The objective of the Education for Sustainability Grants Program is to facilitate changes in community attitudes and behaviour in support of sustainable development.
What is education for sustainability?
Education for sustainability (see Glossary below) aims to equip individuals, organisations and communities with the knowledge and skills to deal effectively with the complex and inter-related environmental, social and economic challenges they encounter in their personal and working lives, in a way that protects the interests of current and future generations.
The Program provides funding for:
- education, awareness raising, behaviour change and capacity building activities that act as a catalyst for systemic change in support of sustainable development;
- activities that enhance national coordination of existing education for sustainability programs, policies or institutions; and
- new and innovative approaches in areas of need in education for sustainability at the national level.
The Program provides funding for projects in the following areas:
- Community - including local government, to develop or support community responses to sustainable development.
- Further and Higher Education - to incorporate education for sustainability principles into further and higher education teaching programs and curricula, campus management and associated activities.
- Business and Industry - to foster adoption of the principles of sustainable development in the operations of business and industry.
Descriptions of previously funded projects can be viewed here.
The Education for Sustainability Grants Program has limited funds and competition for these resources is high. The Program is generally only able to fund a small number of projects each year. In previous years, individual projects have ranged in value from $3,000 to $50,000 and were assessed as providing the greatest opportunity to create change within the resources available. View previously funded 2006-2007 Projects
To be eligible for funding, the proposed project, the applicant and the application itself must meet the requirements set out below. If you cannot meet these requirements, please do not submit an application.
Project Requirements
The project must:
- have the ability to influence significant institutions/ associations/ programs, or systems;
- be national in focus or have national application;
National refers to projects which are national in focus OR which provide models or solutions that have national application. This should be reflected as an integral part of the project proposal and design - for example through partnerships and collaboration with broader and/or national networks, a dissemination or communication plan that shares information nationally.
- be innovative and/or offer widely applicable models;
- be administered in Australia;
- be completed within a 12 month period;
- deliver a clear benefit to the Australian community;
- involve collaboration and partnership arrangements with other supporting organisations;
- be based on education for sustainability research and/or regional and local plans relating to sustainable development; and
- not duplicate existing projects and resources.
Applicant Requirements
Eligible groups include, but are not necessarily limited to:
- community groups and associations;
- industry associations;
- rural organisations;
- local governments;
- universities and further education institutions;
- Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander corporations, councils or incorporated associations; and
- environmental and education groups.
Groups that are not eligible include:
- commercial enterprises;
- individuals, including for personal travel and study; and
- individual pre-schools, primary schools and secondary schools*.
*Support for individual schools is provided under the Australian Sustainable Schools Initiative (AuSSI). Please visit the AuSSI website for further details.
Preference is given to organisations and projects that have the ability to influence and coordinate education for sustainability activities nationally.
The organisation/group undertaking the project must also:
- be able to enter into a contract and meet the requirements stated in the sample funding agreement; and
- not be in receipt of any un-acquitted grants administered by the Australian Government Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts.
In addition, the specified personnel undertaking the project must:
- have the capacity, knowledge and skills to deliver national education for sustainability activities;
- have demonstrated knowledge of the needs of the project area;
- be in a sound position to influence the sector to which the project relates; and
- have the capacity, including previous experience and expertise, to deliver the stated outcomes.
Application Requirements
Applications will not be considered unless all fields in the application form are completed and the information provided is clear.
Education for Sustainability Grants will generally not be provided to:
- undertake academic research projects;
- support continuing administration/operational costs of an organisation;
- support part of a devolved grant, that is, a grant requested by one party with the purpose of distributing funds to other parties;
- purchase, lease or acquisition of buildings, equipment, land or vehicles;
- pay for travel;
- produce TV shows, board games or generic environmental publications;
- ongoing maintenance of projects to which organisations have committed to as part of a previous grant; and
- the administration costs incurred when applying for funding.
If your proposal meets the program's eligibility critera and applicant requirements, you will need to complete and submit an online application form by 11.59pm, Sunday 11 May 2008. Organisations who are unable to submit an application online should phone 02 6274 1480.
Instructions for filling out and submitting the online application
- You will need a recent version of Adobe Reader (8.1.2) installed on your
computer to access the online form, and to enter and save data into the
form
- Please read and answer all questions carefully and observe word limits where indicated.
- Applications in progress can be saved using the save icon or by clicking 'save as ' in the file menu.
- Once your application is complete, you will need to submit electronically using one of the following methods:
- If you use a local mail client such as Outlook, Outlook express,
Lotus Notes, Eudora or Groupwise, please click "Submit by Email". This
will create a pre-populated email with your application data file
attached. At this point please attach any other supporting documents
and send the email.
- If you use a web mail client such as Yahoo Mail, GMail or
Hotmail (accessed via the web), please do the following: Click "Export
Data File" and save the data file (as an XML file). Next, send an
email with the data file attached, as well as any other supporting
documents to efsgrants@erin.gov.au
- If you have any problems with the online form or submission
process, please phone 02 6274 1480.
All applicants will be notified of the outcome no later than June 2008. The successful applicants will be sent a funding agreement that will cover the conditions of funding, including the required reporting for the project during the project period and on completion of the project.
Payment will be provided to the applicant once the funding agreement and any schedules relevant to the project have been signed.
Education for Sustainability
Education for Sustainability aims to equip individuals, organisations and communities with the knowledge and skills to deal effectively with the complex and inter-related social, economic and environmental challenges they encounter in their personal and working lives, in a way that protects the interests of future generations.
Education for Sustainability acknowledges the need to:
- Challenge the assumptions that have driven communities to unsustainable development. This involves questioning and reflecting upon actions and decisions, in order to re-think and re-design activities.
- Use learning approaches that help individuals, organisations and communities explore sustainable development and build skills that enable change, such as mentoring and facilitation, futures thinking, genuine participation in decision making, action learning and action research and the formation of partnerships for change.
*Adapted from Frameworks for Sustainability, Volume 1, A National Review of Environmental Education and its Contribution to Sustainability in Australia, Tilbury, D and Cooke, K, 2005 and Caring for Our Future, the Australian Government Strategy for the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, 2005-2014.
Sustainable Development
Sustainable Development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Source: Our Common Future: The World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987.
United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, 2005-2014
In December 2002, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed the years from 2005 to 2014 the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. Governments from around the world have been invited to strengthen their contribution to sustainability through a focus on education. Australia's approach to the Decade was released in October 2006 and can be viewed online.
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