KIYA Community Futures Awards 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n Local Knowledge. Responsible Ideas. Better Futures.<\/strong><\/p>\n Every community faces challenges that may be difficult to see from the outside. Young people often understand these challenges closely because they encounter them in their schools, neighborhoods, and daily lives.<\/p>\n The KIYA Community Futures Awards 2026<\/strong> invites students to examine a social challenge affecting their own country and develop a thoughtful, original, and responsible response.<\/p>\n Participants may address any social issue, including challenges connected to:<\/p>\n children and families;<\/p>\n education;<\/p>\n disability and accessibility;<\/p>\n health and well-being;<\/p>\n poverty and economic opportunity;<\/p>\n public safety;<\/p>\n the environment;<\/p>\n aging populations;<\/p>\n technology and society;<\/p>\n cultural understanding;<\/p>\n rural communities;<\/p>\n migration;<\/p>\n youth participation;<\/p>\n social isolation;<\/p>\n discrimination or exclusion.<\/p>\n The purpose of the awards is not to identify the largest or most dramatic problem. It is to recognize students who understand a challenge carefully, respect the people affected by it, and design a practical path toward improvement.<\/p>\n Participation is free.<\/p>\n The 2026 Guiding Question<\/strong><\/p>\n What could your community become, and what would help it get there?<\/strong><\/p>\n Each participant must select one social challenge affecting the country in which the participant lives.<\/p>\n The submission should explain:<\/p>\n what is happening;<\/p>\n which community or group is affected;<\/p>\n why the issue deserves attention;<\/p>\n what the participant proposes and why.<\/p>\n The proposal does not need to solve the entire problem immediately. KIYA is interested in solutions that begin with a realistic first step and have the potential to grow.<\/p>\n Entry Formats<\/strong><\/p>\n Participants may choose one of the following two formats.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Track A: Community Action Brief<\/strong><\/p>\n The Community Action Brief is a written submission presenting the challenge and the proposed response.<\/p>\n Suggested length<\/strong><\/p>\n There is no specified length requirement.<\/p>\n Accepted format<\/strong><\/p>\n Microsoft Word<\/p>\n Track B: Community Futures Poster<\/strong><\/p>\n The Community Futures Poster allows participants to present their ideas through a visual design.<\/p>\n The poster must be accompanied by a brief statement explaining the meaning of the visual elements.<\/p>\n Accepted formats<\/strong><\/p>\n PDF<\/p>\n JPG<\/p>\n PNG<\/p>\n Participation Divisions<\/strong><\/p>\n Junior Division<\/strong><\/p>\n Students in Grades 6\u20138 or the equivalent school level.<\/p>\n Senior Division<\/strong><\/p>\n Students in Grades 9\u201312 or the equivalent school level.<\/p>\n Collegiate Division<\/strong><\/p>\n Students enrolled in an undergraduate college or university program.<\/p>\n Individual and Team Participation<\/strong><\/p>\n Students may enter individually or as a team of two or three students.<\/p>\n All team members should contribute meaningfully to the research, design, and preparation of the submission.<\/p>\n A student may appear in only one submission.<\/p>\n Evaluation Principles<\/strong><\/p>\n Submissions will be evaluated fairly according to the following criteria:<\/p>\n Community Understanding: 30%<\/p>\n Responsible Design: 25%<\/p>\n Practical Starting Plan: 20%<\/p>\n Original Contribution: 15%<\/p>\n Clarity: 10%<\/p>\n Recognition<\/strong><\/p>\n The KIYA Community Futures Awards do not provide cash prizes.<\/p>\n Recognition may include the following distinctions:<\/p>\n KIYA Community Futures Laureate<\/strong><\/p>\n The highest recognition for an outstanding submission demonstrating local understanding, responsible design, originality, and practical potential.<\/p>\n KIYA Distinguished Finalist<\/strong><\/p>\n Recognition for submissions demonstrating particularly strong overall quality.<\/p>\n Community Voice Citation<\/strong><\/p>\n For a submission that shows exceptional understanding of the people affected by the selected challenge.<\/p>\n Responsible Leadership Citation<\/strong><\/p>\n For a proposal that demonstrates strong attention to dignity, ethics, inclusion, safety, or transparency.<\/p>\n Practical Beginning Citation<\/strong><\/p>\n For a particularly realistic and well-developed first 90-day plan.<\/p>\n Creative Vision Citation<\/strong><\/p>\n For an original and compelling approach to a social challenge.<\/p>\n Visual Communication Citation<\/strong><\/p>\n For an outstanding poster that communicates a complex issue and proposed response with clarity and creativity.