Take Action Lab: Environment & Sustainability

Young people asked. We listened.

Introducing Take Action Lab: Environment & Sustainability

One of the singular defining challenges of our time is climate change. Young people are eager to tackle this challenge and bring a sustainability focus to their education, careers and communities. At Tilting Futures, we understand that every job must become a green job, and that solving our climate crisis will require new approaches to education.

Since launching Take Action Lab: Human Rights in 2023, we’ve seen how engaging young people in co-creating and contributing to solutions unlocks their potential and helps them channel passion into purpose. And we’ve seen the incredible demand for this exact type of learning, with over 17,000 applications and a waitlist more than three times what our current program can accommodate. Over the past several semesters, we’ve heard the same message from our community of students, alumni, philanthropic and higher education partners: there should be a Take Action Lab focused on environmental issues.

Today, there is.
Take Action Lab: Environment & Sustainability will welcome its first class to George Town, Malaysia in August 2025!

We are immensely grateful to our visionary anchor donors Giving Pledge Signatories Mary Obelnicki & Craig Silverstein, Global Environmental & Education Philanthropists Sam Rose, and Ilaria Fusina & Adam Woodward. Thanks to their generosity, Take Action Lab: Environment & Sustainability is a reality.

“Equity and innovation in global education are the nexus at which so many of our most complex challenges converge: advancing environmental sustainability, preserving human rights, and ensuring every young person has the skills they need to thrive. As a proud donor to Tilting Futures, I know my investment directly addresses these challenges, working towards an educational system that promotes equity and empowers young people to address critical issues with compassion for our global community.” – Mary Obelnicki 

We need solutions now and young people are eager to deliver.

Take Action Lab: Environment & Sustainability brings together practical green skill-building with the foundational competency-building in empathy, collaboration and creativityour high-impact model is known for. Students will be at the forefront of locally led environmental efforts while living in a vibrant city and working side-by-side with leaders advancing conservation, clean energy, and climate resilience. Moreover, students will develop a true systems thinking understanding of environmental issues alongside the practical problem-solving skills needed to turn their ideals into action. Combined, these efforts will create new best practices and proof points for higher education globally, and accelerate the adoption of promising strategies for empowering young people worldwide.

George Town, Malaysia is the perfect place to anchor these learnings. The city’s sustainability efforts combined with its robust NGO network are already pioneering promising initiatives that can become global models. Our students will gain hands-on experience supporting local efforts so they can then bring their newfound skills and perspectives to their own communities around the world.

Your impact can propel their futures, while protecting ours.

As we celebrate the official launch of this program and open applications to young people globally, I invite you to join us in launching the next generation of climate leaders by making a gift to our Sponsor-A-Student campaign. Your investment can help create new scholarships, sponsor student cohorts from underrepresented regions, and launch new generations of creative, capable environmental leaders — all while creating the blueprint for making this exact type of transformative learning a standard of global higher education.