Unearthodox's Exploration Co-Lab 2027

The Exploration Co-Lab is an alternative incubator for edge-walkers: innovators with an ambition for all life on Earth to thrive, but whose work doesn't fit into neat boxes. Over 10-months, we offer thinking space, cohort-based learning, and the customised support that radical ideas need.

This open call is for initiatives addressing root-cause issues in humanity’s relationship with nature. We are looking to support visionary work that goes beyond incremental fixes. Are you shifting underlying worldviews with radical new paradigms? Are you challenging institutional mechanisms built on commodification, anthropocentrism, or coloniality? Or deepening relationships with the more-than-human world through imaginative thinking?

If you are operating at this level of depth and possibility, we would love to hear from you. Applications are open from 15 September to 16 November 2026.

This is a space that supports people navigating complexity, embracing their ideas for renewing humanity's relationship with nature and with each other.

Systems change demands slow, relational, deeply contextual work, and new patterns of attention. Too often, this kind of work is dismissed as risky or ahead of its time, and left without the support it needs. The Exploration Co-Lab exists to change that, for the people doing the work, and for the conditions around them.



The open call begins on 15 September 2026, inviting applications until 16 November 2026. From there, we enter a period of careful evaluation: shortlisting runs from 17 November to 11 December, followed by conversations (interviews) between 14 and 18 December. The cohort begins to take shape in early 2027, with final selection occurring between 5 January and 4 February with a panel of external jurors. We will notify and onboard participants between 5 and 28 February 2027, embarking on the 10-month incubation journey together from 1 March to 31 December 2027.

This alternative incubator is open to all who share a commitment to reimagining systems for a just, vibrant, and regenerative future.

It has been designed for people who are curious and ready to challenge the status quo and reimagine possible futures as part of an engaged and interdisciplinary cohort. You value participation, trust, and empathy as practical tools, and want to contribute to shared learning and collective problem-solving. You think critically and creatively about nature-society challenges and more just futures, refusing easy answers in favour of better questions, and you co-create pathways for change alongside the communities most affected by them.

This call is for you if:

• You are working on an early-stage initiative at the intersection of environmental and societal change. You don't need to have everything figured out, but you do need to be past the idea stage. There should be some groundwork laid, whether that's initial research and testing, a pilot, or active community engagement. A concept on paper alone isn't quite enough for this call.
• You might be in one of these phases:
  • Testing: Likely with minimal resources, you are learning what works and what doesn't by engaging directly with the people, environment or living systems you're meant to serve.
  • Proving: You have a tangible proof of concept that demonstrates the core idea can work, and you need funding to keep testing, refining, and building momentum.
  • Deepening: You have begun to see what your initiative can make possible, and you're ready to deepen the work by adapting your approach or exploring new pathways.
  • Pivoting: You might be leading a more established initiative that requires a meaningful shift in direction, approach, or model.
  • Or, somewhere between these phases. If you're unsure which description fits, lean toward the one that best describes your current activity and mention it in your application.

If this sounds like you, even if your journey has been quiet, messy, internal, or nonlinear until now, we invite you to apply.

We especially welcome underrepresented voices from the global majority and historically excluded communities, and we embrace diversity across age, gender identity, location, and background. As a Swiss-founded organisation, we also aspire to deepen exchange between Swiss and global innovators working on regeneration. To this end, we aim to include at least one Swiss-based initiative in each annual cohort, selected on the strength and relevance of its work alongside all others.

A couple of practical notes for planning: regular online group calls are scheduled within UTC−6 to UTC+6, so participants in those zones will find it easiest to join synchronously. All activities are conducted in English.

Nature-society challenges, for us, arise from how human societies and natural systems interact. This can show up in a variety of ways, from climate change to biodiversity or habitat loss. We're looking for initiatives that reimagine what's possible at this intersection, creating space for thriving living systems for both the natural world and the people within it.

To help you reflect on whether your work fits this open call, we invite you to consider:

• What future is your idea helping us to push towards? And away from?
• How does it encourage people to see, act, connect, or live in new ways in relation to the more-than-human world?
• How does it challenge current systems and norms, to help all life on Earth thrive together?
• What conditions might this work need in order to flourish?
• What deeper purpose connects you and others working in this space, on this type of problem?

The Exploration Co-Lab is built on a foundation of regeneration, justice, and deep systems change. To honour this commitment, we are not looking for projects that:

• Reinforce extractive or dominant systems.
• Prioritise profit, speed, or growth above purpose.
• Address surface-level symptoms rather than root causes.
• Seek individual advantage without a genuine interest in collective learning and allyship.

Before you begin, take a moment to review this document for the full application form preview, eligibility and evaluation criteria, frequently asked questions, terms and conditions, and tips we compiled after reviewing last year's applications.

For any other questions, please contact colab@unearthodox.org.

The 2027 Exploration Co-Lab is made possible by Unearthodox core funding, alongside pro bono and low bono collaboration from our wider community. We are especially grateful to The Mercator Foundation Switzerland, whose generosity in 2026 helped shape the direction of our programme. We warmly invite new and returning partners to join us in 2027.

For partnership opportunities, please contact sofia.papadakaki@unearthodox.org.

Real change doesn’t arrive neatly packaged. It emerges through deep relationships, long-term commitment, and the courage to hold space for the unknown. Rather than asking, ‘what’s the next big idea?’, we ask generatively: ‘what kind of ecosystem makes lasting change possible?’ We explored this most recently in our report with the Post-Growth Institute, 'Nurturing Innovation: Weaving containers with care and courage for collective change.