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Engagement Fund

Sustainability Engagement Fund 2024/25

The Sustainability Engagement Fund will support engagement activities on key sustainability issues thereby supporting the implementation of the University of Galway Sustainability Strategy 2021-2025 and our role as a Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Ambassador. The fund is available to staff and students with grants normally ranging from €1,000-€2,000.

In 2024/25, we are piloting the Sustainability Engagement Fund and will focus on 2 of the 17 SDGs:

Proposals may be made by an individual staff member, an individual student or by a group of staff and/or students. Engagement activities should target community groups (could be local, regional, national or displaced communities), policymakers (could be local, regional or national government or NGOs) or the University community (students, staff, alumni). Engagement activities could include a workshop, seminar, training, educational resource, field trip, living lab etc. The activity must be free for participants to attend.

Applications for funding can be made under three themes:

Engaging community groups or policymakers on SDG6, e.g. water management, conservation or security.
Engaging community groups or policymakers on SDG14, e.g. sustainable fishing/aquaculture or aquatic ecosystems
Engaging the university community on SDG6 or SDG14.

Applications

Applications must be submitted using this application form. The deadline for applications is 17:00 on Friday, 29 November. Applications which are late, incomplete or do not display sufficient planning / attention to detail will not be considered.

Eligibility

Proposals may be made by an individual staff member, an individual student or by a group of staff and/or students. A Project Organiser must be appointed as the point of contact and responsible party. Proposals from individual students/student groups must be linked with an appropriate staff member/Unit/School to provide mentorship. Joint staff and student initiatives are particularly welcome.

Selection process

The Sustainability Engagement Fund is overseen by a subcommittee of the Community University Sustainability Partnership. The subcommittee will consider the applications received by the published deadline and will award funds to selected proposals following the selection process outlined below.

The Sustainability Engagement Fund will be awarded as several grants, across a variety of initiatives, based on the information provided in the application form. Normally, grants will range from €1,000-€2,000.

The Sustainability Engagement Fund will support activities which will support engagement activities on key sustainability issues thereby supporting the implementation of the University of Galway Sustainability Strategy 2021-2025 and our role as a Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Ambassador.

Proposals will be judged according to the following criteria:

Relevance to the SDG (30%)
Quality of engagement (30%)
Originality and creative approach (20%)
Value for money (20%)

The Sustainability Engagement Fund subcommittee will reserve the right to only award funds to those proposals which achieve an overall score of 70 or higher, noting that this could result in the full fund not being awarded at any particular time. Depending on the number and quality of the received proposals, not all projects scoring 70 or higher may receive funding, and the subcommittee reserves the right to award any particular project an amount of funding which is lower than the sum requested in the application.

Conditions of the offer

Successful project recipients are required to sign an acceptance letter which will include but is not limited to:

Start date and completion date for project;
A named “Project Organiser” who will liaise with the Sustainability Office in all matters relating to the project;
A statement of activities and actions to be delivered;
Funding amount and funding draw down arrangements;
A ‘D’ cost centre is provided to transfer the funds
Agreement that all payments must comply with the university’s Procurement, Payroll, Invoice and Reimbursement guidelines;
Project review, reporting and financial requirements.

Projects funded under the 2024/25 scheme must be completed by August 2025, except in exceptional circumstances where an extension has been granted by the subcommittee.

Each project proposal must name a “Project Organiser” who will liaise with the Sustainability Office in all matters relating to the project. The Project Organiser is responsible for:

The project's budget
implementing the project
ensuring that the project is completed in accordance with the Sustainability Engagement Fund Terms of Reference and relevant University policies
Submitting a final project report

In case of any query or difficulty arising with a project, the Project Organiser must contact the Sustainability Office immediately. The Sustainability Office will assist project organisers with:

Transferring funds to nominated cost centre
publicising projects
general advice and guidance

Payment of the grant

The awarded fund will be transferred to a ‘D’ cost centre nominated by the project organiser. All expenditure must be receipted and accounted for, and a final financial report provided as part of the Sustainability Engagement Fund Report.

Project report

All recipients must complete the Sustainability Engagement Fund Report provided upon completion of the project and submit it, together with any other specified documentation, to the Sustainability Office. Project Organisers may also be requested to provide updates on their progress throughout the timeline of the project.

Launch webinar

The Sustainability Engagement Fund 24/25 was launched during a webinar on 'Sustainable management of water, aquatic ecosystems and marine resources'.

The speakers and topics were:

Introduction to University of Galway research on water and environment - Prof. Frances Fahy, Ryan Institute & School of Geography, Archaeology & Irish Studies
Wastewater Engineering: Key to clean environment, sanitation and a sustainable future - Prof. Xinmin Zhan, School of Engineering
It’s all about water, water means life - Dr Liam Morrison, School of Natural Sciences
Irish Marine Biomaterial Repository - Prof. Olivier Thomas, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences
Launch of the University of Galway Sustainability Engagement Fund 2024/25 - Dr Richard Manton, Director of Sustainability