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Evoke

Impact Hub Harare · Sep 25–27 2026

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EVOKE · HARARE · SEP 25–27, 2026

The loop starts with you.

A three-day creative challenge on circular economy.

You join a team of five, take a real Harare challenge, and turn it into a graphic novel chapter and a working prototype. On Sunday you present both to judges and to the community.

Apply now ↗See the three days

Ages 18 to 30, in Harare. Free. No experience needed.

WITH

  • The World Bank
  • Impact Hub Harare
  • W. W. Reynolds Foundation

THE IDEA

An idea passes through many hands and comes back changed.

Harare already runs on second lives. Materials, machines and ideas move from hand to hand and come back worth more than before. That movement is a loop, and it is what circular economy looks like when people, not bins, are at the centre of it.

Over three days, your team picks a real material, habit or service that stops somewhere in the city, designs where it goes next, and builds that answer: as a chapter of a graphic novel and as a prototype you can hold.

You do not need to know anything about circular economy to start.

Five young people around a workshop table in Harare, sketching and building over a glowing map, jacarandas outside the window.
  1. FRIDAYSep 25Impact Hub Harare

    You get the brief and meet your team

    The challenge opens, the rules land, and teams form. By the end of the day you know what your team is building and who you are building it with.

  2. SATURDAYSep 26Impact Hub Harare

    You design and build

    Research, story, character design, materials, first working version. Mentors from Impact Hub Harare circulate between the teams all day.

  3. SUNDAYSep 27Impact Hub Harare

    You finish it and you present it

    Final chapter, final prototype, and a live pitch to guest judges and to the community. Every team presents.

Your team walks out with a graphic novel chapter and a working prototype. The detailed brief, the constraints and the materials land on Friday, when it opens.

Two team members presenting a graphic novel page and a prototype on a rooftop in Harare, the city behind them.

WHAT YOU BUILD

What you build here does not stay here.

YOU BUILD
A graphic novel chapter and a working prototype, built by your team of five from a real Harare challenge.
IT GOES TO
A live pitch to guest judges and the community on Sunday, and then to the Evoke teams in Bogotá, São Paulo and Boulder, who respond to it.
YOU KEEP
Portfolio-ready work with your name on it, a certificate, and three days of practice with people who do not work or study where you do.
AND YES
The winning team takes USD 1,000 and mentorship to continue the work. The second team takes USD 500.

Teams need every kind of mind.

Writers, artists, builders, systems thinkers and founders work side by side. In school or out of it, working or studying, ages 18 to 30. Pick your contribution in the form below.

EDITIONS RUNNING · 2026

One global network across four countries.

The four 2026 editions run at the same time, with the same method and different subjects. Teams cross paths along the way: participants exchange work and mentors follow more than one site.

You build in Harare and talk to the people building in Bogotá, São Paulo and Boulder.

Where it is happening

QUESTIONS

Before you apply.

WHO'S BEHIND THIS

EvokeThe World Bank

Evoke is a global network of young changemakers.

  • 15+ YEARS · 10+ COUNTRIESEvoke started at the World Bank in 2010 and now runs as an independent nonprofit. It has run missions with young people in more than ten countries.
  • MEASURED, NOT ASSUMEDThe method was tested in a randomized controlled trial, with measurable gains in skills and in the sense of agency of the people who take part.
  • THIS EDITION · HARAREIn Harare, Impact Hub Harare runs the challenge and the World Bank funds it. What the teams build here joins the work of the other 2026 editions.

* Randomized controlled trial: measurable gains in problem-solving, collaboration and sense of agency.

Do I need experience with graphic novels, prototyping or circular economy?

No. Teams are mixed on purpose, and everyone learns hands-on during the three days. What you bring is what you already do, and the willingness to point it at something unfamiliar.

Who can apply?

Anyone aged 18 to 30 who can be in Harare for the three days. In school or out of it, working or studying, any background.

Can I apply with friends?

Yes. One person fills out the form and lists the rest of the team. Teams are five people, so a smaller group is completed with other participants. Applying on your own works just as well, and most people do.

How much does it cost, and what is the time commitment?

Taking part is free. The challenge runs all three days, Friday September 25 to Sunday September 27, at Impact Hub Harare, through the final presentations. If you have one conflict inside the three days, tell us in the application. It does not disqualify you.

What happens to the work we make?

Your name stays on it, and you keep portfolio rights to everything your team makes. The finished work is shown publicly and travels to the Evoke teams in Bogotá, São Paulo and Boulder, who respond to it.

What does the winning team get?

USD 1,000, mentorship to continue the work, and a certificate. The second team takes USD 500. Every participant who completes the three days receives a certificate.

When do I hear back?

Applications close on September 21 and everyone receives an answer by email by September 23, two days before the challenge starts.

What is Evoke?

A youth empowerment program that started at the World Bank in 2010 and now runs as an independent nonprofit. Young people work through narrative missions and build real projects. The method was tested in a randomized controlled trial.

APPLY

Apply by September 21, 2026.

Takes about three minutes. On your own or with a team: if you apply as a team, one person fills this out and lists the others.

September 25–27, 2026 · Impact Hub Harare · 25 spots

The selection results go to this address.

Only for schedule and location updates close to the event, on WhatsApp if you have it.

How you'll contribute *No prior experience required. Pick as many as fit, and if yours is not here, pick the closest. Everyone does a bit of everything.
Applying solo or with a team? *

Two or three sentences. We read every one; it is how we build teams that fit together.

Applications close September 21, 2026.