UNLEASH x Royal Academy of Engineering: Catalyzing Sustainable Innovation in the Philippines

In a time when progress towards sustainable development has stalled, STEM stands as a crucial driver of positive change. Combining scientific knowledge, technological progress, and creative problem-solving is vital to tackling urgent challenges like climate change, resource management, and social inequality. As complex global pressures accelerate the need for transformative and bold solutions, fostering innovation has never been more critical.

The Philippines is emerging as a powerful force in tech-driven innovation, fueled by a dynamic community of changemakers eager to tackle prominent social challenges. Through our partnership with Leaders in Innovation Fellowships (LIF) from the Royal Academy of Engineering, we aim to support Filipino innovators in their journey to create sustainable solutions for their communities, and beyond.

LIF Launchpad: An Innovation Journey

The program consists of two stages designed to turn ideas into tangible solutions:

UNLEASH Innovation Lab: An intense, week-long innovation experience where 150 Filipinos will collaborate to develop solutions addressing complex social challenges framed by design thinking principles.
Prototyping Program: Dedicated support to transform their concepts into working prototypes that can be tested in different environments. This includes technical guidance, resource access, and connections to a global network of changemakers.

Following this stage, innovators interested in commercialising their prototype can further develop their entrepreneurship skills by applying to LIF Global – the international startup program from the Royal Academy of Engineering.

Picture of a Community-Driven Hack in Philippines last year.

Apply before July 2, 23.59 GMT+8

Are you a changemaker from the Philippines interested in being a part of this transformative journey? Applications for UNLEASH Philippines, the first stage of LIF Launchpad, will open on June 11, 2025.

Follow our social media channels for more details.

Picture of a Community-Driven Hack in Philippines last year.

About UNLEASH

UNLEASH is a global initiative transforming how youth build a sustainable future. In a world of rising complexity, we equip young changemakers with the tools, confidence, and community to tackle pressing challenges with empathy, creativity, and resilience. Since 2017, we’ve brought together 9,000 youth from 180 countries, sparking over 1,200 social and environmental solutions through Innovation Labs, local Hacks, and our Innovation Hub.

Our programs reimagine traditional pathways by integrating inclusion, lived experience, and collaborative problem-solving, ensuring that impact begins with access and opportunity for all. Youth gain essential skills to navigate uncertainty, leverage systems, and scale locally grounded ideas. From last-mile communities to global networks, we create safe spaces where failing becomes part of innovation, and diversity drives better outcomes. At UNLEASH, we’re regenerating hope at scale and building the foundation for a just, sustainable, and inclusive world.

About Royal Academy of Engineering

The Royal Academy of Engineering creates and leads a community of outstanding experts and innovators to engineer better lives. As a charity and a Fellowship, we deliver public benefit from excellence in engineering and technology and convene leading businesspeople, entrepreneurs, innovators and academics across engineering and technology. As a National Academy, we provide leadership for engineering and technology, and independent, expert advice to policymakers in the UK and beyond.

The Royal Academy of Engineering’s Leaders in Innovation Fellowships (LIF) programme supports talented entrepreneurs from around the globe to turn their engineering innovations into impactful, sustainable businesses. We nurture bold, scalable innovations from all areas of engineering and technology that are addressing some of the world’s most complex environmental, economic, and societal challenges.