The GAYAP Effect is the third component under the multi-year Today Today, Congotay! project (2023-2026) funded by Open Society Foundations, where we lean on the Visual Arts become to help raise awareness of climate justice issues in the region.
Learn more about the initiative and application process below!
Background
Narratives are more than stories—they shape how we see the world, define what we believe is possible or fair, and influence our daily choices and systems. The narrative approach led by Puentes encourages not just imagining a better future but actively practising it through lived experiences that reflect shared values. Through The Cropper Foundation’s Today Today, Congotay! arts for climate justice project, the Global Narrative Hive is supporting Caribbean communities to experiment with narratives rooted in culture, care, and climate justice. The focus on interconnection highlights how climate justice depends on recognising our shared struggles and building collective, relationship-driven responses across borders and generations.
Framework for Interconnection & Climate Justice
The Caribbean faces urgent questions about how we live together amid the escalating impacts of the climate crisis—longer dry seasons, rising heat, and stronger storms. These are linked to global systems that prioritise profit over sustainability, leaving Caribbean nations vulnerable despite their minimal contribution to the problem. Climate injustice is rooted in colonial legacies, debt, and structural underinvestment, yet dominant narratives still blame individuals for systemic struggles. True climate justice requires recognising these historical inequities and restoring broken relationships—between people, communities, and nature. Caribbean traditions of mutual aid, like Gayap, show how interconnection and solidarity have long supported resilience. But modern life, shaped by digital isolation and transactional relationships, is eroding these bonds. This disconnection undermines our collective capacity to respond to climate challenges. A just future demands renewed investment in community life, shared spaces, and systems of care that empower the most affected and enable cooperation, equity, and shared responsibility.
Caribbean Visual Storytelling Experiments on Climate Justice and Interconnection
We are inviting small teams of 3 people in five Caribbean countries to take part in a creative experimentation process focused on climate justice and interconnection. Each selected team will receive $5,000 USD to design and carry out a narrative experiment using visual storytelling. This sum is intended to be allocated to the implementation of the experiment. An additional $3,000 USD will be made available to support honoraria for team members over the period of design and implementation of the experiment. This should be included in the proposal.
This process is about testing how visual mediums e.g. such as murals, photo essays, posters, comics, animation, digital media or community installations can help shift how people understand the links between climate change, inequality, and shared responsibility. These experiments do not have to be polished campaigns but must be focused on learning what resonates in real spaces, with real communities.
Each team must include people from at least two different sectors and must have at least one visual artist. Teams can come from fields such as activism, environmental work, education, health, youth organising, farming, public service, or local media. We are looking for cross-sector collaboration and creativity.
We encourage you to read the guidelines thoroughly before submitting your applications!
What Selected Teams Will Create
- A visual story that brings to life the idea of interconnection through the lens of climate justice, grounded in a Caribbean context.
- An in-person experience that helps people engage with the story. This could be through a community art build, a school workshop, a small public event, or another creative gathering.
Projects can be early-stage or experimental. What matters most is that they test how narrative change can take root in everyday spaces.
Key considerations
- Clear links to climate justice. Your story should reflect how climate change is connected to broader issues of inequality, power, and survival especially in contexts where people are already feeling the effects. Show how interconnection is essential to climate solutions.
- Narrative experimentation. We want to support teams that are curious and bold about trying new approaches to narrative. Your project should help test whether a particular story, format, or experience can shift mindsets, open dialogue, or build new relationships.
- Place-based and people-centred. Your proposal should focus on a real space or community. We want to see how narrative work can land in a specific context regardless of size. This could be a village, a school, a city street, a coastal community, or a farmers’ market.
- Multi-sectoral collaboration. Teams must include people from different walks of life. We are looking for projects that bridge sectors bringing together artists, organisers, educators, farmers, or others with a shared commitment to justice and creativity.
