FIF 2027/2028 · Climate Information Services · Programme details coming soon.

A Bangladeshi woman farmer gathers vegetables inside a circular Frugal Innovation Forum graphic.

Frugal Innovation Forum 2025

Adaptation from the South. For the World.

A Bangladeshi farmer reads a mobile forecast beside a paddy field beneath a monsoon sky.

FRUGAL INNOVATION FORUM 2027/2028

Forecast to Field

Information is only an innovation once it reaches a hand that can use it.

A Global South platform connecting climate information, community knowledge and practical innovation.

Explore FIF 2027/2028 Discover Past Forums

FIF at a glance

What happens when the people solving problems meet the people who can help scale them?

FIF creates the conditions for practitioners, innovators and institutions to examine what works, challenge assumptions and carry grounded ideas further.

Established
2013
Editions completed
Eight
Ideas originate here and travel outward
Global South
An initiative of
BRAC Social Innovation Lab

One platform, three connected programmes

How does an idea move from invitation to evidence to wider exchange?

The challenge, fellowship and forum form one sequence. Each programme prepares people and ideas for the next.

University students debate an idea beside a whiteboard.

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The invitation

Innovation Challenge

Where young teams turn urgent problems into testable solutions.

Timeline to be announced
A Bangladeshi woman innovator at an agricultural technology site.

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The proof

Fellowship Programme

Where Global South innovators develop their voices, ideas and reach.

Applications to be announced
Bangladeshi practitioners listening during a working session.

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The authority

Frugal Innovation Forum

Where evidence, experience and practical solutions converge.

Registration to be announced

Climate Information Services

How can climate information reach the people who need it most?

Climate data becomes useful when it arrives in time, in context and through a channel that supports a real decision.

Two farmers examine a rice plot and phone advisory together.

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Agriculture and livelihoods

The last-mile challenge
The forecast arrives in a format and a language the farmer cannot act on.
What useful could look like
Advisories built with farmers, timed to the decisions they actually make.
A woman operates a coastal community water point.

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Water security

The last-mile challenge
Salinity and supply data exist at district level, while decisions are made household by household.
What useful could look like
Local information that reaches the person filling the container.
A community health worker takes notes during a courtyard conversation.

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Health

The last-mile challenge
Heat and disease warnings rarely travel the last mile to frontline health workers.
What useful could look like
Early signals in the hands of the people who visit the households.
Smallholder farmers discuss a document together.

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Insurance and financial resilience

The last-mile challenge
Products designed without the people who carry the risk.
What useful could look like
Cover that pays out on evidence people trust.

Forecast to Field

What must happen between a climate signal and a practical result?

The pathway is not a broadcast. At every stage, evidence meets interpretation, access and local judgment.

  1. 01

    Signal

    Observe the climate pattern that could alter a livelihood.

  2. 02

    Interpretation

    Translate data through local experience, language and context.

  3. 03

    Access

    Move useful guidance through channels people already trust.

  4. 04

    Decision

    Connect the information to a choice that must be made now.

  5. 05

    Action

    Put the decision to work in a field, home, clinic or enterprise.

  6. 06

    Impact

    Learn what changed, for whom, and what should travel further.

Upcoming programme journey

How will the programmes build toward the next forum?

The sequence is set. Dates, applications and participation details will be published after confirmation.

  1. 01

    Innovation Challenge

    Innovation Challenge launch

    Upcoming
  2. 02

    Innovation Challenge

    University roadshows

    In development
  3. 03

    Innovation Challenge

    Application and selection

    Timeline to be announced
  4. 04

    Fellowship Programme

    Fellowship cohort

    To be announced
  5. 05

    Fellowship Programme

    Mentorship and field validation

    In development
  6. 06

    Connected programmes

    Finalist and Fellow showcase

    Timeline to be announced
  7. 07

    Frugal Innovation Forum

    Residential forum

    To be announced
  8. 08

    Frugal Innovation Forum

    Field visit

    To be announced
  9. 09

    Frugal Innovation Forum

    Knowledge dissemination

    In development

Past editions

What has FIF learned across eight editions?

FIF has convened critical conversations since 2013. Verified archive materials will be added as source records are confirmed.

AI-generated placeholder for the 2013 Frugal Innovation Forum archive.

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2013
Details to be confirmed

Frugal Innovation Forum 2013

Archive details and source materials are pending confirmation.

AI-generated placeholder for the 2014 Frugal Innovation Forum archive.

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2014
Details to be confirmed

Frugal Innovation Forum 2014

Archive details and source materials are pending confirmation.

AI-generated placeholder for the 2015 Frugal Innovation Forum archive.

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2015
Details to be confirmed

Frugal Innovation Forum 2015

Archive details and source materials are pending confirmation.

AI-generated placeholder for the 2016 Frugal Innovation Forum archive.

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2016
Details to be confirmed

Frugal Innovation Forum 2016

Archive details and source materials are pending confirmation.

AI-generated placeholder for the 2017 Frugal Innovation Forum archive.

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2017
Details to be confirmed

Frugal Innovation Forum 2017

Archive details and source materials are pending confirmation.

AI-generated placeholder for the 2019 Frugal Innovation Forum archive.

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2019
Details to be confirmed

Frugal Innovation Forum 2019

Archive details and source materials are pending confirmation.

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2022

Frugal Innovation Forum 2022

The seventh edition in the FIF archive. Theme and source materials await confirmation.

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2025

Frugal Innovation Forum 2025

Climate adaptation in agriculture, food security and livelihoods

The eighth edition brought practitioners together around climate-adaptive solutions grounded in the Global South.

BRAC CDM, Savar, Bangladesh

Visit edition site

Goals and outcomes

What should this platform make possible?

01

Make information usable

Translate climate signals into understandable and actionable guidance.

02

Amplify local innovation

Bring community-tested solutions to wider institutional audiences.

03

Build emerging leadership

Create opportunities for young innovators and Global South Fellows.

04

Connect evidence to scale

Bring practitioners, policymakers, funders and innovators into one ecosystem.

From the field and the forum

What does practical exchange look like?

A residential venue at dusk, with participants moving between buildings.

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A gathering shaped by the work between formal sessions.
Two practitioners trace a route across a paper map.

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Where does the evidence point next?
01
07
Sir Fazle Hasan Abed seated with children inside a BRAC school classroom.
Photo © Shahidul Alam

Institutional voice

“Small is beautiful, scale is necessary.”

Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, Founder, BRACDetails to be confirmed

FIF campaign line

Information is only an innovation once it reaches a hand that can use it.

A platform led from the South

Grounded in the Global South. Connected through shared experience.

South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America enter the frame together. Knowledge moves through exchange, not a single centre.

Grounded in the Global South. Connected through shared experience.South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America enter the frame together. Knowledge moves through exchange, not a single centre.South AsiaSub-Saharan AfricaSoutheast AsiaLatin America