Deadline: 03-Jul-2026
The Learning Differently programme supports innovative projects that help disadvantaged young people aged 13 to 25 build skills through active pedagogy and learning by doing. Projects must involve participants working together on a group project for at least 35 hours and producing a useful, tangible solution that responds to a real local need.
The programme focuses on youth empowerment, social inclusion, digital technology, responsible digital practices, self-confidence, motivation, collaboration, creativity, communication, critical thinking, and re-engagement with education, employment, and community life. All activities must be free for participants.
What is the Learning Differently Programme?
The Learning Differently programme supports projects that help disadvantaged young people learn through practical experience.
The programme is based on active pedagogy, where participants develop skills by working together on real projects rather than through traditional top-down instruction.
It is designed for organisations supporting young people who may be disconnected from education, employment, training, or community life.
Main Purpose of the Programme
The main purpose of the programme is to help young people develop confidence, skills, motivation, and social connections through practical learning.
The programme aims to:
- Support disadvantaged young people
- Promote learning by doing
- Strengthen youth empowerment
- Develop collaboration skills
- Build creativity and communication skills
- Improve critical thinking
- Re-engage school dropouts and job seekers
- Respond to local community needs
- Encourage responsible use of digital tools
- Promote social inclusion
- Support sustainable development
- Help young people reconnect with education, employment, and community life
Target Beneficiaries
The programme is intended for disadvantaged young people aged 13 to 25.
Target participants may include:
- School dropouts
- Young job seekers
- Young people facing exclusion
- Young people with low self-confidence
- Youth needing motivation and direction
- Young people disconnected from education or employment
- Youth who can benefit from practical, collaborative learning
Core Learning Approach
Projects must be based on active pedagogy and learning by doing.
Participants should learn by actively creating, testing, collaborating, problem-solving, and presenting their work.
The learning process should help participants build practical and transferable skills.
Minimum Project Time Requirement
Participants must work together on a group project for a minimum of 35 hours.
This time should allow young people to:
- Understand the local need
- Develop project ideas
- Use digital tools
- Build or test a solution
- Work as a team
- Improve communication and problem-solving
- Prepare a final presentation
- Reflect on their learning and achievements
Required Project Outcome
Each project must result in a useful and tangible solution.
This means the project should produce something practical, visible, or usable, such as:
- A prototype
- A digital tool
- A physical object
- A community solution
- A service model
- A resource
- A product or process responding to a local need
The solution should be meaningful for the partner, community, organisation, company, cooperative, or Sustainable Development Goal being addressed.
Local Need Requirement
Projects must address a real local need.
The need may be connected to:
- A community
- An organisation
- A company
- A cooperative
- A Sustainable Development Goal
- A social or environmental challenge
- A local service gap
- A practical problem identified by an external partner
Preference will be given to projects that respond to an external request.
Partnership Requirement
Each project must include an operational partnership with the entity whose need is being addressed.
The partner should help:
- Validate project specifications
- Support project development
- Provide real-world context
- Participate in the final presentation
- Confirm the usefulness of the proposed solution
This partnership ensures that the project is connected to a real need rather than being an isolated training activity.
Digital Technology Requirement
The use of digital technology is mandatory.
Projects must include the use of:
- Digital machines
- Software
- FabLab resources
- Digital design tools
- Digital manufacturing tools
- Other relevant digital technologies
Projects should also raise awareness of responsible digital practices, including responsible use of digital tools and awareness of responsible artificial intelligence.
FabLab Requirement
Projects must have access to a FabLab or a FabLab partner.
This is required for:
- Prototype development
- Object manufacturing
- Digital fabrication
- Testing practical solutions
- Supporting hands-on learning
A FabLab partner can help young people use tools, machines, and digital manufacturing methods to create their final solution.
Responsible Digital Practices
Projects should help young people understand how to use digital tools responsibly.
This may include awareness of:
- Responsible artificial intelligence
- Safe use of digital tools
- Ethical digital practices
- Digital inclusion
- Data and privacy considerations
- Creative and practical use of technology
- Avoiding harmful or passive digital consumption
Eligible Project Themes
The programme supports projects that combine active learning, youth empowerment, digital technology, and community impact.
