EIL Explore Fund Inviting Young Leaders to Apply
Formerly known as the EIL Travel Awards, the programme was rebranded in 2015 as EIL Explore to celebrate its 20th anniversary. Established by EIL Intercultural Learning in Cork, Ireland, the awards programme has grown over the past two decades from a single cultural immersion programme in Japan, to over 30 awards worldwide in 2015.
Past participants include Web Summit co-founder Daire Hickey, model Roz Purcell, and Storyful journalist Donie O’Sullivan, as well as a number of other community leaders; a number of past participants have also gone on to become EIL Board members, committee members and even key staff members in Adam Peerbux, Aileen Linehan and Jackie Ní Fhogartaigh.
EIL Explore is for people who have demonstrated or who believe they can demonstrate leadership potential and people who would not ordinarily be able to avail of such travel opportunities for social or economic reasons. Most participants will volunteer, some will share Irish culture while learning the culture of their hosts and others will experience and learn about youth activism.
EIL Explore is a programme that supports participants with an interest in global issues to travel abroad for the purpose of volunteering, cultural immersion, or language education through a variety of awards. Operating for 25 years, 2020 will be our most successful year with a fund of over 145,000 Euros set aside to sponsor 45 Explorers.
The EIL Explore programme is funded by EIL Intercultural Learning.
Based on principles of experiential learning (learning by doing), EIL programmes are designed to provide tools to survive and thrive in another culture or in a different language, to foster personal development, to build communication and leadership skills, and to be active citizens in an interdependent world.
In short: The aim of EIL Intercultural Learning is to enrich lives and to inspire global citizenship.
On your return, all participants are required to complete an Action Project that reflects and shares their learning with their community. EIL Explore awards are funded travel opportunities for people who are interested in the personal challenge of becoming a global citizen, while exploring and immersing themselves world cultures. See the lists of Explore awards below to learn more about what options are available to you. With a wide range of ages and themes, there is an EIL Explore award for everybody!
| Under 18? | Over 18 |
Eligibility
- The Awards are open to a range of different age categories starting from 15 years (e.g. Secondary School applicant must be at least 15 years on 1 June, 2020. Please ensure that you are eligible for the Award you are applying for.
- All applicants must be long-term residents on the island of Ireland. An Irish passport is not required.
Find Out More & Apply
The deadline for applications is Friday 6 December 2019 at 12 noon.