About climate and sustainability at King’s
Enabling societal transition to environmental sustainability is a...
The Sustainability Projects Fund (SPF) is a prize-fund of £73,000 to enhance sustainability on campus and locally via staff- and student-led projects. It was funded by a 20p ‘levy’ placed on single-use disposable coffee cups sold at King’s College London catering outlets.
Applications for the 2023-4 fund are now closed.
However, projects requesting under £500 will be reviewed on a rolling basis by King’s Climate & Sustainability and King’s Food teams.
Students and staff are invited to submit an application for one or more of the categories below in line with King’s Climate & Sustainability Action Plan but are not restricted to only these categories:
- Sustainable food
- Waste reduction and promotion of a circular economy
- Carbon and energy reduction
- Biodiversity
- Water use reduction
- Sustainability education and awareness
- Sustainable and ethical procurement
- Climate justice
- Sustainable travel (commuting, business, end-of-term)
- Community engagement
Please submit your application and direct any questions to SPF@kcl.ac.uk. You can watch a recording of the SPF workshop and Q&A here (22 February 2024).
Please read the documents below carefully.
How does this relate to other funding for sustainability at King’s?
The Sustainability Projects Fund is open to students or colleagues in any role and aims to advance sustainability on campus, in residences and/or in the local community. If your idea is centrally concerned with education or research, King’s Climate & Sustainability invites you to consider applying to two further funds. The KCS Seed Fund (deadline 14th March 2024) supports researchers to develop new ideas or scale up. The King’s Academy Education for Sustainability (EfS) Fund is dedicated to educators embedding EfS into curricula.
These funds are mutually compatible, so you can apply for more than one at a time.
Successful Projects 2023-24
Blooming Balcony
This project from the Department of Twin Research seeks to develop a small communal garden on their balcony. The garden will use food waste from the Department to grow food and flowers suitable for pollinators, important for biodiversity, improving waste management, and creating a healthy community space.
Community Fridge & Larder
This project from the Faculty of Arts & Humanities’ Student Experience Team aims to install a community fridge, which will be stocked with leftover food from events, to minimise waste and aid with the cost of living for students.
The IGUANA Initiative
This project from the Department of Psychology aims to provide financial support for staff members to enable them to use sustainable transport methods for conferences in Europe.
iWash Slide Washer
The Innovation Hub will purchase an iWash Slide Washer, allowing them to reuse slides up to 50 times to reduce waste and emissions from the supply chain.
King’s Community Garden biodiversity project
This project seeks to develop and enhance the King's Community Garden, including a range of measures to increase and monitor wildlife in the garden and the use of the space as a ‘living lab’ to develop education and research relating to biodiversity.
Future Travel Fund
This project, from the School of Cardiovascular & Metabolic Medicine & Sciences, will subsidise business travel by rail where it is more expensive than flying.
Sensors in the Saddle
This project by a postgraduate student on the MSc in Environmental Science for Sustainability aims to measure air quality in London by assembling low-cost mobile monitoring units and attaching them to bicycles. It will be the first incentive-based, community lead mobile air-quality monitoring network in the world, as well as integrating more kings students in topical research/data collection related to climate change to empower students with feelings of hope and action, knowing they are part of a solution.
More about King's Climate & Sustainability
Get involved with sustainability at King’s
Learn more about how you can join in and take action