2026 Foodthink Climate Grant Project List: Public Notice

As extreme weather shifts from ‘news’ to ‘the everyday’, we need action rooted in the land and driven by real needs more than ever.

In late April this year, Foodthink officially launched the sixth round of the Lianhe Project small (action) grants. We aim to uncover locally grounded solutions that move beyond grand concepts, instead harnessing a community’s intrinsic strength to help frontline smallholder farmers and local communities tackle climate change.

Throughout the application period, we received a total of 58 proposals full of sincerity and a drive to act. These applications addressed topics of varying breadth and depth, ranging from ecological restoration to community composting, and from low-cost disaster risk reduction for smallholder farmers to women’s empowerment. Whether it was frontline producers drawing on local wisdom, or researchers and creators using data, art and theatre to reshape urban–rural ties, every tangible idea has enriched our vision of climate resilience.

Following an initial shortlisting by the project team, thorough online interviews, and scoring and deliberation by our expert panel, 12 projects ultimately stood out to be selected for the grant list of this round of the Lianhe Project.

List of Selected Projects

*Listed in no particular order

Review Panel

Du Ling | Director, Chengdu Shuguang Community Development Capacity Building Centre

Meng Fanqiao | Professor, College of Resources and Environment, China Agricultural University; Director, China Agricultural University Environmental Impact Assessment Centre

Liu Juan | Associate Professor, College of Humanities and Development Studies, China Agricultural University; Research Fellow, Beijing Innovation Centre for Rural Revitalisation and Urban–Rural Integration

Li Dajun | Director of Sector Development Projects, Beijing Heyi Green Charity Foundation

Kong Lingyu | Programme Director, Foodthink

Funding places are limited, but the spark of action is boundless. We deeply admire those partners who did not make this year’s list but are already taking action.

Going forward, Foodthink will continue to follow and support your projects through approaches such as matching outreach resources and connecting peer networks, helping more compelling food and farming stories find their audience.

Amidst these changes, let’s “take a small step first, then talk about the bigger picture”.

Editing and design: Z X

Layout: Xiao Shu

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