<\/p>\n KIYA Commended Entry<\/strong><\/p>\n For a submission demonstrating meaningful effort, insight, and promise.<\/p>\n Recipients will receive an official electronic certificate from the Korea International Youth Alliance<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Selected submissions may be introduced through KIYA\u2019s website, publications, exhibitions, youth forums, or social media channels.<\/p>\n The number and type of recognitions will depend on the quality and number of eligible entries. KIYA may decide not to present a particular distinction when no submission sufficiently meets its standard.<\/p>\n Submission Requirements<\/strong><\/p>\n Each entry must include:<\/p>\n Participant or team name<\/p>\n Full names of all participants<\/p>\n Age and current grade or university year<\/p>\n School or university<\/p>\n City and country<\/p>\n Email address<\/p>\n Participation division<\/p>\n Selected entry track<\/p>\n Submission title<\/p>\n Completed submission file<\/p>\n English translation, when applicable<\/p>\n Submissions should be sent to:<\/p>\n [KIYAcompetition@koreainternationalyouthalliance.org](mailto:KIYAcompetition@koreainternationalyouthalliance.org)<\/strong><\/p>\n Email subject line:<\/p>\n KIYA Community Futures Awards 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n Language Policy<\/strong><\/p>\n Submissions may be prepared in any language.<\/p>\n All non-English entries must include an English translation.<\/p>\n Poster participants may submit:<\/p>\n one bilingual poster;<\/p>\n separate original-language and English versions; or<\/p>\n the original poster with an English concept statement and translation document.<\/p>\n Judging will be based on the English version when the judging panel cannot evaluate the original language directly.<\/p>\n Originality and Academic Integrity<\/strong><\/p>\n Every submission must represent the genuine work and thinking of the participating student or team.<\/p>\n All quotations, statistics, images, research findings, and outside sources must be acknowledged.<\/p>\n Artificial intelligence tools may not be used to generate the central idea, write the submission, or create the principal visual work. Basic spelling, grammar, translation, and formatting assistance may be used, provided the participant remains the genuine author and creator.<\/p>\n Key Dates<\/strong><\/p>\n Final Submission Deadline: End of September 2026<\/p>\n Award Recipient Notification Date: End of October 2026<\/p>\n Late submissions may not be accepted.<\/p>\n Publication and Permission<\/strong><\/p>\n Participants retain ownership of their original work.<\/p>\n By submitting an entry, participants give KIYA permission to reproduce, translate, display, publish, and promote the work for noncommercial educational, recognition, and organizational purposes.<\/p>\n KIYA may edit formatting, correct minor typographical errors, or shorten excerpts for publication without changing the central meaning of the submission.<\/p>\n About the KIYA Community Futures Awards<\/strong><\/p>\n The program encourages young people to look carefully at the places they know, listen to the people around them, and consider how responsible action can begin.<\/p>\n The future of a community is not shaped only by large institutions. It is also shaped by individuals who pay attention, accept responsibility, and take the first step.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" KIYA Competition KIYA Community Futures Awards 2026 Local Knowledge. Responsible Ideas. Better Futures. Every community faces challenges that may be difficult to see from the outside. Young people often understand these challenges closely because they encounter them in their schools, neighborhoods, and daily lives. The KIYA Community Futures Awards 2026 invites students to examine a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"superbaddons-page-template","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-606","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/koreainternationalyouthalliance.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/koreainternationalyouthalliance.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/koreainternationalyouthalliance.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koreainternationalyouthalliance.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koreainternationalyouthalliance.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=606"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/koreainternationalyouthalliance.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/606\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":698,"href":"https:\/\/koreainternationalyouthalliance.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/606\/revisions\/698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/koreainternationalyouthalliance.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}