This call is part of a wider effort to support narrative experimentation in regions experiencing intersecting climate, social, and democratic pressures. It parallels and will be included in the 2025 Inspiratorio project being led by Puentes in Latin America, where teams are also exploring how interconnection can be made visible through story and practice.
Before applying, please review the requirements listed below. These are divided into two categories:
- Basic Requirements: These must be met for your application to be considered.
- Additional Criteria: These are optional, but they can strengthen your proposal and improve your chances of selection.
Basic Requirements
- Cross-sector teams including a visual artist
Each team must be made up of 3 people from at least two different sectors, with at least one member being a visual artist. We are looking for collaborations between artists, activists, educators, community organisers, or others who bring different perspectives and experiences. The aim is to create strong visual stories that speak to climate justice and interconnection in a way that feels grounded and emotionally resonant.
NB: The team lead will be the person to whom payment is made and who will have responsibility for managing the experimental grant. The lead can either receive the funding as an individual or through an organisation.
- Project must be based in the Caribbean
This Call takes a broad definition of the Caribbean Region, inclusive of CARICOM’s member and associated states, as well as non-English speaking Caribbean territories. Your work must focus on a specific space or community in one of the eligible countries. While the team does not need to be entirely based in that country, the team lead and the impact and engagement must be clearly rooted there.
Translation and interpretation services will be made available across all major languages of the Region. Underrepresented languages will also be supported, where those services are available.
- Propose a visual story that explores the value of interconnection through a climate justice lens
The story should help people think about how we are linked to others through shared struggles, environments, and responsibilities. It should highlight values like cooperation, reciprocity, and solidarity. Stories should also reflect what kind of future we want to build in our communities.
The story should help build connections and invite people to act, reflect, or imagine together.
- Design a meaningful in-person experience
The story should not stand alone. It must connect with a real-world experience. This can take place:
- Before the in-person experience, to invite participation or spark interest
- During the experience, as part of a shared activity or creative process
- After the experience, as a way to reflect and deepen what was learned together
This experience should bring people together in a way that feels creative, engaging, and memorable. It could be an art-making session, a public display, a workshop, or something else entirely. It should make space for people to feel connected and to participate in shaping or sharing the story.
The experience should help people see how we rely on each other, and how climate justice depends on cooperation and care. It should encourage community reflection on how we can live these values more fully.
- Respect for human rights and non-partisan approach
Proposals must avoid partisan political agendas and must not promote division or harm. Projects should align with human rights principles and aim to include rather than exclude.
Additional Criteria (Optional but Encouraged)
These elements are not required, but including them may improve your application:
- Intersectional perspective
Projects that reflect an awareness of how climate justice connects with issues of gender, race, class, disability, territory, and other identities or systems of power will be viewed positively. We encourage proposals that reflect the complexity of people’s lives and how different struggles are connected.
- Clear audience and learning goals
If your team can explain who you are trying to reach, why you chose them, and how you plan to learn from this process, your proposal will be stronger. We are interested in projects that not only share stories but also test whether they are working and reflect on what can be improved.
- Innovative formats for your context
We want to support creative ideas that feel new or unexpected in your community. This could be a format or space that has not been used in this way before, or a collaboration that brings people together in a new way. Tell us why your idea will stand out and why it matters for your context.
What do we offer?
- Support grant of up to US$8,000.00, transferred to the local currency for the participating team.
- Personalised accompaniment, advice, and continuous feedback from the Global Narrative Hive’s narrative work team and network throughout the 4 months of this exploration’s execution.
- Opportunity to exchange knowledge, reflections, and learnings about narrative work with activists and artists from different parts of Latin America and the Caribbean during key meeting moments.
- Support for the dissemination of your project through a digital strategy coordinated by Inspiratorio.
Stages of exploration and important dates
- Proposal Submission: Interested teams can submit their proposals through the official application form that The Cropper Foundation will make available from July 7 to July 28, 2025. The form will close at 11:59 p.m. Atlantic Standard time on July 28.
