Mentorship
Elders and young people working together.
Focus — Culture, Arts & Language — Intergenerational knowledge transfer
INTERGENERATIONAL KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER
IDEAS WE SUPPORT.
World Seed Fund supports people whose ideas improve the passing of knowledge between generations for the elders and young people taking part.
Why this area
INTERGENERATIONAL KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER
IN CONTEXT.
Knowledge is lost in a single generation of interruption. Ideas qualify when both generations have reason to take part.
Scope of the area
WHAT THIS AREA
INCLUDES.
Illustrations of scope, not a fixed list. If your idea belongs here but is not described below, introduce it anyway.
Apprenticeship
Learning a practice by doing it.
Recording
Capturing what would otherwise be lost.
Occasions
Structured reasons for the two to meet.
Criteria to qualify
WHAT A INTERGENERATIONAL KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER
IDEA MUST SHOW.
All five criteria apply. An idea does not need to be complete or proven — it needs to be specific enough that we can judge it, and grounded enough that a next step is possible.
A defined problem, in a defined place
We need to understand exactly who is affected, where, and how they cope today. General statements about a global challenge are not enough to qualify.
- Names the place, community, or system where the passing of knowledge between generations fall short.
- States the situation today in plain terms — learners retained, practices transmitted, or hours together.
- Explains what the elders and young people taking part do now, and what it costs them.
Human insight behind the idea
The idea should come from knowledge of the situation — technical, scientific, operational, cultural, or lived — rather than from an assumption about it.
- Draws on direct knowledge of the passing of knowledge between generations in that place.
- Accounts for why earlier mentorship and heritage programmes did not hold here.
- Was shaped with the elders and young people taking part, not only for them.
A credible next step
There must be a specific thing that can be attempted next, at a scale that can be observed honestly, with a stated way of judging whether it worked.
- A defined pilot with a stated size — pairs, cohorts, or practices transmitted.
- A stated measure of success — learners retained, practices transmitted, or hours together.
- A timeframe within which the result can be judged honestly.
Value for people and place
The benefit should be meaningful to the community or system the idea serves, and describable in terms they would recognise.
- Improves continuity, capability, and connection for the elders and young people taking part.
- The benefit is described in words the community itself would use.
- Does not shift cost, risk, or harm onto neighbouring people or systems.
A path to keep working
Ideas qualify when someone can plausibly own, operate, fund, and repair the result after the first phase of support ends.
- A named community organisation, school, or cultural body able to carry the work after the first phase.
- Running costs, materials, and skills obtainable near the work.
- Ownership, permission, or agreement that lets the work continue.
Evidence & boundaries
WHAT HELPS,
AND WHAT DOES NOT.
Evidence can be modest. A careful account of a small trial is worth more than a projection.
Evidence we look for
- Any observation, record, or measurement of the passing of knowledge between generations in that place.
- Costs, materials, or time recorded from a small trial, however modest.
- Notes, letters, or agreements from the elders and young people taking part or the community organisation, school, or cultural body.
Usually outside this area
- Broad proposals about intergenerational knowledge transfer with no named place and no named people.
- Equipment or funding requests with no operator and no running cost.
- Work that transfers cost, risk, or harm to neighbouring people or systems.
Submit an idea
INTRODUCE YOUR
INTERGENERATIONAL KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER IDEA.
There is no application window and no required format. Answer these four questions in your own words and we will read them.
Who is affected, where, and how do they manage today?
What do you know about the passing of knowledge between generations that others working on it may not?
What could you attempt next, and how would you judge whether it worked?
Who continues the work afterwards, and what keeps it running?
Human potential is everywhere. Opportunity should be too.