COY21 Call for Cultural Program: Bring Your Culture to Antalya, Türkiye 🌍

Deadline: 20 September 2026 — just two days away, so if this interests you, move fast.

What Is It?

The Call for Cultural Program is an open invitation for young people, artists, Indigenous representatives, and cultural organizations to contribute a cultural showcase at COY21 — the 21st Conference of Children and Youth on Climate Change — taking place in Antalya, Türkiye. COY21 is organized by YOUNGO, the official youth constituency of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and is scheduled to take place in Antalya from November 5–7, 2026, immediately before the UNFCCC COP31 summit. 

The cultural programme itself runs under the theme "One Planet, Many Cultures, Shared Future." It aims to recognize the importance of cultural diversity, creative expression and intercultural collaboration in advancing meaningful climate action. In practice, this means music, dance, storytelling, craft, and heritage displays — the kind of programming captured in the flyer's imagery of instruments, masks, and traditional dress — woven into the wider climate conference. 

Who Is It For?

The programme is designed as an inclusive space for young climate leaders, Indigenous representatives, artists, cultural organizations and youth-led initiatives from different backgrounds. If you make or lead cultural work — traditional performance, visual art, fashion, food, oral history — and want to connect that work to climate advocacy on an international stage, this is built for you. 

Local Turkish youth organizations including the Social Climate Association Coalition, Youth Climate Envoys Platform and Habitat Association are supporting the programme, alongside co-hosts from Australia, giving it a genuinely cross-cultural spread of participants.

Why It Matters

The theme recognizes that people around the world hold different cultures, histories and traditions while sharing a common dependence on the planet's ecosystems and resources. Rather than confining climate advocacy to policy panels, the programme lets participants communicate climate realities through the creative and cultural forms their communities already use.  

Key Details

•Event: COY21 – Conference of Children and Youth on Climate Change

•Cultural Programme Theme: "One Planet, Many Cultures, Shared Future"

•Location: Antalya, Türkiye

•Conference Dates: November 5–7, 2026

•Application Deadline: 20 September 2026

•Organizer: YOUNGO (UNFCCC youth constituency)

How to Apply

Apply here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfBB1P0nqfef0TzeiUeVeuiHyHzs-XGZ6D4eHGujFnzSy7MQw/viewform