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Esmée Fairbairn Foundation: Environment

Archived Animal Welfare Buildings and built environment COVID-19/Coronavirus environment Natural environment and climate Recycling and waste management Sustainable development Sustainable energy Antrim & Newtownabbey Ards & North Down Armagh City, Banbridge & Craigavon Belfast City Causeway Coast and Glens Derry City and Strabane England Fermanagh and Omagh Great Britain Lisburn and Castlereagh Mid and East Antrim Mid Ulster Newry, Mourne and Down Northern Ireland Scotland Wales Large (over £60,000) Medium (up to £60,000) Small (up to £10,000)

Overview

There are 4 main priorities under environment:

1) Connecting people with nature and environment issues

They support work that:

  • Excites and inspires people to get involved in nature or environmental issues and take action to make a difference, or
  • Makes environmental issues relevant to people’s everyday lives and what they care about, or
  • Enables groups that may be disconnected from nature, for example in urban areas, to become more engaged.

Applicants must:

  • Show how people’s connection to nature or environment issues will be sustained beyond the period of their grant.

They want their funding to:

  • Support both grassroots work and high-level strategic approaches which are able to influence the wider sector.

Case Study: Belfast Hills

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Case Study: Possilpark Greenspace

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2) Countering the effects of damaging activity

They support work that:

  • Exposes and tackles harmful practice at all levels – from local communities to UK-wide, and
  • Uses a ground-breaking, creative approach to make an impact on environment issues such as: transport, chemicals, pollution, climate change, littering, plastics, freshwater, overfishing , soil health and energy.

Applicants must:

  • Have an emphasis on positivity and practical solutions at the core of their work.

They want their funding to:

  • Enable environment issues to appeal widely, and beyond traditional ‘green’ audiences, and
  • Support both grassroots and high-level strategic approaches to difficult issues.

Case Study: Hubbub

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3) Nature conservation on land and at sea

They support:

  • Work that takes place at a “landscape scale” which recognises and supports the interdependence of the natural world, or
  • Bold and ambitious thinking which results in new collaborations between communities, landholders, voluntary sector organisations, and statutory bodies, or
  • Marine projects which work alongside coastal communities and restore people’s connection to the sea.

Applicants must:

  • Operate at a strategic level, and deliver innovative work which has the potential to have a wide influence across the statutory, business and voluntary sectors.

They want their funding to:

  • Make a difference for people and communities as well as improving the environment.

4) Lesser known plants, animals and organisms

They support work that:

  • Supports plants, animals and organisms that have a critical, but under-appreciated, role in the web of life, or
  • Enables a new generation of UK specialists to inspire future conservation.

Applicants must:

  • Show how people or communities will be connected with nature or environment issues through their work.

They want their funding to:

  • Transform public perception and understanding of the role of uncharismatic organisms or species in the web of life.

Case Study: The Conservation Volunteers

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For a full list of grants awarded, visit the website here