Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust: Sustainable Future

Overview

General Eligibility - all programmes

JRCT is interested in funding work which:

• is about removing problems through radical solutions, and not simply about making problems easier to live with
• has a clear sense of objectives, and of how to achieve them
• is innovative and imaginative
• and where the grant has a good chance of making a difference.

Within its areas of interest, the Trust makes grants to a range of organisations and to individuals.

If your organisation is a registered, excepted or exempt charity based within any of the four jurisdictions of the UK and all of your work fits within their published programmes, they encourage you to consider applying for unrestricted or core support, although you may apply for programme or project funding if you prefer.

If you are based outside the UK and you are registered as a charitable organistion in your local jurisdiction, you may apply for general support if all of your work fits within their published programmes, and the following criteria are also met:

• your organisation is governed by an unpaid board
• your organisation is not for profit
• your organisation's formal purposes fall within the list of charitable purposes recognised within English law.

For all other organisations or individual applicants, you may apply for a specific project or defined programme of work that would provide public benefit and further our aims as set out in our published policies.

Sustainable Future

The overall focus is on developing and promoting sustainable, low-carbon alternatives to the current consumerist and growth-based paradigm. They will support a range of actions to achieve these aims, recognising this might include defending current policies, frameworks, and regulations. 

• Better economics
  • Current economic systems encourage unsustainable growth and do not adequately reflect the true costs and risks of resource depletion, climate change and other environmental problems. They will fund work that: 
    • explores and promotes ways that well-being and sustainability, rather than traditional forms of economic growth, could be placed at the heart of public policy
    • explores and promotes mechanisms that could better align business and investor behaviour with environmental sustainability and the long-term public interest
    • researches and develops innovations and new practical models of enterprise that can be embedded within community practice
    • challenges future investment in, or subsidies for, fossil fuels. 

Recent projects funded under this strand:

Finance Innovation Lab work with individuals within retail and commercial banks to support new financial models and to change the world of finance so it does not contribute to climate harm.

Rethinking Economics work with universities to change the economics curriculum, making it more varied and fit for purpose following the financial crash of 2008. 

• Beyond consumerism
  • There is evidence that the ever higher levels of consumption, once basic needs for security and comfort are met, do not result in greater happiness or well-being. At the same time, such ever-increasing consumption is not environmentally sustainable, and contributes towards social problems including overwork, anxiety and loss of community. They will fund:
    • campaigns, initiatives and mechanisms which encourage radical, large scale shifts in behaviour and culture away from consumerism towards more sustainable ways of living and using resources
    • exploration of initiatives and models which promote positive alternatives to materialism for a more fulfilled life
    • work which engages people individually and collectively in holistic and value-led approaches to transformed behaviour and lifestyle, as an alternative to consumerism. 

Recent projects funded under this strand:

Upper Space CIC seeks to remove corporate outdoor advertising from public spaces and replace it with community-generated art and imagery.

Food Ethics Council work to change how we interact with food, shifting from consumer to citizen and recognising the agency of everyone involved in the food systems we rely on.

• New voices - Additional guidance for 2023-25
  • They are focusing on work:
    • From groups and organisations who struggle to obtain funding elsewhere (for example, only one core funder, or no core funding)
    • From those who are actively building power amongst communities- From those with a solid understanding of the causes of the climate and/or economic crises
    • From those with a track record of community organising around climate, economics, or environment
    • From groups and organisations who effectively connect the intersecting harms of climate breakdown, racial injustice, economic inequality, and the legacies of colonialism
    • Which considers the needs and wellbeing of staff, volunteers, and other participants
    • For which there is has a demonstrable need
    • Where it is clearly explained why you are the right organisation or group to carry out this project.

Due to the limits of our available funding, they are not focusing on work:

• Which already receives significant funding from a range of sources (for example more than one core funder, or over £1 million in annual income)
• Which is primarily focused on convening
• Which seeks to include the perspectives of marginalised groups without a careful understanding of power and a track record in delivering this
• Which is about superficial changes to consumer behaviour.

Funding inclusive work

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

They 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, they 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. They are interested in how you think about this and see this as a learning opportunity for applicants and for their committee members.

Other factors

JRCT recognises that the issues are worldwide. However, this programme has a UK focus, to take advantage of the body of thought and expertise that already exists here, and in recognition of the UK’s influential global role in maintaining current financial and market systems.

Recent projects funded under this strand:

Coal Action Network provide advocacy and support for campaigners living in areas of proposed or existing open-cast coal mining.

Interclimate Trust engages young people with the challenges of climate change and promotes their voices in imagining and developing their own sustainable future.