Youth Leading Change for Alberta's Future

The Emerald Youth Grant (EYG) empowers young Albertans (ages 5–25) to design and lead environmental projects that inspire change and foster environmental stewardship. Each grant provides up to $1,000  to support meaningful initiatives.

Past recipients have launched initiatives such as The Power of Skate, a student-led sustainability brand that integrates environmental and social awareness, and the Strathmore High School Community Greenhouse, where students built a shared learning garden integrating soil health, renewable energy, and composting. Others have experimented with microbial fuel cells and led public awareness campaigns using radio and social media.

We will offer a pool of funding within the EYG program directed at supporting youth-led environmental projects from Northern-Alberta. This will offer up to $8000 in funding to support a maximum of 8 projects at $1000 each, engaging at least 100 youth and directly benefiting hundreds of community members.

How it will work:

Inspiration – Youth explore Alberta’s environmental leaders through AEF’s Emerald Documentary Series and What on EARTH Can We Do? podcast, sparking ideas and connecting them to role models.

Application + Selection – Groups apply with a concise proposal outlining their idea, participants, and expected impact. Applications will be reviewed monthly until the funding pool is fully distributed.

Project Delivery – Teams implement hands-on environmental/social impact projects in their schools.

Sharing + Reporting – Youth document and share results through assemblies, community events, and online stories, inspiring peers to replicate their ideas. 

Timeline:

January 2026 - Applications open May 1, 2026 - Application deadline June 12, 2026 - Final report due

The Emerald Youth Grant is about more than environmental outcomes—it’s about youth agency and hope. Many young people experience climate anxiety, feeling powerless in the face of global challenges. By funding their ideas, EYG turns concern into action, showing youth that their leadership matters. Along the way, they gain practical skills in teamwork, budgeting, and problem-solving that extends far beyond the project itself.

This investment will directly fund at least eight youth-led projects in Northern Alberta in 2026, leaving behind gardens, composting systems, signage, and changed behaviours that endure for years, while also building confidence and reducing climate anxiety among participants.

There are numerous groups that this pool of funding will benefit; however, the primary group is young Northern-Albertans aged 5–25. This funding will give them the resources and confidence to lead environmental projects that matter to them, helping to reduce climate anxiety and positively impact their communities.

A standout example of the kind of young people who will benefit from this project is Justin and Aaron Tan, co-founders of the Microbial Fuel Cell Games. Their project engaged students in Grades 4–9 to discover how microbes in garden soil can generate electricity. This innovative, youth-led initiative not only advanced STEM learning but also sparked curiosity about renewable energy among hundreds of students. It shows how EYG projects can empower youth to become educators, innovators, and leaders for their peers.

In addition to young people, this project will benefit the schools and communities that these young leaders come from in various ways, like creating shared spaces for learning and connection, inspiring sustainable habits, and leaving behind tangible legacies such as gardens, composting systems, and renewable energy demonstrations. These projects will spark new conversations, provide real-world teaching tools for educators, and model how small-scale action can drive meaningful change, ensuring that the impact reaches far beyond the youth participants themselves.