Storytellers, artists, and civic engagement practitioners with existing projects can now apply for the Mycelia Fellowship 2026, an eight-week remote fellowship designed to support ethical storytelling at the intersection of arts, technology, civic participation, and community engagement.
Organised by Social Resonance Lab (SRL), the inaugural Mycelia Fellowship will provide selected fellows with a $2,000 stipend, direct advisory support, opportunities to increase the visibility of their work, and access to a community of practitioners exploring ethical approaches to storytelling.
The fellowship is particularly suited to practitioners who already have a project underway and want to strengthen, document, refine, extend, or scale their existing work.
With applications open internationally and no stated country restriction, the opportunity may be particularly relevant to storytellers and creative practitioners across the Global South who are using storytelling, arts, digital technologies, or civic participation to create meaningful community impact.
The Mycelia Fellowship is an eight-week remote programme developed by Social Resonance Lab, a collaborative research studio exploring how ethical storytelling can foster human connection.
The fellowship focuses on practitioners working on questions surrounding storytelling, ethics, arts, technology, civic participation, and community engagement.
Rather than supporting completely new ideas, the programme is intended for people who already have a project in motion. Fellows will receive resources and guidance to help them develop the work they are already doing.
The inaugural cohort will select two fellows, making this a highly focused opportunity for practitioners whose projects demonstrate strong potential for social, civic, artistic, or community impact.
What Does the Fellowship Offer?
Selected Mycelia Fellows will receive a package of financial, professional, and community-based support.
$2,000 Fellowship Stipend
Each selected fellow will receive a $2,000 stipend to support their participation and development of their existing project.
This funding can provide valuable support for practitioners seeking to strengthen or expand an ongoing storytelling, arts, technology, or civic engagement initiative.
Direct Advisory Support
Fellows will receive direct advisory support from Social Resonance Lab throughout the programme.
This provides participants with an opportunity to receive guidance as they refine their ideas, examine ethical questions, document their work, or explore ways of extending their project’s reach and impact.
Visibility and Audience Growth
The programme also aims to help fellows increase the visibility and audience of their work.
For independent storytellers and practitioners working on community-focused projects, this exposure can help connect existing work with wider audiences and potential collaborators.
Fellowship Community
Participants will join a community of other practitioners interested in ethical storytelling and social resonance.
This peer network can provide opportunities for knowledge exchange, collaboration, feedback, and continued professional connections beyond the fellowship period.
Who Can Apply?
The Mycelia Fellowship is aimed at practitioners working across storytelling, arts, civic participation, technology, and community engagement.
Potential applicants may include:
- Storytellers and creative practitioners
- Artists working on socially engaged projects
- Civic engagement practitioners
- Community-based practitioners
- Individuals exploring ethical storytelling
- Practitioners examining the relationship between storytelling and technology
- Creatives working with AI and digital media
- Individuals developing projects that use arts or storytelling as tools for civic participation
Applicants must have an existing project already underway.
This is one of the most important eligibility requirements. The fellowship is not designed to fund brand-new project ideas. Instead, applicants should demonstrate that they are already working on a project that can be strengthened, documented, refined, extended, or scaled through the fellowship.
Two Fellowship Tracks
Applicants can pursue one of two thematic tracks.
Track A: Arts as a Civic Tool
This track is designed for practitioners exploring how arts and creative practice can contribute to civic participation and community engagement.
Projects may examine how creative storytelling, artistic expression, or cultural work can encourage dialogue, strengthen communities, or address important social questions.
Track B: AI & the Digital Landscape
The second track focuses on artificial intelligence and the evolving digital landscape.
This may be relevant to practitioners exploring ethical questions around AI, digital storytelling, technology, online communities, and the ways emerging technologies are changing how stories are created, shared, and experienced.
What Types of Projects Are Supported?
The Mycelia Fellowship is intended to help practitioners develop work that is already in progress.
Supported activities may include:
- Strengthening an existing project
- Documenting ongoing work
- Refining an existing initiative
- Extending the reach of a project
- Scaling an established project
- Exploring ethical questions connected to existing work
- Developing stronger approaches to storytelling and community engagement
Applicants should therefore be prepared to clearly explain what they are already working on, why the project matters, and how the fellowship support would help move it forward.
Is the Fellowship Remote?
Yes. The Mycelia Fellowship 2026 is fully remote, making it accessible to practitioners who are unable to relocate for an in-person programme.
The opportunity is also described as open internationally, with no stated country restriction in the programme information.
This makes it potentially relevant to applicants from different regions, including Africa and other parts of the Global South.
Application Deadline
The deadline to apply for the inaugural Mycelia Fellowship cohort is:
13 September 2026 at 11:59 PM.
Applicants should review the complete programme overview before submitting the application and ensure that their existing project aligns with the fellowship’s focus.
How to Apply for the Mycelia Fellowship 2026
Interested practitioners should complete the official Mycelia Fellowship Application provided by Social Resonance Lab.
Before applying, candidates should carefully review the programme information and consider how their existing project connects with ethical storytelling, arts, civic participation, technology, community engagement, or the fellowship’s two thematic tracks.
The strongest applications are likely to clearly demonstrate that the proposed work is already underway and explain how the fellowship’s funding, advisory support, visibility opportunities, and community could help take that work further.
For storytellers and creative practitioners already using their work to explore important ethical, civic, artistic, or technological questions, the Mycelia Fellowship offers an opportunity to receive financial and professional support without having to relocate.
Deadline: 13 September 2026, 11:59 PM
Fellowship duration: 8 weeks
Format: Fully remote
Stipend: $2,000
Selected fellows: 2
Tracks: Arts as a Civic Tool; AI & the Digital Landscape
Eligibility: International
The Mycelia Fellowship 2026 is therefore worth considering for practitioners who already have a meaningful project underway and are looking for support to strengthen its impact, reach, and ethical foundation.
