Climate change does not affect everyone equally.
For 2026, Earth Storyteller turns its attention to a voice that has too often been missing from conversations about climate and environmental change: young women.
Across Indonesia, young women experience environmental change through their communities, livelihoods, bodies, cultures, and relationships with the places they call home.
Yet their experiences and knowledge are often absent from the narratives that shape public understanding of the climate crisis.
Earth Storyteller 2026 creates a space for young women to tell these stories in their own language, from their own experiences, and from within their own communities.
Fellows will explore:
Understanding environmental change through the realities of people, places, and ecosystems.
Exploring how environmental and climate issues intersect with inequality and power.
Recognizing lived experience, local wisdom, and community knowledge as valuable sources of understanding.
Turning research and lived experience into meaningful written, visual, audio, and digital narratives.
Learning how stories can travel beyond their original communities and contribute to wider conversations and action.
Earth Storyteller 2026 is a fellowship for 15 young women aged 18–35 from across Indonesia.
We welcome young women who:
Priority is given to women affected by climate-related disasters, Indigenous and local communities, persons with disabilities, informal workers and people from remote areas, and minority groups facing structural barriers to participation.
No journalism background required.
Each fellow develops a body of creative work throughout the program, including:
Long-form stories rooted in research, experience, and community perspectives.
Digital narratives designed to bring complex environmental issues into accessible public conversations.
Action-oriented ideas that translate stories and community needs into potential initiatives for environmental and social change.
Earth Storyteller presents two grant categories.
Every fellow will receive this grant to develop their feature article into a published storytelling content (for field visits and content production).
Turning the strongest project proposals into tangible initiatives rooted in the stories, communities, and environmental realities explored through the fellowship.
Find your story.
Develop your voice.
Bring it further.
Environmental degradation is often told through numbers: hectares of forest lost, species threatened, communities displaced, and temperatures rising.
But behind every number is a living reality. A changing forest, a community whose connection to ancestral land is being disrupted, or a species struggling to survive.
Earth Storyteller begins with these realities.
We believe stories can bring us closer to the people, places, and lives behind environmental issues. They help us understand not only what is being lost, but also the knowledge, resilience, and possibilities that remain.
Earth Storyteller Initiative is an annual capacity-building program organized by Sebumi since 2024.
It was born from a simple belief: changing the narrative can change who gets heard, who gets seen, and ultimately, who has the power to shape the future.
Across its journey, Earth Storyteller has sought to amplify narratives from three entities that are often absent, overlooked, or spoken for in mainstream environmental conversations:
Since 2024, Earth Storyteller has continued to grow as a space for young people to learn, create, and bring overlooked environmental stories into the public sphere.
The first Earth Storyteller cohort explored stories from landscapes and ecosystems, Indigenous communities, and endangered species. Bringing environmental realities often missing from mainstream narratives into the public conversation.
The second edition expanded Earth Storyteller from storytelling into collective action. In collaboration with the Global Youth Biodiversity Network (GYBN), fellows developed stories and initiatives that connected local experiences with wider movements for environmental protection and community resilience.
No. Earth Storyteller explores the broader relationship between people, nature, and the environment. In 2026, the fellowship focuses on amplifying women’s voices on climate justice.
This year Earth Storyteller primarily focuses on vulnerable groups, including women and communities whose experiences are connected to climate justice.
No. You don’t need a background in journalism or filmmaking. An interest in storytelling, environmental issues, and climate justice is what matters.
Fellows join as individuals. However, organizations, communities, creators, and other relevant parties can be involved as collaborators.
Earth Storyteller is a hybrid fellowship combining an offline bootcamp, online training, mentoring, peer learning, content development, and a public showcase (TBD).
Fellows will develop a feature article, social media content, and a project proposal based on the story and issue they explore.
Each fellow receives IDR 2.5 million to support content production, including field visits and other production needs related to turning their story into engaging content.
Each fellow will develop a project proposal to take their story further. Three fellows with the strongest proposals will receive support to realize their projects.
No. Projects can be small or large. What matters is that they are creative, relevant, feasible, and impactful.
Earth Storyteller aims to build a lasting community of young women who can continue sharing stories, amplifying voices, and contributing to climate justice conversations.
Ready to tell a story?
