How can innovative, youth-led solutions help build climate-resilient health systems in India and Brazil?

Overview

Climate change is fundamentally reshaping the health outcomes and futures of young people across Brazil and India. Brazil faces rising threats from extreme flooding, prolonged droughts and expanding vector-borne diseases. Children under five are among the most disproportionately affected, facing heightened risks of malnutrition, waterborne illness and dengue fever as climate patterns intensify. Meanwhile, India confronts some of the world's most severe heat waves, worsening urban air pollution and deepening water insecurity - conditions that place children and youth at acute and growing risk.

These complex, compounding crises create both an urgent challenge and a powerful opportunity. Young people are far more than just vulnerable populations—they are powerful agents of change. With roughly 33% of Brazilians and 42% of Indians under the age of 25, young people possess the energy, creativity and lived experience needed to drive progress. Innovative, locally-rooted solutions developed by and for young people offer a transformative path forward. Just as climate impacts compound across systems, youth-driven action can too.

Sanofi Foundation: Climate-Health Resilience for Youth Challenge seeks innovative, scalable solutions that harness the energy and ideas of young people across Brazil and India to both protect health today and build resilient health systems for future generations. Solutions of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Early & Preventative Action: Deploy local early warning systems and preventative health measures that protect children and youth from climate risks, like vector-borne diseases, extreme heat, water insecurity, and more.

• Health Systems & Workforce: Equip health facilities and frontline staff (including young healthcare professionals) with digital tools, emergency operational protocols, and climate-health training to sustain quality care during crises.

• Education, Data & Policy: Advance climate-health education, advocacy, and community-driven data collection using youth-led research and public awareness to inform decision-making and drive policy change.

• Physical Infrastructure: Build resilient local infrastructure such as community cooling centers, shaded green spaces, and flood-resistant health facilities to protect children and youth from extreme heat and other climate shocks.

• WASH & Nutrition: Scale community-based water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) projects and climate-resilient nutrition programs to prevent waterborne illnesses and combat malnutrition among vulnerable children.

Glossary of Key Terms

• Locally-led/Community-driven: Solutions designed, owned, and directed by the communities they serve, where local actors hold real decision-making authority over design, implementation, and resources, rather than being delivered to communities by outside organizations, even when those organizations have a long-standing local presence.

• Children: For this Challenge, refers to individuals under 18.

• Young People/Youth: For this Challenge, refers to individuals ages 15 to 24.

• Youth-led/driven: Young people act as co-creators and architects of their own solutions–holding leadership roles in design, decision-making and/or implementation–rather than serving only as beneficiaries or participants in adult-designed programs.

• Innovative: The solution includes a new technology, a new application of data, digital tools and/or analytics, a new policy model, or a new process for solving the Challenge.

Challenge Eligibility

Eligible solutions must:

• Help protect children’s and young people’s health in the face of climate change, and/or help build climate-resilient health systems for future generations.

• Use an innovative approach.

• Be at growth or scale stage (preferred), or a well-proven pilot with a clear and credible scale-up pathway. Concept and prototype-stage solutions are not eligible for selection. Solution stages that will be considered include:

  • Pilot: The solution has been launched in at least one community, has gathered compelling initial data, and has a clear plan for scale, but may still be iterating on design or business model. If for-profit, is generally working to gain traction and may have completed a fundraising round with investment capital.

  • Growth: An established solution available in one or more communities with a consistent design and approach, ready for further growth in multiple communities or countries. If for-profit, has generally completed at least one formal investment round (Seed stage or later). If nonprofit, has an established set of donors and/or revenue streams.

  • Scale: A standard solution operating in many communities or multiple countries and is prepared to scale significantly by improving efficiency. If for-profit, has likely raised at least a Series A investment round.

Organizations and Teams must:

• Be youth-led or driven.

• Be based in and led by innovators from Brazil and/or India.

  • While not preferred, solutions that are based elsewhere but already operating in Brazil or India, or that have clear expansion potential into Brazil or India are eligible if the solution is designed with and for local Indian or Brazilian communities.

• Designate a Team Lead who is at least 18 years or older. The Team Lead should be the CEO, Executive Director, Primary Investigator, or other key leader for your solution. If needed, another adult representative (an advisor, mentor, or other person involved with the project) can be designated as Team Lead.

• Be a registered non-profit (preferred), for-profit, or hybrid organization.

  • Previous Sanofi Foundation grantees are eligible to apply.

Solutions and Organizations/Teams may not include:

• Government or governmental institution-led projects.

• Political organisations, campaigns, and activities.

• Religious organisations or groups whose activities are sectarian in purpose.

• Organisations that discriminate on the basis of race, gender & gender identity, sexual orientation, marital status, religion, age, national origin, veteran's status, or disability.

• Projects that directly influence or advance Sanofi’s business, including the purchase, utilisation, prescribing, pricing, reimbursement, or recommendation for payment for its products.

• Payment of expatriate staff or headquarter staff based in countries not involved in the implementation of the Sanofi Foundation funded project.

• Mitigation programs and initiatives (CO2 reduction, carbon sequestration, energy solutions such as biofuels, clean cooking fuels etc.).

• Purchase of vehicles or construction of public buildings.

• Activities or organisations that are in breach with internationally recognised UN standards, including but not limited to Human Rights, Health Safety & Security, Labor rights, Anti Bribery and Corruption, Environment & Climate change, etc.