Application form (English): https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/3a7wxT3wic
Application form (Spanish): https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/Ddya2sH9PP
Application form (French): https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/B7bUDKNqMX
- Selection Process: On August 4, The Cropper Foundation and the Global Narrative Hive will notify the selected teams and ask them to sign a letter of commitment. If they do not accept, the opportunity will be transferred to a pre-selected team. This process will conclude on August 6.
- Fund Disbursement: Between August 4 and 11, arrangements will be made for the disbursement of funds to the selected projects.
- Start of Narrative Exploration: The narrative exploration phase officially begins on August 7 for all selected projects. A compulsory introductory meeting will be held for all selected teams on August 8, as a collaboration among key programming partners: The Cropper Foundation, the Global Narrative Hive and Puentes.
- Individual and collective support (virtual): Throughout the 4 months of exploration, two collective workspaces will be scheduled with the selected projects, and optionally they will have the possibility of scheduling two individual meetings with the Global Narrative Hive team at the request of each participating team.
- Closing of the Exploration and Support Phase: The exploration and support phase will conclude on December 12.
- Virtual Exhibition Celebration: During the first quarter of 2026, a Virtual Exhibition of the five final projects will be held in conjunction with the Inspiratorio team featuring the ten projects under their initiative. This space will be dedicated to sharing the results and experiences of the participating projects.
Process for financial support and fund disbursement
- The disbursement of funds will be managed by The Cropper Foundation.
- The transfer of funds will be carried out via international bank transfer to the account designated by the selected organisations, coalitions, associations or activists. In the case of organisation representatives, funds will be deposited into the organisation’s bank account.
- Collectives without legal representation or legal personality must coordinate with a legally constituted organisation or an authorised natural person to receive funds on their behalf.
- For individual recipients, it is recommended to consult the applicable tax regulations in their country for natural persons.
- Prior to the disbursement of funds, team leads will be required to sign an agreement with The Cropper Foundation. The time of receipt of funds will depend on the diligence of each entity/collective to complete the forms and provide the required information. It is expected that all disbursements will be made before mid-August.
- We have allocated the period July 28 – August 11 for this process. The Cropper Foundation team will be available to assist with and facilitate this process. However, it is important to consider the possibility of delays due to unforeseen circumstances, so it is recommended to be prepared for this.
Commitments of the parties to this exercise
From The Cropper Foundation/Global Narrative Hive, we commit to:
- Maintain clear and effective communication with all participants, responding in a timely manner to any questions or concerns that may arise.
- Agree with the selected projects on a messaging platform that allows us more fluid communication.
- Conduct a fair selection process, ensuring equal opportunities for all proposals received.
- Offer continuous and personalised support to the selected teams, providing advice and feedback throughout the project execution process.
- Facilitate the connection of participants from the Caribbean and their counterparts in the different subregions of Latin America, thus promoting the exchange of knowledge and experiences between different contexts and cultures.
- A collective learning environment that applauds mistakes and encourages enjoyment.
From those who are selected to participate, we expect:
- Commitment to fulfilling the purpose and requirements established in the terms of reference of the call.
- Agreement on (together with the rest of the selected projects) a messaging platform that allows us more fluid communication.
- Teams to work collaboratively and committedly, actively participating in all stages of the process, from planning to execution and final evaluation of the project.
- The most to be made of the 4 months of the narrative exploration exercise, however, we will not require that the products be fully finalised by that time.
- Open and transparent communication with the organising team, reporting any eventuality or challenge that may arise during project implementation.
- Punctuality and compliance with organised collective meetings, as it is a challenge to find schedules that work well for all countries in the region.
- A firm commitment to the respect for all human rights to be demonstrated at all times, recognising the importance of inclusion and diversity in all its forms. We invite you to maintain an open and receptive attitude towards the search for common ground among the different movements, with the conviction that the defence of the rights of one group never results in the detriment of the rights of another. It is everyone’s responsibility to build an environment of constructive and respectful dialogue, where all voices are heard and valued equally, with the aim of moving towards a more dignified and just world.