students of all nationalities are eligible to apply.
• Eligible Course or Subjects: Candidates can apply for the Global Change Award organized by the H&M Foundation. 
• Eligibility Criteria: To be eligible, the applicants must meet all the following/given criteria:
• The applicants must accept the Terms & Conditions of the Global Change Award. 
• The applicants must be any individual or groups of up to four people. 
• The applicants must be over 18 years from anywhere in the world. 

How to Apply

• How to Apply: All interested students can apply with an application form. The application form must be uploaded on the official website shortly. 
• Supporting Documents: The students are required to present an early-stage idea that is planet positive and includes the following as it will be the basis of selection: 
• The idea’s potential planet-positive impact
• The idea’s ability to scale
• The team’s experience and capacity
• The idea’s level of novelty
• Admission Requirements: The applicants must have a promising early-stage idea, i.e., the idea that has not yet been proven. The idea must be planet positive. 
• Language Requirement: The students may typically be expected to be fluent in English. However, knowledge of the Swedish language will come in handy. 

Benefits

The winners of the Global Change Award will win the following benefits: 

• 200,000 euros to develop their innovation.
• Access to the one-year-long tailormade GCA Impact Accelerator, provided by the H&M Foundation, Accenture, The Mills Fabrica and KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. This includes support enabling the winners to accelerate towards scale and impact.
• Global visibility, recognition, and validation.
• Once the Accelerator program is up, all winners are invited to join the Alumni community with past GCA winners, who share tips, support, and network with each other.

Apply Now