The Seed Funding Programme (SFP) aims to support and encourage meaningful and promising initiatives in various parts of the world for the creation of local and/or national ecological plans within Focolare communities. The objective is to promote a transformation of personal and community lifestyles, fostering sustainable relationships between people and the planet through ecological and sustainable projects.

Established in 2021, this year the programme issued a call for projects in 2025-2026, open to all young people and communities of the Focolare to journey together towards an integral ecology. The launch took place on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of Laudato Sì, the encyclical in which Pope Francis invited a renewed commitment to the care of our common home through an integrated approach that links ecology, social justice and spirituality.

The Focolare Movement and the environment

Motivated by the teaching and example of Pope Francis and other religious leaders on the protection of our common home, in particular through the Laudato Sì Action Platform, the Focolare Movement decided to develop its own EcoPlan with the aim of amplifying, connecting and expanding environmental work within the Movement. In this context and with the sponsorship of FaithInvest and Mundell & Associates, a microfinance initiative, the Seed Funding Programme (SFP), was launched for the first time in 2021.

In the first year, 2021-2022, the programme funded 15 projects in various countries across four continents: the Philippines, Argentina, Benin, Uruguay and many others. Each of these shows what is possible when communities unite for people and planet!

The Cry of the Earth and the Cry of the Poor

As we have reiterated, this project is rooted in the spirit of Laudato Sì, which reminds us that “the cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor” are deeply interconnected. Chiara Lubich, founder of the Focolare Movement, believed that by addressing local challenges we nurture a moral responsibility to address global ones. In 1990, in a letter to Rev. Nikkyo Niwano, President of Rissho Kosei-kai (Tokyo), she wrote: “It has now been clearly demonstrated by many serious scientific studies that there is no shortage of technical or economic resources to improve the environment. What is missing however, is that supplement of soul, that new love for humanity, which makes us all feel responsible for one another, in the common effort to manage the Earth’s resources wisely, justly and prudently. Let us not forget that God the Creator entrusted the Earth to all people, not to one people alone or to a single group”.

The Seed Funding Programme is promoted by the New Humanity NGO, with the support of Mundell & Associates. The initiative is carried out in collaboration with the United World Community and EcoOne, two networks linked to Focolare, committed to raising environmental awareness and action through dialogue, education and the active engagement of all.

For further information contact: seedfundingprogram@gmail.com

Lorenzo Russo