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The third Global Youth Forum of UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme, five days in Rosolina Mare, Italy, for 200 people aged 18-35 connected to a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Applications close 23 March 2026.
The third Global Youth Forum of UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme, the intergovernmental scientific programme behind the World Network of Biosphere Reserves. The forum gathers young people already working inside those reserves to shape how the network engages the next generation.
Two hundred places, five days, in Rosolina Mare on Italy's Adriatic coast.
People aged 18 to 35 with an active connection to a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve — living there, studying there, working there, volunteering or conducting research. That connection is the central eligibility test, and it is what distinguishes this from a general environmental youth conference.
A demonstrated interest in biodiversity, climate change or sustainable development is expected alongside it.
Accommodation and meals are provided. Travel support is limited and conditional — awarded from available funds against eligibility rather than guaranteed to everyone selected. Treat your flights as a cost you may carry.
Two hundred seats across the entire global network of biosphere reserves makes this a competitive forum. A specific, evidenced link to a named reserve will do more for an application than a general statement of environmental interest.
Applications close 23 March 2026, about eight weeks before the forum opens. Apply through UNESCO using the official link on this page.
Almost everything about this application turns on one thing: a demonstrable, active connection to a named UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Living, studying, working, volunteering or researching there all count — a general interest in conservation does not.
If you are not sure whether your area is a designated reserve, UNESCO publishes the World Network list. Check before you write anything else; it determines whether an application is worth making at all.
Two hundred places across a network spanning more than 130 countries makes this genuinely competitive. Applications that name the reserve, describe specific work done there, and connect it to the forum's themes will read very differently from those that describe environmental concern in general terms.
Accommodation and meals are provided. Travel support is limited and conditional — allocated from available funds against eligibility criteria, not guaranteed to everyone selected. Plan on the assumption that you may pay your own airfare to Italy, and treat any travel award as a bonus.
Italy is in the Schengen area, so most non-EU participants will need a Schengen visa. Appointment waits vary enormously by country and can exceed the eight weeks between the deadline and the forum.
Applications close 23 March 2026 for a forum opening 18 May.