International Grant Program
International Grant Program 2021
Program Title: Cultivating Empathy Through Learning from Our Neighbors:
Practitioners' Exchange on Common Issues in Asia
Program Objectives
The grant program focuses on deepening mutual understanding and knowledge-sharing among people on the ground in East and Southeast Asia who are finding solutions to shared issues. Through promoting direct interaction among key players, the grant program aims to survey and analyze situations in target countries, obtain new perspectives, and expand the potential of future generations.
With multinational teams comprised of participants from diverse backgrounds, projects can avoid conventional linear relationships, such as “supporter and supported” or “instructor and trainee,” and instead form cooperative and creative alliances that consider, act on, and construct solutions to shared issues. The grant program anticipates that these partnerships, which extend beyond such factors as nationality, age, and organizational affiliation, will produce significant social change through fostering a process of mutual learning.
Comments by Selection Committee Chair
Comments by the Selection Committee Chair on the International Grant Program 2021
Grant List
Grant Framework
Please read through the Guidlines for details.
| Target Countries |
East and Southeast Asia *1 |
| Required elements for Project |
Transnational, Cross Sector, Mutual Learning, Foresight |
| Project Period | Two-Year Grant (Nov 2021 – Oct 2023) One-Year Grant (Nov 2021 – Oct 2022) |
| Expected Output |
Projects are required to; 1) identify issues and conduct a review by surveying and analyzing the situation in target countries; 2) carry out activities aimed at providing solutions to issues; 3) produce and disseminate tangible output |
| Potential Applicants |
Diverse team based in multiple target countries. Team members could include those with practical experience and knowledge on addressing issues in the target countries, such as practitioners, researchers, creators, policy makers, and journalists and other media representatives. |
| Grant Amount (maximum per project) | Two-Year Grant: JPY 10,000,000 One-Year Grant: JPY 3,000,000 |
| Total Amount of Grants |
70 million yen |
| Proposal Submission Period | From April 1 to June 5, 2021, 23:59 Japan Standard Time |
| Applications | Web-based application via Foundation website only |
| Selection of Grants |
Formal decisions on the awarding of grants will be made by the Toyota Foundation Board of Directors at a meeting to be held in late September 2021, based on the deliberations of responsible Selection Committee consisting of external experts. |
*1 East Asia: Japan, China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, South Korea, Mongolia
Southeast Asia: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Vietnam
Please also see FAQs.
Program Guidelines and Application Form
※The application closed on June 5, 2021. Thank you for your interest.
Online briefing sessions in Tokyo (not compulsory)
April 9, 2021 from 1:30 PM to 3:00 PM (JST) Application closed
April 13, 2021 from 1:30 PM to 3:00 PM (JST) Application closed
Please check the main questions and answers at the briefing session here.
Aside from the briefing session, applicants can consult with the program officers of the Toyota Foundation in advance of applying via email.
Please refer to the program guidelines for the details and read the FAQ.
Two-Year Grant
・Program Guidelines
・Application Form (Sample)
*The Word version of blank application form is only available after Entry.
One-Year Grant
・Program Guidelines
・Application Form (Sample)
*The Word version of blank application form is only available after Entry.
Recommended Movies
Online Luncheon Seminar: "Learning from Each Other in the Age of COVID-19: Human Mobility and the Future of Multicultural Society"
The Toyota Foundation held a series of online seminars, "Learning from Each Other in the Age of COVID-19: Human Mobility and the Future of Multicultural Society”
Recommended Documents
Event report "The Ways to Have a Better Dialogue for Empathy: Mutual Learning and Exchanges"
This booklet introduces the content of the joint symposium between the University of Tokyo Program for Leading Graduate Schools Integrated Human Sciences Program for Cultural Diversity (IHS) and the Toyota Foundation, which was held on February 7 and 8, 2020.
In this symposium, the grantees of the Toyota Foundation and the researchers and students in IHS have gathered and discussed various methods and experiences in project management as well as raising public interest in social issues, focusing on dialogues with society.
The Ways to Have a Better Dialogue for Empathy: Mutual Learning and Exchanges(2331KB)
The Toyota Foundation held a series of dialogue sessions inviting some former and present grantees.
In Baguio (the Philippines) , Bangkok (Thailand) , and Sendai (Japan), the participants shared their views on the International Grant Program and their experience of their granted project.
The Foundation would like to call the attention of potential applicants to the following booklet as it is full of lessons learned. It is strongly recommended to read.
WHAT BRINGS US BEYOND UNDERSTANDING TO EMPATHY ?(3100KB)
International Grant Program evaluation report
The Toyota Foundation established the Evaluation Committee composed of four experts in May 2018 to evaluate the International Grant Program. The Evaluation Committee members and program officers of the International Grant Program team interviewed project representatives and members. 31 of the total 63 projects supported between fiscal 2014 and fiscal 2017 were selected with consideration given to thematic and regional balance.
This final report by the committee provides you some specific ideas about the aim and the targets of the International Grant Program. We would be glad if the potential grantees go through this report before they submit their proposals.
International Grant Program evaluation report(341KB)