Global Data Science Challenge 2025: Green agents of change

A staggering 67% of young people fear for the planet’s future – but less than half (44%) feel they’ve got the skills to do anything about it.* In 2025, as part of our global partnership with UNICEF we are inviting thousands of changemakers to explore how agentic AI can empower youth and accelerate progress toward a more sustainable future.

From rising temperatures to extreme weather, the climate crisis is a daily reality, and young people are feeling the weight of it. Many are eager to act, but unsure where to begin. The Global Data Science Challenge 2025 seeks to support this generation’s desire to make a difference by inviting participants to develop an agentic AI-powered assistant that helps youth explore green learning and career pathways and take meaningful steps toward climate action. The solutions will contribute directly to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, especially climate action and quality education.

Participants will work with curated datasets, including green job descriptions, climate training resources, and youth personas to build multi-agent systems that can understand user goals, extract relevant skills, and recommend personalized opportunities. This work supports UNICEF’s Green Rising initiative, which aims to equip 20 million young people by 2026 with the skills and opportunities to lead climate action and build a sustainable future.

*Source: Capgemini Research Institute & UNICEF, Youth perspectives on climate: Preparing for a sustainable future

Our challenge: Building agentic AI for youth empowerment

Participants are tasked with designing AI agents that are practical, inclusive, and responsive to the real needs of young people. These agents should help users navigate their interests, build confidence, and take action in ways that are relevant and achievable.

Participants will develop AI agents that:

• Create dynamic learning paths tailored to each user’s goals and progress.
• Connect passions to real-world opportunities through a discovery engine.
• Deliver timely nudges – suggestions for courses, events, and jobs that keep users engaged and inspired.

Solutions will be evaluated based on how well they interact with youth personas, each representing different skills, backgrounds, and ambitions, as well as how effectively they recommend relevant jobs, training, or awareness content.

Enabling innovation through AI

This year’s challenge is made possible through the support of our tech partners:

• AWS – providing cloud infrastructure and tools to power innovation
• Mistral – bringing cutting-edge AI capabilities to the challenge

Together, they provide the technical backbone that enables participants to focus on what matters: creating AI that drives real-world impact.

Stay tuned

The challenge is currently underway, with thousands of participants working on groundbreaking solutions. Once the winning team is announced, we’ll update this page with their story, solution, and impact.

UNICEF does not endorse any company, brand, product, or service.