We believe that more individuals will be inspired to act and push for systems transformation if we tell new stories of hope—stories that depict a brighter future.
As young professionals who work on these issues, we know you have many such stories waiting to be told. We want to hear compelling stories from you. We are looking for: stories of action; stories that challenge power, dreams of new futures of justice and agency and; stories of art, science and technology that enable action and create lasting change.
Submit your pitch in this form. The pitch should be a 500-word narrative on the proposed content of the story. We would love to read a few lines about what the core premise would be, how you would construct the beginning, middle and end of the story and who the main characters are. In the next few lines, tell us about yourself - who you are as a writer, where you are from and how this story is connected to you as an individual. Finally, give us a line or two about what kind of evidence you intend to use for your story (e.g. provide links to videos, reports, other blogs or stories, etc.). We are keen to read new and original voices, and would love to read unpublished, fresh takes on situations.
Submission and Deadlines:
Submit a 500 word maximum short pitch that adheres to the instructions above in this google form by 30th March 2023.
After the first stage of the competition, the selected participants will be asked to submit a 1500-2000 word story for the final stage by the end of April 2023. All these stories will undergo a curatorial process to be published on the Resilience Platform.
The winners will be announced in June 2023 at the Evidence Forum
Eligibility Criteria:
This competition is open to young professionals of 18-35 years of age.
Applicants from OECD DAC list of ODA recipient countries are eligible to apply. Please refer here to see if you are eligible to apply.
Judging Criteria:
The pitches will be judged by a panel consisting of experts. All decisions will be final and not appealable. The entries will be judged on the following criteria:
Originality and creativity - How unique is your voice? How well does your pitch stand out from others?
Communication and clarity - Are you succinct and clear in your pitch? Does it have a clear narrative arc, with a compelling beginning, middle and end?
Evidence - Have you given an idea of the kind of evidence you will quote in your story?
Relevance - Is the story relevant to the description of the theme above? How does it relate to the crises of climate change, the pandemic, economic and health system slumps, etc.? Does it describe novel or different ways that have emerged as people learn to deal with these crises?
Inclusivity - Have you been inclusive in presenting your resilience perspective? Does it take into account narratives from marginalized groups who may not otherwise have a voice? Does it present a perspective beyond the dominant narratives of resilience?
