Questions? Let's Make Them Easy.

The I CAN Earthshot Challenge is a team-based challenge. Each team should have at least three young people between the ages of 9 and 17 years.

There is no maximum team size. However, we recommend keeping teams to a manageable size so that every participant has an opportunity to contribute meaningfully.

You can form a team with friends, classmates, siblings or members of your community. Participation is open to schools, NGOs and independent groups across India.

Yes. Every team should have a teacher, parent or another responsible adult who can support the team's journey. The mentor does not need to belong to the participants' school.

Yes. Team members may come from different schools and cities, provided all participants are between 9 and 17 years of age.

The registration form should be completed by the team leader or the team's adult mentor on behalf of the team.

Yes. The form currently available online is only for team registration. Once your team has registered, you can continue identifying the problem, designing your solution, implementing your project and documenting your journey before submitting your final entry by 2 October 2026.

No. Registration is simply the first step. Your team can continue exploring environmental challenges, developing your idea and taking action after registering.

Once registered, your team will begin the Feel–Imagine–Do–Share (FIDS) journey. You'll identify a challenge, imagine a solution, take action, document your impact and submit your final project by 2 October 2026.

Many environmental challenges naturally overlap across multiple Earthshot categories. However, when submitting your project, you should select the one category that best represents the primary focus and impact of your solution.

Yes. The challenge celebrates young people taking action, not just generating ideas. Your team should implement and test your solution—even on a small scale—and share what you learned, the impact you created and how your idea evolved.

No. There is no minimum implementation period. What matters is that your team has genuinely tested the idea, reflected on the experience and can demonstrate meaningful action and learning before the submission deadline.

You may include photographs, videos, before-and-after comparisons, survey or observation data, testimonials, prototype testing results, reflections from beneficiaries or any other evidence that demonstrates your project's impact.

No. Teams should submit either a Photo Story or a Video Story as their final entry.

Yes. AI, coding, existing research and expert guidance may be used to support your project. However, the challenge is designed to celebrate student-led innovation. The ideas, decisions, implementation and storytelling should remain driven by the young people themselves.

Yes. If your team has already started working on an environmental initiative, you are welcome to build upon it, provided the work continues to be student-led and demonstrates meaningful action, learning and impact during the challenge period.

Yes. Participants may be members of more than one team. Each team must register separately, and each project will be evaluated as an independent submission.

Yes. You will receive a confirmation email once your registration has been successfully submitted.

Registered teams can log in using the same account they used for registration and submit their final project by uploading either a Photo Story or a Video Story before 2 October 2026.

Yes. We will host online orientation webinars to help participants get started. For any questions throughout the challenge, you are also welcome to contact the DFC Helpline: +91 70429 52939.

Projects may be submitted in any Indian language or English. If your submission is in a regional language, we encourage you to include English subtitles or a brief English summary wherever possible to support the judging process.