Announcement3 min read
Introducing the CLINK Youth Solutions Challenge 2026
Our first flagship pilot begins this September, bringing young people and specialist partners together around problems that affect young lives.
Read storyA youth-centred ecosystem organisation
Connecting young people, expertise, organisations and technology.
CLINK connects young people with the expertise, organisations, technology and opportunities they need to turn the challenges affecting them into practical solutions. We do not build every solution ourselves. We build the platform through which the right people create solutions together.
Four core functions: Leadership, Innovation and Solutions, Networks and Opportunities, Knowledge and Evidence
Strategic proposition
Connect the right people
Bring young people together with organisations, technical experts, institutions and funders around challenges that matter to them.
Build the right capacity
Develop leadership, practical skills, critical thinking and the networks young people need to act on what they care about.
Create the right solutions
Support youth-led teams and specialist partners to design, test and improve responses that work in real communities.
Why we exist
Vision
A future where young people lead, innovate and collaborate to create lasting solutions to challenges affecting their communities.
Mission
To equip young people with the skills, leadership, networks and opportunities to thrive, and connect them with organisations, expertise and technology to co-create practical solutions to challenges affecting their lives and communities.
The best youth-focused solutions emerge when young people, specialist organisations, knowledge, technology and resources work together.
Young people bring
Lived experience, ideas and energy.
Partners bring
Expertise, resources and institutional capacity.
CLINK brings
The platform that connects them.
What we do
Four core functions
CLINK operates through four connected functions. Thematic issues such as health, climate or education are challenge areas addressed through these functions, not separate departments.
Theory of change
How change happens
Our model follows a clear sequence, from young people identifying what affects them to promising solutions being tested, documented and scaled.
- 01
Young people
Young people identify needs, challenges and opportunities from their lived experience.
- 02
Capacity
CLINK builds leadership, practical skills, critical thinking and knowledge.
- 03
Connection
Young people are connected to mentors, specialists, organisations, institutions and opportunities.
- 04
Collaboration
Young people and partners co-design responses using appropriate technology and evidence.
- 05
Solutions
Teams develop campaigns, services, products, community interventions, digital tools or policy responses.
- 06
Testing and learning
Solutions are tested, measured, documented and improved.
- 07
Impact
Promising approaches are strengthened, replicated, scaled or used to influence programmes and policy.
Thematic areas
Issues we take on with partners
CLINK addresses issues affecting young people through partnerships and youth-led solutions. Thematic areas are challenge areas, not separate departments, and the portfolio evolves as evidence and community needs change.
Health and Wellbeing
Health information, access, prevention, youth-friendly services and innovation.
GBV, Safety and Protection
Prevention, safeguarding, awareness, digital safety and referral linkages, delivered with qualified specialist partners for technical services and case management.
Climate and Environment
Youth climate leadership, environmental sustainability, green innovation, tree planting, waste and community resilience.
Education and Learning
Access, digital learning, literacy, skills, career development and learning innovation.
Employment and Livelihoods
Employability, entrepreneurship, career pathways, digital work and opportunity access.
Civic Participation and Governance
Youth voice, civic engagement, accountability, policy dialogue and leadership.
Digital Inclusion and Technology
Digital literacy, responsible technology, AI awareness, digital safety and technology-enabled solutions.
Social Inclusion
Disability inclusion, access to opportunities and participation of marginalised youth.
Emerging Youth Issues
New issues can be added when evidence shows they require a youth-centred response.
Flagship project 2026
CLINK Youth Solutions Challenge 2026
Young people solving problems that affect young people.
Identify challenges affecting young people, connect youth teams with relevant experts and organisations, and support teams to co-design and test practical responses.
The flagship is not simply a competition or hackathon. It is CLINK’s first demonstration of its ecosystem model.
Pilot sequence
- 1Listen100+ young people engaged.
- 2Identify20 priority youth problems documented.
- 3Select10 promising ideas and teams selected.
- 4ConnectRelevant specialist partners matched to teams.
- 5Co-designTeams work with experts to validate needs and design responses.
- 6Build5 multidisciplinary teams develop prototypes or interventions.
- 7Test3 promising solutions tested with real users and communities.
- 8ShowcasePublic demonstration of solutions and learning.
- 9Continue1 to 2 promising solutions connected to post-pilot support, partners or funding pathways.
Partnership model
How collaboration works
Partnership is central to CLINK's identity. We deliberately avoid duplicating specialist organisations and instead structure collaboration around youth needs.
- 01
Identify
- CLINK
- Listen to young people and define the challenge.
- Partner
- Sector knowledge and contextual insight.
- 02
Connect
- CLINK
- Bring together young people, specialists and institutions.
- Partner
- Technical experts, networks and services.
- 03
Co-design
- CLINK
- Facilitate youth participation and solution design.
- Partner
- Technical validation and programme expertise.
- 04
Implement
- CLINK
- Coordinate youth-led components and collaboration.
- Partner
- Specialist delivery, resources and institutional systems.
- 05
Learn
- CLINK
- Collect evidence, document results and facilitate reflection.
- Partner
- Technical interpretation and learning.
- 06
Scale
- CLINK
- Connect promising solutions to funders, systems and wider networks.
- Partner
- Scale pathways, resources and institutional adoption.
2026 pilot targets
What the first pilot commits to
These are the targets for the 2026 Youth Solutions Challenge pilot. They are commitments to be measured, not verified results. Targets are baselined before being presented as final performance commitments.
- 100+
- Young people engaged
- 20
- Priority youth problems documented
- 10
- Ideas and teams selected
- 3
- Promising solutions tested
Stories and insights
Notes from the work
Updates from the pilot, perspectives on youth-led solutions, and honest reflections on what we are learning.
Get involved
There is a place for you in this work
CLINK grows through the people and organisations who take part. However you want to contribute, there is a way to work together.
For young people
Find programmes, mentorship, fellowships and opportunities, or bring a problem you want to work on.
Explore opportunitiesFor partners and experts
Bring technical expertise, institutional systems or delivery capacity into youth-led solutions.
Partner with usFor funders and supporters
Support the pilot, back promising solutions and help them continue after testing.
Get involvedNot sure where you fit? Tell us what you care about and we will point you in the right direction.
Contact CLINKConnecting young people. Enabling solutions.
The best solutions are built together.
Whether you are a young person with an idea, an organisation with expertise, or someone who wants to support the work, there is a place for you in what we are building.