Grants Awarded
2010 Grant Awards
Carbon Leapfrog
Carbon Leapfrog, an innovative new charity that mobilises free professional advice to help low carbon projects overcome the challenges faced by early-stage enterprises, has received an initial seed funding grant from the Tellus Mater Foundation. The grant will enable Carbon Leapfrog to set up a small executive team and expand its operations to support an increasing number of UK-based low carbon initiatives with legal, financial, accounting and engineering expertise. Tellus Mater believes the organisation has the potential to make a difference in the fight against climate change by building an extensive pro bono professional network from across 20+ disciplines to help low carbon enterprises achieve greater scale.
WWF-UK
The Finance Innovation Lab
The Finance Innovation Lab is a network of professionals hosted by WWF-UK and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) to advance cutting-edge ideas for a financial system that creates economic, social and environmental value. This partnership for change brings together a diverse range of institutions and individuals from business, finance, government and civil society to incubate new projects and initiatives to shift finance to a more sustainable, long-term path. Tellus Mater has provided seed grant funding to allow this innovative early-stage project to continue to develop and scale its operations. The foundation is pleased to support a ground-breaking initiative that has the potential to bring together innovators from across multiple sectors to re-think the function of financial institutions.
Volans
Pathways to Scale
Tellus Mater has agreed to provide seed funding to the Pathways to Scale programme, a major new initiative of Volans designed to support scaling up of enterprise-driven solutions to environmental problems. Part think tank, consultancy and ideas incubator, Volans will identify, map and build partnerships with leading pioneers working on new ways to value and protect carbon, water and biodiversity resources. This emerging field of eco-system services consists of many innovative local or regional initiatives that have not yet reached a scale sufficient to address the challenges facing multiple habitats and eco-systems. Volans is part of a growing international network of cutting-edge organisations working on issues of environmental enterprise and social innovation.
2009 Grant Awards
Green Alliance
Climate Leadership Programme
Climate change must command the attention of the leadership of all political parties in the next parliament. While there is cross-party consensus on ambitious carbon targets, there is far too little awareness and understanding of the political and policy changes necessary to achieve them. This initiative aims to equip rising political leaders with the knowledge, understanding and motivation to take action on climate change. With the backing of the main parties, it will train a cadre of climate leaders, who will be able to provide strong political leadership.
Forum for the Future
Leadership for Sustainable Development Masters
The Tellus Mater Scholarship Programme supports the Forum's Leadership for Sustainable Development Masters course by funding scholars who need financial support in order to accept a place on the course. Tellus Mater will also support a business plan competition to award a prize to the most successful team that develops a sustainable business or social enterprise. As well as being financially viable, the business should also have positive environmental and social impacts.
LEAD International
LEAD Europe Scholarship Programme
Tellus Mater Scholarship Programme will offer 10 scholarships per year to exceptional candidates applying to the LEAD Europe programme. The scholarships will allow successful applicants to participate in leadership training for sustainable development who would otherwise be unable to attend due to funding constraints. The programme will provide emerging leaders from across Europe with training on key areas of sustainable development and climate change.
2008 Grant Awards
Wilderness Foundation UK
Sirius Scholarship Programme
Tellus Mater has partnered with the Wilderness Foundation UK to create the Sirius Scholarship Programme for young people who are passionate about the environment, helping to enhance a new generation of inspired young leaders and advocates in this field. The scholarships include a leadership workshop, experiential learning about the environment on a five-day wilderness trail in Scotland, and an advocacy and campaigning workshop on the students' return, ensuring that we harness passion and commitment for the future.
The Lancashire Wildlife Trust
Trailblazers
Tellus Mater has funded a pilot project with LWT to improve the leadership and team work skills of local young people through a series of environmental education challenges. The project fosters long-term involvement by highlighting volunteer opportunities, routes in to employment within the wildlife sector and other ways to get involved or gain qualifications. The scheme is youth-led with high levels of participation, and involves a year-end youth conference to bring participants together.
Envision
Environment Dragons' Den
Envision supports 16-19 year olds in schools and colleges to develop their own social and environmental projects. These projects not only achieve positive change but inspire their creators, and those around them, with their collective capacity to make a real difference. Teams of young people will participate in a Dragons' Den competition to win funding to make their environmental/sustainable project a reality in their local school or community. Envision continues to work with young people after the initial project is finished through the Envision network which involves them in peer mentoring, future environmental activities and events.
Latest News
Volans Ventures launched a cutting-edge report on the Biosphere Economy, to examine innovations and new business models responding to global ecological overshoot and changing the way business, investors, and governments value and manage natural capital. Launched on the 22-23 April to an audience of business leaders at the Business 4 Environment conference in Seoul, the report maps a future in which business, finance and politics increasingly take account of natural capital and related forms of value.
The Finance Innovation Lab is a network of professionals hosted by WWF-UK and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) to advance cutting-edge ideas for a financial system that creates economic, social and environmental value. This partnership for change brings together a diverse range of institutions and individuals from business, finance, government and civil society to incubate new projects and initiatives to shift finance to a more sustainable, long-term path. At the launch workshop on 26 March in London, over 110 representatives took part, resulting in a series of innovation groups focused on designing and resourcing new initiatives to take action on specific finance themes.
Envision has had another successful year, with the focus on development and expansion of its sustainability work with young people in London, Birmingham and Leeds. An exciting and rewarding "Pitch 4 Change" event was held for the second time in London, where hundreds of young people had the opportunity to pitch their ideas for positive change to a panel of business and community leaders.
The Wilderness Foundation UK Sirius Programme for Environmental Leaders completed a second successful year. This opportunity provides young people with an almost fully funded trail in Scotland where the participants, together with leaders from the WFUK and highly trained and experienced guides explore the impact that we have on the environment. The Sirius trail was followed up at a conference for youth leaders in November, where key and current thinkers in the environment field discussed climate change and other issues.
LEAD International has announced its first group of Tellus Mater Scholarship recipients who will join the LEAD Europe Programme in London, Brussels and Beijing to focus on leadership and climate change. The outstanding group of 10 scholarship winners is made up of talented individuals from across the finance, policy-making, government and business sectors.
The Lancashire Wildlife Trust's Trailblazer Project held its first film premiere event at the Mitchell & Kenyon Cinema in Preston. The evening was a chance for the students involved in the project to showcase the environmental films they have produced and to celebrate the achievements of the participants during the first year of the project.
The Lancashire Wildlife Trust’s Trailblazer Project held its first Eco Dragons’ Den on Earth Day supported by the Tellus Mater Foundation. A panel of Eco Dragons made up of local businesspeople and environmental leaders saw students pitching for a total of £8000 in prizes to support their local environmental projects.
Envision hosted its first Environmental Dragons' Den on 11 December 2008 at BASH Creations sustainable venue in Shoreditch, East London with support from the Tellus Mater Foundation. Eleven teams of young people from schools across London competed for prize money of up to £1,000 each to realise their vision for sustainable action in their community.
Envision, a charity supported by the Tellus Mater Foundation, has won a prestigious Guardian Charity Award. The awards showcase innovation and excellence by highlighting remarkable achievements that have been made with limited resources.
The Lancashire Wildlife Trust, with support from the Tellus Mater Foundation, has launched its Trailblazer programme targeting the environmental leaders of the future by engaging them in a series of challenges for local environmental action.
The Wilderness Foundation UK hosted its inaugural Wild Leaders Conference on 22 November 2008 at the Club4Climate venue in Kings Cross, London. The conference brought together young leaders and inspirational outdoor guides, environmental activists and social entrepreneurs to focus on how to take practical action to support the environment.
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