Supporting communities to address decarbonisation
In 2023, we worked with ServiceNow on a pilot to support community projects focused on decarbonisation. Ten projects were funded across Germany and Ireland, impacting almost 6,000 people so far. Building on that success, we expanded our partnership with ServiceNow this year.
With an investment of $1.1 million from ServiceNow, we launched community funds in nine countries in 2024, again focused on decarbonisation. A total of 43 groups have been awarded funding and we are excited to see their projects come to life in the months ahead!
Proven ideas to tackle decarbonisation
Funding was available for communities to implement a number of proven climate ideas, detailed below. Alternatively, communities could apply for funding for their own impactful sustainability projects.
Bike Library: promoting a shift towards sustainable transport through a bike sharing scheme for families. Read more.
Ecosystem Restoration Communities: helping nature heal itself by replanting, rebuilding soil, fixing water systems, re-establishing entire food webs, and increasing local biodiversity on degraded land. Learn more.
Precious Plastic: empowering people to build local networks to tackle plastic pollution, by turning plastic waste into valuable materials and inspiring more people to take action. Learn more.
Revolusolar: boosting the adoption of solar energy as a tool to promote sustainable development, energy justice and reduce social inequality. Read more.
Solar Education: supporting schools to explore the concepts of energy transition and photovoltaics through interactive education across various subjects, such as physics, maths, geography and ethics. Find out more.
Impactful projects around the world
Read on to learn a little about the projects awarded funding in each country.
Australia
Number of projects awarded funding: 4
Lindfield Learning Village, a school in New South Wales: a Precious Plastic project that aims to establish a program to cultivate a culture of recycling and also to demonstrate the transformative potential of upcycling. It will include the whole school community, from kindergarten to year 12.
Yuku-Baja-Muliku Landowner and Reserves Limited, an organisation in Queensland: creating an innovative tech solution to increase the efficiency of reporting to funders and legislative bodies, and allow rangers more time to focus on ecosystems.
Forever Foundation Limited, an organisation in Victoria: empowering youth to combat climate change through methane reduction. This ‘Farming for Tomorrow’ project aims to educate school children in New South Wales and Victoria about the impact of enteric methane and introduce them to technologies that mitigate these emissions, and aims to reach over 500 schools.
ReForest Now Limited, a non-profit organisation in Brunswick Heads: an Ecosystem Restoration Communities project. This project will see seven kilometres of riparian rainforest restoration, and builds on an ambitious ongoing project that has included the regeneration of 21 hectares of rainforest and the planting of 270,000 rainforest trees.
Brazil
Number of projects awarded funding: 5
Fundação de Apoio da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, a foundation at a federal university in Porto Alegre: a project to develop an existing maker space and 3D printing lab. PoaLab is the headquarters of the local branch of the Brazilian Creative Learning Network, with the project team committed to fostering innovation and creating new products from recycled plastics. They want to create a space for collaborative learning that promotes awareness of recycling and sustainable consumption.
Instituto Cultural e Social No Setor, an organisation working to transform downtown Brasília: setting up a Creative Design Laboratory to produce urban furniture with recycled and reused materials. The project will create employment opportunities, by providing training in sustainable design and production for people from vulnerable communities.
Sodalício da Sacra Família, a shelter for visually impaired and blind women in Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro: a Revolusolar project to reduce energy costs. Installing solar panels will bring down costs at the shelter, which houses 32 women and provides physiotherapy, psychology and speech therapy services to 35 children and adolescents with disabilities.
Desperto, an organisation In Caçapava: a regenerative agriculture project. It plans to use syntropic farming, a type of regenerative agriculture, to create an agroforestry food forest. They also plan to develop a community kitchen.
Amigos do Novo Mundo Associados, a residents’ association in São Paulo: a plastic recycling project. They plan to create a voluntary plastic drop-off station in their neighbourhood, and create awareness and volunteer opportunities so that residents and the local school community can get involved.
Canada
Number of projects awarded funding: 4
Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario: establishing a microforest adjacent to the dining hall on campus. Covering approximately 1,250 square feet, this initiative aims to restore urbanised land to a natural state by introducing a diverse mix of native shrubs and tree species, and will benefit both the environment and local community members.
Coding Cat Club, a non-profit in Richmond Hill, Ontario: building a plastic recycling facility. The project aims to educate children and youth on how to reduce plastic waste and involve them in local recycling efforts.
Camp Kitigay Incorporated, Beaconia, Manitoba: an Ecosystem Restoration Communities project. This project will see the development of the Kitigay Native Nursery on Indigenous-protected land, and will demonstrate the effectiveness of Indigenous peoples as environmental guardians.
Calgary Climate Hub, Calgary: an ecosystem restoration project in the Bow River and Elbow River watersheds. This project will address urgent environmental and community needs, by restoring natural water cycles, improving soil and water quality, and increasing biodiversity. It will build climate resilience and reduce the risks of flooding and drought.
