Application criteria

This programme will prioritise work:

• From those who are actively building power amongst communities or with a track record of community organising around climate, economics, or environment
• From those with a solid understanding of the causes of the climate and/or economic crises
• From groups and organisations that effectively connect the intersecting harms of climate breakdown, racial injustice, economic inequality, and the legacies of colonialism
• From groups and organisations who struggle to obtain funding elsewhere (for example, only one core funder, or no core funding) and are working on these issues
• Which considers the needs and well-being of staff, volunteers, and other participants
• For which there is a demonstrable need
• Where it is clearly explained why you are the right organisation or group to carry out this project.

The Sustainable Future programme will not fund the following types of work:

• Work that already receives significant funding from a range of sources  or organisations with over £1 million in annual income)
• Work that is primarily focused on convening
• Work that seeks to include the perspectives of marginalised groups without a careful understanding of power and a track record in delivering this
• Conservation projects
• Anti-consumerism campaigns which simply exhort people to be less consumerist, rather than encourage behaviour change resulting in sustainable living
• Measures that are limited to adapting to the effects of climate change rather than leading to long-term change
• Academic research and books, except as an integral part of policy, campaigning work or leading to practical change in enterprises or community action
• Local work: To ensure our grants have the greatest impact possible, we tend to avoid solely local work. By this, we mean work with a single council or in a single town. We do see merit in work which begins at a local level, covering multiple local areas, and which can produce lessons which can be applied regionally or nationally.

Funding inclusive work

We are aware of the shift towards funding work which includes marginalised communities, or those with marginalised identities. We are also aware of the harm this can cause to those groups if it isn’t done well.

We want to support initiatives which are thoughtful about this and which are committed to being reflexive and are about collective liberation and solidarity.

With that in mind, should your proposal include work with marginalised groups, we ask that you set out why you feel these groups are marginalised, and why you are the right organisation or collective to do this work. We are interested in how you think about this and see this as a learning opportunity for applicants and for our committee members.