Driving Climate Resilience Narratives in Cape Verde: The National Geographic Storytelling Grant 2026
A National Geographic Storytelling Fellowship on Climate Resilience 2026 This represents a unique opportunity to amplify the voices and experiences of Cape Verde in the face of the challenges posed by climate change. The Cape Verdean archipelago, with its exposed location and intrinsic dependence on natural resources, finds itself on the front line of the climate crisis, facing rising sea levels, desertification, and acute water scarcity. This context demands not only concrete mitigation and adaptation actions, but also a deep understanding and communication of the innovative ways in which Cape Verdean communities are developing resilience.
This grant program aims to support storytellers – journalists, photographers, filmmakers, artists, and other storytellers – dedicated to documenting and sharing the complex realities of climate resilience. The central objective is to highlight local strategies, emerging solutions, and human narratives that demonstrate adaptability and perseverance in the face of a constantly changing environment. Through visual and narrative storytelling projects, we intend to showcase Cape Verdean ingenuity to the world and inspire global action.
Climate resilience in Cape Verde manifests itself in various ways. From ancestral techniques for water and soil conservation, reinvented for current challenges, to the adoption of renewable energies and sustainable agricultural practices adapted to arid conditions, the population demonstrates a remarkable capacity for innovation. Coastal communities, for example, are exploring methods to protect their living and subsistence areas from erosion and salinization. At the same time, economic diversification, focusing on sustainable tourism and the blue economy, emerges as a crucial strategy to reduce vulnerability to climate shocks.
The 2026 National Geographic Climate Resilience Storytelling Grant offers substantial funding and the prestige associated with the National Geographic brand, enabling high-quality projects to be developed and disseminated internationally. This support is vital to empowering local and international storytellers who wish to delve deep into the nuances of life in Cape Verde, capturing the essence of its struggles and victories in building a more resilient future. By bringing these stories to light, we hope to foster constructive dialogue and drive investment and collaboration towards the environmental and social sustainability of the archipelago.
Applications for this scholarship will be open until May 25, 2026More information about the eligibility criteria and the application process can be found at: https://www.nationalgeographic.org/society/grants-and-explorations/
