The DO School offers a unique one-year educational program that enables talented young adults to launch their own innovative and sustainable social ventures.

The program allows Fellows to learn from passionate peers, engage with current leaders and experts, and create change by implementing these social ventures in their home countries.

The goal of the Green Store Challenge Fellowships  is for the selected Fellows to create a Green Store prototype.

This Green Store prototype must be sustainable in terms of materials, construction, energy, operation and other aspects and will be realized in Germany.

The prototype should be scalable to H&M stores worldwide, be economically beneficial and make the idea of sustainability tangible for customers and employees.

To help solve the Green Store Challenge, Fellows will connect with leading experts on a variety of topics including the environmental impact of construction materials and recycling systems, as well as sustainable interior design and retail operation.

Fellows will conduct research to identify and understand the status quo of H&M, and its vision of sustainability, in the context of available best-practices regarding sustainable design and operation.

Based on these learning experiences, the Fellows will brainstorm, identify, and test ideas for a Green Store prototype and put them to a real life test for a week in a German H&M store.

Focus will lie on finding a viable solution that is innovative, scalable, economical and one that fits within the existing H&M Germany framework by focusing on the aspects of idea generation, interior concept & design, communication and operation in store, as well as training of the staff and evaluation of the prototype.

By answering to the Challenge, Fellows will have learned hands-on how to turn an idea into action during the ten-week Incubation Phase.

This process is supported by participation in Challenge Lab, a course which offers knowledge, skills, and tools necessary to successfully solve the Challenge.

While solving the Challenge, all Fellows work on turning their own venture idea into a viable social venture plan that is ready for implementation during the following ten-month Implementation Phase.

The DO School invites applications from emerging social entrepreneurs aged 18 to 28 from around the world, with relevant interest and skills.

A maximum of 20 Fellows will be selected for the H&M Green Store Challenge and successful candidates may come from, but are not restricted to the fields of engineering, architecture, fashion and design, as well as environmental activism, retail and human resource management.

The Challenge is given by H&M.

Applications for the Green Store Challenge can be submitted between September 24th, and January 7th.

For more scholarship information and application, see: Green Store Challenge Fellowships