• Basic or clinical research projects, including clinical trials, outcomes research or other pharmaceutical studies.

• Purchase of supplies or equipment unrelated to a specific project or programme.

Applications must be written in English.

Evaluation and Judging Criteria

Through multiple rounds of review, MIT Solve, Sanofi Foundation, and expert judges will evaluate solutions based on the following criteria:

• Challenge Alignment: The solution addresses at least one of the key dimensions of the Challenge or the overall challenge question. The solution is innovative, youth-led, working in India and/or Brazil, and focused on the impacts of climate change on children and young people’s health.

• Potential for Impact: The planned solution implementation has the potential to impact the intended population.

• Feasibility: The team has a realistic, practical plan for implementing the solution, and it is feasible in the given context.

• Innovative Approach: The solution includes a new technology, a new application of technology, a new business model, or a new process for solving the Challenge.

• Human-Centered Design: The solution is designed with and for local communities, and the solution team demonstrates that they have the experience, relationships, data, and knowledge to deliver and scale a successful solution.

• Scalability: The solution has a plan for financial viability and the potential to be scaled to affect the lives of more people.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is running the challenge?

Sanofi Foundation aims to transform young lives from vulnerability to possibility. Our work is rooted in a simple conviction: when given the right support, children and youth don't just survive - they become the world's most powerful agents of change. We concentrate our efforts where need is acute and the opportunity for impact is profound: supporting young people facing serious disease, threatened by the climate crisis or disrupted by humanitarian crises. We practice catalytic philanthropy with purpose and precision. Locally rooted, driven by evidence and partnership-powered, we are grounded in a fundamental belief that young people's vulnerability is not inevitable. When given the right support, tools, and opportunities, they are not the world's most vulnerable population - they are its most powerful agents of change.

Solve is an initiative of MIT. Solving is core to what we do. We believe that to build a better future for all, we need new voices and ideas. We launch open calls for brilliant and bold tech-based solutions that solve big problems from anyone, anywhere in the world. To date, 500+ million lives have been reached. Selected innovators get the backing of MIT and our community of supporters to scale their impact and drive lasting change.

Who can apply and what are the parameters of the challenge?

Please refer to the Challenge Overview and Challenge Eligibility for more information.

What is the challenge timeline?

• November 10, 2026: Challenge Launch

• December 9, 2026: Application Clinic

• January 20, 2027: Challenge Close

• March 4, 2027: Finalists notified

• May 5, 2027: Winner announced

[*While we aim to follow the schedule above, dates are subject to change. Applicants will be notified if changes occur.]

Why should I apply to the challenge?

Access to a prize pool of $325,000 (USD) which will be awarded across up to 6 winning teams. The intention is to select 3 winning teams from Brazil and 3 winning teams from India (subject to change).

Beyond prize funding, Sanofi Foundation intends to support grantees throughout the full lifecycle of their projects, with the goal of helping organizations grow more durable, adaptable and self-sustaining over time. This includes:

• Regular one-on-one check-ins where teams can receive feedback, guidance, and help with problem-solving.

• Connections across Sanofi Foundation’s grantee community; facilitating peer exchange, shared learning and collaboration.

How will applications be reviewed?

Please refer to the Evaluation and Judging Criteria.

How are ‘children’, ‘youth’, & ‘young people’ defined for this challenge?

For this Challenge, the terms ‘young people’ and ‘youth’ are used interchangeably and refer to individuals ages 15 to 24. ‘Children’ refers to individuals under 18. Sanofi Foundation uses “children and youth” to describe the full continuum from childhood through the transition to adulthood.

While solutions to the Challenge may target both children and youth as ultimate beneficiaries, the drivers of the solution must be young people. Applicants are required to demonstrate that youth (ages 15 to 24) hold leadership roles in design, decision-making, and/or implementation of the solution—rather than serving merely as beneficiaries or participants in adult-designed programs. Children under 15 are welcome beneficiaries, but are not expected to lead or drive solutions.

Can I use generative AI to help me write my application?

We discourage using ChatGPT or other generative AI chatbots to write your application for you. Your application will sound impersonal or generic to reviewers, and this can strongly disadvantage your application in our selection process. We want to hear your passion for and perspective on your solution!

However, ChatGPT and other generative AI chatbots may be able to assist you with initial drafts for some application questions. If you do use GenAI tools to assist in your writing, you must check the content and ensure that it accurately reflects the current status of your solution. Fabricated or misleading information in your application may lead to the removal of your solution.

Will the intellectual property rights of applicants, as it pertains to their solution submissions, be protected by MIT Solve?

Yes, any intellectual property that existed prior to the creation of any solution (“Background IPR”) remains the property of its respective owners, and you are responsible for ensuring that you have the right to incorporate any such property into your solution and any potential project resulting from a prize through the Challenge.

Who do I contact if I have questions about my application?

If you have any additional questions, please attend the application clinic on December 9, 2026 (sign up here).

You can also email your questions to help@solve.mit.edu. Please allow three to five business days for a response.

Application Clinic

December 9, 2026: During this application clinic, Solve staff will go over key elements of the Sanofi Foundation: Climate-Health Resilience for Youth Challenge, including timeline, eligibility, frequently asked questions, and tips and tricks for your application. The second half of the session will be dedicated to answering questions from participants. This session will be recorded and posted for those unable to attend live. Sign up here.