A shared learning journey grounded in pastoralist realities
This year’s cohort brings together 29 young pastoralists whose lives and work are closely tied to rangelands, mobility and community leadership. Coming from diverse regions, they share a common commitment: making pastoralist realities more visible and strengthening the voices of their communities.
Through the ILC Inter-Regional School for Young Pastoralists 2026, they will learn from one another, build alliances across borders, and take an active role in shaping the future of pastoralism during the IYRP 2026 and beyond.
The 8-month learning journey from April to November that brings together 29 ILC young pastoralists from different regions
to learn from one another, share experiences rooted in their territories, and strengthen leadership that serves their organisations, communities and movements.
Through a blended format combining online learning and sharing, and an in-person immersive exchange, the school fosters co-creation, solidarity, and collective action for sustainable pastoralism. Its most vibrant moment will unfold in Kyrgyzstan in July, where participants will meet for one week to bring their stories to life, strengthen bonds across regions, and engage in global and local conversations shaping the future of pastoralism.
Within the framework of the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists (IYRP), ILC is launching the Interregional School for Young Pastoralists 2026 — a space for learning, connection and leadership.
Through the School, participants will:
- Build connections across regions
- By strengthening relationships among young pastoralists and contributing to a peer network engaged in dialogue, learning and collective advocacy
- Ground leadership in practice
- By strengthening collective leadership rooted in pastoralists’ own knowledge, experience and realities, while advancing gender-responsive leadership within organisations and communities
- Shape a shared youth voice
- By contributing to a youth-led advocacy narrative on the future of pastoralism, including the development of a Youth Declaration on Pastoralism and follow-up collective actions beyond 2026
- Make pastoralist knowledge visible
- Through youth-led creative storytelling that documents experiences, learning and perspectives from pastoralist territories