Call summary :

ACU Commonwealth Climate Resilience Challenge Grants are awarded to member universities to support initiatives addressing climate resilience.

Open to academic and professional staff, the grants support the cost of organising projects that promote either of the two main strategic priorities of the?Commonwealth Climate Resilience Network? (CCRN):

- Enhancing the climate resilience of universities themselves
- Enhancing universities’ contribution to the resilience of communities, business and government

What does the grant include?

- Three grants of up to GBP 3,500 each

How to apply

- Be a staff member at an ACU member university.
- Submit an application through the online application form.
* If you already have a MyACU account, you can access the grant application form here.
* If you do not already have a MyACU account, please ensure that you first register for an account here and then follow the instructions in the registration email to log in to the system before accessing the application form.
- Applicants are encouraged to collaborate with other?ACU member institutions?to promote further Commonwealth partnerships.
- Applications led by ACU members, but are in partnership with institutions outside of our network will also be considered.
- Grant applications that allow matching or additional funds from the applicant’s institution will be looked upon favourably.

Ideas for using the grants

The grants can be used for a?diverse range of projects, workshops and events in one of the following project focus areas:
- Improving learning, teaching, and training for climate change adaptation – e.g. virtual exchange or collaboration, teaching or professional practice collaboration and sharing and co-development of learning materials
- Increasing the research capacity of CCRN members in climate change adaptation – e.g. virtual fellowships or collaboration, comparative analyses, research management and uptake capacity building, understanding and documenting indigenous knowledge and resilience practices
- Improving institutional resilience policies and practice adopted by Commonwealth universities - e.g. developing tools, training and approaches to support contingency and continuity of operations planning at higher education institutions

To date, the grants have funded a diverse range of climate action projects in universities across the Commonwealth - from sea-temperature monitoring in the coral reefs of Fiji, to integrating indigenous knowledge on climate change adaptation with academia in New Zealand.