Eligible themes include:
- Active pedagogy
- Learning by doing
- Youth empowerment
- Social cohesion
- Community-based projects
- Collaboration skills
- Creativity
- Communication
- Critical thinking
- Re-engagement of school dropouts
- Support for job seekers
- Local community needs
- Digital technology
- Responsible digital tools
- Responsible artificial intelligence awareness
- Social inclusion
- Self-confidence
- Motivation
- Sustainable development
Partner Organisations Supporting Young People
Projects should be implemented in partnership with organisations that directly support disadvantaged young people.
Where applicants do not directly work with the target group, they must include a referral partner.
The referral partner should provide:
- Ongoing support during the project
- Support after the project
- Participant follow-up
- Help promoting participants’ achievements
- Help recognising participants’ skills
Final Presentation Requirement
Participants are expected to present the solutions they create to project partners.
This final presentation helps young people:
- Build confidence
- Practice communication
- Showcase their skills
- Take pride in their achievements
- Receive feedback from partners
- Connect their work to real-world needs
- Demonstrate the value of learning by doing
Funding Use
The requested budget must be realistic and directly linked to project implementation.
Funding may be used for:
- Project development
- Coordination with partner organisations
- Support for young participants
- Promotion of the initiative
- Materials required to implement the project
- Resources needed for group project delivery
- Digital or fabrication-related materials
- Activities that help participants complete the final solution
All activities must remain free for participants.
What is Not Funded?
Funding cannot be used for:
- General operating expenses
- Salaries of permanent staff
- Activities that are not directly linked to the project
- Costs that do not support participant learning or project delivery
Applicants should ensure that the budget is practical, transparent, and connected to the project’s learning and community objectives.
Ineligible Project Types
Certain types of projects are not eligible if they stand alone as the main activity.
Ineligible projects include those that consist solely of:
- Top-down training
- Digital workshops
- Media activities
- Intercultural journeys
- Mentoring activities
- Construction projects
Projects should not be passive or one-directional. They must involve active, collaborative learning and result in a tangible solution.
Organizational Capacity Requirement
Applications will be assessed based on the organisation’s capacity to implement the project successfully.
Applicants should demonstrate:
- Team expertise
- Relevant experience
- Strong partnerships
- Clear project methodology
- Planned sessions or groups
- Expected number of beneficiaries
- Gender distribution
- Ability to support disadvantaged young people
- Ability to manage learning-by-doing activities
- Capacity to deliver a tangible final solution
Key Concepts Explained
Active Pedagogy
Active pedagogy is a learning approach where participants gain knowledge and skills by doing, experimenting, collaborating, and solving real problems.
Learning by Doing
Learning by doing means participants build skills through hands-on activities rather than only through lectures or theory.
FabLab
A FabLab is a fabrication laboratory where people can use digital tools, machines, software, and materials to design, prototype, and manufacture objects.
Responsible Artificial Intelligence
Responsible artificial intelligence means understanding how AI tools should be used ethically, safely, transparently, and with awareness of their risks and limitations.
Social Cohesion
Social cohesion refers to stronger trust, connection, cooperation, and participation among people in a community.
Sustainable Development Goal
A Sustainable Development Goal is one of the global goals adopted by the United Nations to address social, economic, and environmental challenges.
How the Programme Works
Organisations submit project proposals that combine active learning, digital technology, and a real local need.
Participants work together for at least 35 hours on a group project.
They use digital tools or FabLab resources to create a tangible solution.
The project partner validates the need, supports development, and participates in the final presentation.
Young people gain confidence, skills, motivation, and stronger connections to education, employment, and community life.
How to Apply
Applicants should prepare a proposal that clearly explains the project design, target group, partnerships, digital component, budget, and expected outcomes.
Suggested Application Steps
- Confirm that the project targets disadvantaged young people aged 13 to 25.
- Identify the local need the project will address.
- Secure an operational partner connected to that local need.
- Ensure the project is based on active pedagogy and learning by doing.
- Design a group project lasting at least 35 hours.
- Define the tangible solution participants will create.
- Confirm access to digital tools, digital machines, software, or FabLab resources.
- Secure a FabLab or FabLab partner for prototyping and manufacturing.
