Wider Europe and Central Asia

Eligibility: citizens of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.

Online applications for this programme open on 9 June and close on 22 June 2025. This year our Wider Europe and Central Asia fellowship programme has a focus on climate action and sustainability. Find out more about our online and residential programme for exceptional young professionals working to build more sustainable and resilient communities.

Leaders in Exile: Future of Belarus

Eligibility: citizens of Belarus, living in exile

Applications for this programme open on our website from 21 May and close on 8 June 2025. This programme is for exceptional professionals from Belarus living in exile and working towards a free and peaceful future for their country. This Fellowship supports leaders with passion and purpose to achieve their vision for fairer, more sustainable and inclusive societies and this year there is a focus on working with young people.

Leaders in Exile: Future of Russia

Eligibility: Russian anti-war citizens living in exile

Online applications for this programme are open from 21 May-8 June 2025. This programme is for exceptional professionals from Russia who are living in exile. We are looking for applicants whose work contributes to a free and peaceful future through improving governance, justice and sustainability in their society and beyond. 

Ukraine Recovery and Reconstruction

Eligibility: citizens of Ukraine

This year, we are proud to partner with the Scottish government to bring leaders who work in innovation, digitalization and private sector development together for a seven-day leadership programme. The immediate goal of the programme is to build bridges and create collaborative connections between Scotland and Ukraine, that will play an important role in upcoming recovery and reconstruction. The residential programme took place in February, and is followed by continued online engagement, a 6-12-month follow-up activity facilitated by senior Ukrainian John Smith Fellows and lifelong membership of the John Smith Trust Fellows’ network and activities.

Wider Europe Fellowship Programme

Eligibility: Wider Europe: citizens of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Russia, Ukraine

In previous years, we have run a programme specifically for the Wider Europe region. This programme gives Fellows an insight into how a mature democracy deals with issues of governance and justice, climate and sustainability, and equality, diversity and inclusion in both theoretical and very practical terms. The programme includes a residential element in the UK. It also connects individual Fellows with UK experts working in their particular field, to feed into a project that each Fellow implements on their return home. The programme is built around three pillars – unique insight into UK institutions, personalised professional meetings and leadership skills development – which together offer both a broad picture and an individual focus.

Central Asia Fellowship Programme

Central Asia: citizens of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan

In previous years we have run a programme specifically for the Central Asia region. This programme gives Fellows an insight into how a mature democracy deals with issues of governance and justice, climate and sustainability, and equality, diversity and inclusion in both theoretical and very practical terms. The programme includes a residential element in the UK. It also connects individual Fellows with UK experts working in their particular field, to feed into a project that each Fellow implements on their return home. The programme is built around three pillars – unique insight into UK institutions, personalised professional meetings and leadership skills development – which together offer both a broad picture and an individual focus.

Structure

Our six-month-long programmes consist of regular online discussions and workshops followed by a residential programme in the UK. Fellows discover first-hand how UK institutions function and what challenges are faced. The programme offers both a broad picture and an individual focus. They are structured around the following three pillars:

Core Programme

At a group level, Fellows participate in a series of online sessions, as well as in-person leadership and debate training, group sessions and workshops as well as visits to public institutions, policy institutes, and NGOs and meetings with experts across our thematic field. There are visits to the Scottish and UK Parliaments, to law courts, think tanks and social enterprises as well as meetings with senior politicians, civil servants, notable UK figures and grassroots activists. These opportunities of high-level access give Fellows unique insight into the UK’s political and civil society and the workings of UK institutions.

Action Plans

At an individual level, Fellows each work on their own action plan during the fellowship programmes. The action plan is a piece of work or a project related to the Fellow’s own field of expertise which would be enhanced by UK experience and input. It should contribute to the positive future development of your society within one of our thematic areas: governance and justice; climate and sustainability; and equality, diversity and inclusion. The action plan should be ambitious yet feasible to implement. It is an existing project which will be developed and finalised during the programme as a result of meetings with relevant UK experts and organisations. Fellows are required to formally report on the implementation of their plan at different stages after completion of their programme.

Leadership Skills

The fellowship programmes also include leadership skills development including debate, communication and advocacy training. Fellows spend a weekend exploring their own leadership styles and developing personal and professional skills for leading change collaboratively and with confidence. All our programmes are rooted in the belief that the way to find sustainable solutions is to work together, listening and learning from each other.

Fellowship Programmes

Our programmes give exceptional young professionals the chance to gain detailed insights into the values and ways of working of UK institutions. We facilitate open and honest discussion about the challenges our societies face, the solutions we’ve tried and what we’ve learned.