ABOUT RAD Cohort
The Research, Activate, Deepen Cohort (RAD Cohort) fosters youth-led radical collaboration and climate justice approaches to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Through RAD Cohort, youth are equipped with the skills, resources, and connections to transform their communities in ways that are collaborative, intersectional, creative, bold, and relevant.
Through a multi-month journey, participants explore dimensions to radical collaboration, working together their peers and a community of mentors to:
‣ RESEARCH gaps & opportunities for collaboration in their communities;
‣ ACTIVATE new partnerships and projects to address these impact gaps; and,
‣ DEEPEN connections & knowledge on climate justice, community care, and more.
WHY RAD Cohort
In 2015, then United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon introduced the Sustainable Development Goals by describing the need for what he called “transformative development.” It was a call to action for the world to approach global problems holistically, by tackling the ways different agendas overlap and amplify each other.
Climate action – SDG 13 – presents an important opportunity to bring in diverse voices and actions together. However, few tools and efforts exist today to achieve a collaborative and cohesive approach to tackling the SDGs, in particular SDG 13. YCL believes Radical Collaboration is needed to bridge the silos that exist within and between current efforts to implement the SDGs.
WHO SHOULD APPLY
Youth 18-30 currently based in so-called Canada who are interested in cultivating a community of care and curiosity, and are keen to take climate action within their communities.
RAD 2.0 COHORT
View the projects from our 2023-2024 RAD Cohort!
RAD COLLAB TOOLKIT
The RAD Collab Toolkit is a creative product of Youth Climate Lab’s RAD Cohort as well as an emergent collection of insights and brilliance from the YCL team over the years. This toolkit is an open invitation for deeper reflections on how we collaborate and who we collaborate with — a space for the integration of lessons and values that we hope will guide radical climate and SDG efforts.
RAD 1.0
Curious about past RAD projects? Click to see projects from our 2021-2022 RAD Cohort!
The 2023-2024 RAD Cohort is possible due to collaboration with the 4Rs Youth Movement, Wawanesa Insurance and Community Foundation of Canada. The RAD Cohort is also funded in part by the Government of Canada under the Canada Service Corps.