Sustainability Projects Fund

Sustainability, in relation to nature and climate, relates to reducing pollution, conserving biodiversity and minimising carbon emissions to combat biodiversity loss and climate change. Example projects areas: nature/biodiversity, circular economy/waste, travel and transport, energy, water, education, procurement, etc. 

The purpose of this fund is to support small and medium-sized projects that help the University meet its sustainability goals and commitments, such as becoming nature positive and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, as outlined in policies and strategies such as the Environment and Climate Emergency Policy Statement, Faculty Sustainability Action Plans, Nature Positive Strategy 2024-2030, Sustainable Transport Strategy 2024-2030 and Circular Economy and Sustainable Resource Management Strategy 2024-2030.

There are no set criteria for types of projects, as long as they meet the main criteria of supporting University sustainability commitments. The only requirement is that the project has the necessary approvals for implementation before the submission before an application is submitted. See Approvals for information on ethics.  

Funding can cover things such as: 

• Capex
• Travel
• Any Tech Services costs
• Workshop costs, such as food, external expert hire or AV support
• Limited staff time 

The SPF cannot be used to fund new or ongoing staff posts but can be used to support internships or buy-out time from existing staff members, e.g., it can cover postgraduate interns that would be processed via eClaims. External partners are allowed within applications but funding of external staff time cannot be included in the funding request. This includes Falmouth University and FXPlus staff. We suggest that contributions are noted as in-kind.  

The SPF is not aimed at funding research projects.

If you are uncertain whether your project is eligible, please get in touch to discuss. 

The project should have the necessary approvals for implementation before an application is submitted. If your project requires ethics approval, ideally this will also already have been obtained. If it is required and has yet to be obtained, please factor this into your stated timeline in the application form.

The minimum amount that must be applied for is £1,000. There is no maximum amount. The total value of the fund over 24/25 and 25/26 is £100,000.   

Projects can happen across the 24/25 (Window 1) and 25/26 (Window 2) academic years, but you need to be clear what is to be spent before 31 July 2025 and what will be spent in the 25/26 year (if anything). Funds cannot be rolled over between years.  

All projects must be complete by 31 July 2026. This applies to projects from both application windows. However, as explained above, funding allocated from Window 1 must be spent by 31 July 2025. 

The deadline for end-of-project reports is one month after project completion. 

The fund is open to all University of Exeter students and staff on any campus. However, students must submit via a named member of staff who takes responsibility for overseeing the project.

Funding can be applied for projects within the SU/Guild, Falmouth University or FXPlus but the application must be made by a UoE staff member who has overall responsibility for the budget and delivery. 

The deadline for Window 1 is noon 22 April 2025. You can find the application form here. 

The dates for Window 2 have not been confirmed yet but will be early in the 25/26 academic year. 

We expect to inform all applicants from Window 1 whether they have been successful or not in early May 2025.

You are welcome to submit an application for multiple projects.

You can download these here: SPF Application Questions + Assessment Criteria.  

You don’t have to have a very detailed timeline or budget, but please include it if you do. We only require enough of an outline in order to assess the project’s deliverability.  

If we feel we are missing information, we will be in touch to ask for this before making a final decision. Due to a tight turnaround for assessments, please respond by the deadline set in the email requesting further information, otherwise the additional information will not be considered as part of the assessment process. 

Consider what quantitative (hard data, measurable results) and qualitative (non-numeric, descriptive, subjective) impacts your project will have. Examples of quantitative impacts are CO2 or energy reductions, cost savings or biodiversity improvements. Examples of qualitative impacts are skills development, increased awareness or behaviour change.

Applications will be assessed and scored by a panel using the assessment criteria: SPF Application Questions + Assessment Criteria

It is important that learnings from the project are shared beyond the immediate project team, to support continuous improvement by allowing others to benefit from successes and avoid repeating challenges. It also maximises the impact of funding by fostering collaboration.  

By accepting the funding, you agree to reporting learnings/benefits/impacts and providing information to help communicate the success and learning from the project. This will predominantly be in the form of light touch progress reports (depending on the length of the project), an end-of-project report (both based on provided templates) and information for comms (such as a short blog or video). The deadline for end-of-project reports is one month after project completion.   

We particularly encourage the use of visuals (images, videos) and testimonials to help us communicate more widely.  

Overall reporting on the fund will be to the Advocate Climate Taskforce and Climate and Environmental Crisis Board.   

Each project will be set up as an individual project on T1, under the SPF parent project. The project lead will be the budget holder. Normal procurement procedures apply. The Procurement team will be able to advise on any specific queries.  

There are no requirements for meeting a certain threshold of cost-recovery.

If your project requires funding over two years (24/25 and 25/26) please detail this in your application form. Funds cannot be rolled over between years. 

Contact Maiken Hutchings at sustainability@exeter.ac.uk  

If you would like to discuss a project idea further, you can contact the Sustainability team (email above), or your faculty/professional services sustainability committee.  

PS/Faculty Sustainability Committee contact details:

HASS Sustainability Committee: Dr Nick Kirsop-Taylor n.a.kirsop-taylor@exeter.ac.uk  
ESE Sustainability Committee: Prof. Peter Connor p.m.connor@exeter.ac.uk 
HLS Sustainability Committee: Prof. Rich Smith rich.smith@exeter.ac.uk  
Professional Services Sustainability Committee: Donna Fitzgerald d.fitzgerald@exeter.ac.uk