Apply for a Climate Kick-Start Prize

Applications are now open for Climate Kick-Start Prizes of £10,000 to facilitate innovative projects over the coming year.

The prizes are designed to give students practical experience of designing and implementing environmental solutions to issues such as such as climate change, deforestation, biodiversity loss, air pollution and single-use plastics. Funding can be used to kick-start or accelerate longer-term environmental work and provide exemplar projects to inspire other London schools. Please note that unfortunately primary, independent and private schools are not eligible to apply.

See examples of last year’s winners.

Types of projects could include the below (or a combination of several areas):

• planting and growing: installing a green roof, outdoor classroom or school nature garden to help climate action and nature
• waste: a ‘zero waste’ programme, ensuring all waste is reused or recycled, implementing a composting scheme for food waste, a reusable bottle and container scheme for all students, or workshops and tools to upcycle school uniforms
• food: creating a school allotment to grow canteen food, a scheme to greatly reduce food waste and its carbon impact through locally-grown, seasonal produce
• travel and air quality: a bike loan scheme, cycle infrastructure and cycle skills workshops, or an electric bus and charging point to transport students with care and support needs, air quality monitoring
• green skills: partnering with a careers service, university or college to provide work experience or formal gateways into green jobs and cleantech careers
• energy: exploring innovative solutions such as a heat pump to provide low carbon heating, clean electricity generation through installing solar panels, or new technologies like kinetic pavements
• other: anything else relevant such as sustainable drainage solutions (SuDS) to reduce surface water flooding, or de-paving a playground to reduce overheating

Knowing how busy schools are, we have worked hard to keep the application process as streamlined as possible. We estimate it will take around two hours to complete the application, plus time to read the guidance documents.

You must complete your application through the Groundwork online portal by 5pm Monday 19 September 2022.

Groundwork manage the Climate Kick-Start Prizes on our behalf. If you have any questions about the scheme or application process, please email [email protected]