Application process

1. Identify your project. We're happy to discuss your ideas and help you to develop them - contact us at sustainability@bath.ac.uk.
2. Complete and submit the Sustainability Projects Fund form.
3. We will evaluate your application against the criteria set out in the ‘Our criteria’ section. Applications will be reviewed by the Sustainability team at the end of each calendar month.
4. We release the funds to you, and you carry out your project. We know that sometimes things change, so talk to us if you can't deliver your project as you originally planned.
5. We ask all successful grant applicants to write a short paragraph about their project, how it contributed to sustainability at Bath (quantifying this if you can), and provide us with a photo we can use.
6. We'll include a short summary of all the grants made from the Sustainable Projects Fund in our communications and reporting.

Grants will be assessed monthly on a rolling basis. Submit your application by the 15th of each month. This means that when we have used our total funding pot of £5,000 per year, we will not be able to make any more grants for the year and will update this web page if this happens.

Our criteria

We can fund all types of projects including equipment, research, influencing behaviour, and delivering infrastructure as long as the project contributes to sustainability within our campus environment or University community. We'll also support experimental ideas being piloted in a small way, to enable wider learning opportunities.

Individual grants can be for any amount up to £1000, but we're also keen to grant small amounts of money that will make a difference.

We will assess your application against the following criteria. It doesn’t need to meet all of these, but it will help if you can meet as many as possible.

1. How will your project make a difference for sustainability at Bath, and can you quantify this, even if this is based on assumptions and estimates? For example, this might be related to carbon emissions savings, engaging groups of people in action or learning, or the scope of nature-based solutions.
   
2. What is the return on the investment? For example, can you tell us how many people or groups will be impacted by your project, the tonnes of carbon might be saved per pound invested, or the potential to scale your pilot project idea?
3. If you're conducting a research project, explain the issue you are trying to gain insight into.
4. Does your project demonstrate the connection between research, learning and teaching, and our operational sustainability challenges on campus?
5. Are you using inter-disciplinary approaches, or using the campus as a Living Lab?
6. How will other people know about your project? This might include friends, students, staff or the local community.
7. Have you considered the practicalities of your project?
8. Does your project have all the internal support needed for it to be a success?
9. Have you sought any necessary permissions?
10. Is there an implementation plan where necessary and is it practical?
11. Is buy-in needed from any additional parties?
12. If this is a pilot project, how will you develop or scale it when the funding has ended?

Projects we can’t fund

We understand that the world is currently dealing with various environmental, biodiversity, and social issues which go far beyond our campus community. However, we can only fund projects which are specifically aimed at sustainability in our campus environment and University community. If there are other funding options available for your project, we would encourage you to explore those first.

Other funding options

The University has a revolving green fund externally funded by SALIX. It supports energy and carbon saving projects with a payback of less than ten years. If you think this might support your project, contact Campus Infrastructure for more information.

If you are replacing equipment, Campus Infrastructure can provide funding to help you pay for the most energy-efficient option. You'll need to give them quotes for both the standard and more energy-efficient models. The funding can then pay the difference. Send applications to energyteam@bath.ac.uk

If you are a student with an innovative enterprise idea, there are a range of funds and support opportunities available to you.