- Include awareness of responsible digital practices and artificial intelligence.
- Partner with an organisation that directly supports the target youth group.
- Include a referral partner if the applicant does not directly support the target group.
- Prepare a realistic budget.
- Ensure all activities are free for participants.
- Exclude general operating costs and permanent staff salaries.
- Describe the final presentation to project partners.
- Submit the application according to the programme requirements.
Assessment Considerations
Applications may be assessed based on project quality, youth impact, partnerships, and implementation capacity.
Review may consider:
- Relevance to disadvantaged young people
- Use of active pedagogy
- Minimum 35-hour group project structure
- Strength of the local need addressed
- Quality of the operational partnership
- Tangibility and usefulness of the final solution
- Use of digital technology
- Availability of a FabLab or FabLab partner
- Responsible digital practices
- Support for school dropouts or job seekers
- Social inclusion and cohesion outcomes
- Realistic budget
- Free access for participants
- Team expertise and partnerships
- Expected number of beneficiaries
- Gender distribution
- Capacity to deliver the project successfully
Expected Results
Funded projects should help young people build confidence, skills, motivation, and social connections.
Expected results may include:
- Improved collaboration skills
- Stronger creativity
- Better communication skills
- Improved critical thinking
- Increased self-confidence
- Increased motivation
- Stronger social connections
- Greater engagement with community life
- Better readiness for education or employment
- Improved digital skills
- Awareness of responsible digital practices
- Tangible solutions responding to local needs
- Positive recognition of young people’s achievements
Why It Matters
Many disadvantaged young people need practical opportunities to rebuild confidence, discover their abilities, and reconnect with learning, work, and community life.
Traditional training alone may not be enough for young people who have experienced exclusion, dropout, unemployment, or low motivation.
The Learning Differently programme supports hands-on group projects that help young people learn by creating something useful for others.
Tips for Strong Applications
A strong application should clearly show how young people will learn by doing.
Applicants should focus on:
- Clear target group
- Strong local need
- Active and collaborative learning process
- Minimum 35-hour structure
- Tangible final solution
- Strong operational partner
- FabLab or digital technology access
- Responsible digital and AI awareness
- Realistic budget
- Free participation
- Strong support for disadvantaged youth
- Clear final presentation plan
- Measurable skills and confidence outcomes
Applicants should avoid describing the project as only a training course, workshop, mentoring activity, or media activity.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Applicants should carefully check the learning-by-doing and digital requirements.
Common mistakes include:
- Proposing only top-down training
- Offering only digital workshops without a tangible group project
- Not including at least 35 hours of participant work
- Not identifying a local need
- Not securing an operational partner
- Failing to produce a useful tangible solution
- Not using digital technology
- Not having a FabLab or FabLab partner
- Charging participants fees
- Requesting funding for general operations
- Including permanent staff salaries
- Not showing support for disadvantaged youth
- Not including a final presentation
- Ignoring responsible digital practices or AI awareness
FAQ
What is the Learning Differently programme?
It is a funding programme supporting innovative projects that help disadvantaged young people develop skills through active pedagogy and learning by doing.
Who are the target participants?
The programme targets disadvantaged young people aged 13 to 25.
What is the minimum project duration for participants?
Participants must work together on a group project for at least 35 hours.
What must each project produce?
Each project must result in a useful and tangible solution that responds to a real local need.
Is digital technology required?
Yes. Projects must use digital technology such as digital machines, software, or FabLab resources.
Are projects required to have a FabLab partner?
Yes. A FabLab or FabLab partner is required for prototype development and object manufacturing.
Can funding cover permanent staff salaries?
No. Funding cannot be used for general operating expenses or the salaries of permanent staff.
Conclusion
The Learning Differently programme supports practical, youth-centred projects that help disadvantaged young people build confidence, motivation, social connections, and future-ready skills through learning by doing. By requiring a 35-hour group project, digital technology, a tangible solution, a local need, and strong partnerships, the programme ensures that young people learn through meaningful action.
Strong applications will demonstrate active pedagogy, clear youth support, a real local need, operational partnerships, FabLab access, responsible digital awareness, a realistic budget, free participation, and measurable benefits for young people and their communities.
For more information, visit Orange Foundation.