Next Generation Materials: Emerging Innovations for Children

Highlights

Next-generation materials have the potential to address systemic challenges affecting children’s wellbeing, particularly in low-resource and humanitarian contexts. Innovations in materials science—ranging from graphene to mycelium composites—can be deployed to strengthen child-focused infrastructure in health, sanitation, education, and environmental protection.

This report sets out five aims: to demystify the development and commercialisation pathway for next-generation materials; to propose a framework for assessing their impact in child-focused sectors; to map engagement points for stakeholders; to foster innovation partnerships; and to define ethical, scalable, and rights-based routes to adoption.

Findings highlight the promise of next-generation materials in overcoming limitations of conventional options, while emphasising the need for systemic support—policy alignment, ethical deployment, inclusive design, and innovation ecosystems that bridge academia, humanitarian practice, and industry. The report argues that development organisations have a catalytic role to play: not as end users or funders of products, but as conveners and enablers who can shape innovation agendas, validate early-stage solutions, and support sustainable pathways to scale.

Through operational recommendations and strategic policy levers, the report proposes a coherent route to integrate advanced materials into the mission of safeguarding every child’s right to health, education, safety, and opportunity.