France
Number of projects awarded funding: 3
DK Clean Up, an association in Dunkerque dedicated to tackling plastic pollution: a Precious Plastic project that will establish a mobile recycling workshop. The group plans to use a cargo bike to widen the reach of its work and raise awareness. They also plan to organise workshops in local schools and businesses.
Forest&Life, an organisation in Nogentl-sur-Marne, that runs educational programs related to forest restoration: reaching 1,250 students with its educational program. The program involves sessions in the classroom and in the field, through which school children aged 8 to 11 discover the forest in their area and participate in its restoration by planting at least one tree each.
Maison des Lycéens du Lycée Livet, a school in Nantes: a Precious Plastic project at a technological high school. The school plans to purchase machinery to repurpose recycled plastic from the school community, including bottles, cafeteria waste, printer waste and so on.
Germany
Number of projects awarded funding: 7
BIENENBOTSCHAFT, a non profit organization that protects bees in Karben: developing a unique biodiversity project on the former site of a small animal breeding association. Work on the project began in 2019, and the grant will enable the next phase, including dismantling old enclosures and huts, and establishing a home for kingfishers.
CLEANRIVERPROJECT, a clean-up organisation in Berlin: a Precious Plastic project focused on the circular economy. The group wants to transform river waste into new everyday items and run workshops demonstrating the importance of plastic as a resource.
Humboldt-Gymnasium Vaterstetten, a school in Oberbayern: a Solar Education project. The school plans to use photovoltaic experiment kits with its physics students in the classroom, but also plans to bring the teaching to life in other ways, such as a solar-powered crêpe stand at the school summer festival.
Gymnasium Buchloe, a school in Buchloe in the Swaben region: a Solar Education project. The school is already deeply committed to the sustainable use of resources as a certified “Climate School Gold,” and see this project as an opportunity to expand and deepen the school community’s knowledge of photovoltaics.
Städt. Louise-Schroeder-Gymnasium, a school in Munich: a Solar Education project. This project will bring solar energy to life for approximately 1,200 students in the school community, with a particular focus on female students, given the need to encourage young women in all STEM fields.
Pascalgymnasium Münster, a school in Münster: a Solar Education project. This school plans to take a hands-on approach to learning about solar energy. They plan to build model solar boats, powered by electricity from photovoltaic cells. This project will also feature a solar-powered bike stand, with a charging facility for e-bikes.
Gymnasium Leopoldinum Passau, a school in Passau: a Solar Education project. The school will introduce solar energy experiments across a number of age groups, and will also make solar energy a key part of its project days. The project will include a competition to see which class implements the most new photovoltaics installations.
Ireland
Number of projects awarded funding: 3
Common Knowledge Centre for Sustainable Living, a non-profit in Kilfenora, Co. Clare: turning a 50 acre site into an outdoor classroom. With its ‘Field Good Fridays’ project, the organisation hopes to educate local people on the best practices for taking care of their patches of land, taking what they’ve learned and bringing it back to their towns and villages, spreading the positive impact.
AK Inspired, a non-profit in Tralee, Co. Kerry: a Precious Plastic project, focused on sustainable fashion and inclusion. A team of artisans and educators will work with people with intellectual disabilities to turn recycled plastic into jewellery, to promote sustainability and also provide a platform for skill development, social interaction, and empowerment.
St Joseph’s National School, a school in Crannagh, Co. Roscommon: a Solar Education project. The school plans to engage children in solar energy experiments, such as building solar-panel powered cars, to ignite their curiosity and foster their creativity.
Japan
Number of projects awarded funding: 5
Karatsu Farm & Food, a non-profit in Yokomakura, Ochi Town, Karatsu City: this an Ecosystem Restoration Communities project aims to widely recognise the value of Yokomakura’s natural environment through certification as a “Nature Coexistence Site” and to receive support for its maintenance and management.
Doshisha Junior High School, Kyoto: a Precious Plastic project. The school aims to implement this project using a project-based learning framework, focused on recycling and upcycling to create new value from plastic waste.
Kaichi Junior and Senior High School, Iwatsuki: a Precious Plastic project. The school was researching ‘the current state of recycling in Japan’, and learned that Japan’s plastic recycling rate is low and was inspired to start this project and explore simple methods of plastic recycling.
Waseda University, Tokyo: a Precious Plastic project run by a student organisation. The group wants to create a space for ‘fun environmental activities’ that even people who are not particularly interested in environmental issues can enjoy.
Never-ending International workCamps Exchange, a non-profit in Motegi Town, Machida: this project aims to revive terraced rice fields through natural farming. It will restore the aquatic ecosystem, enhance biodiversity, and create a place for nature experiences.
UK
Number of projects awarded funding: 4
Colechi, a collective and research agency, in London: expanding its existing knitting club to connect people with slow fashion and collaborate with local city farms to produce locally grown fibres. The YKWU (You can Knit With Us) project targets social isolation through regular local knitting sessions. Through collaboration with local farms across the country, it plans to use fibre waste to produce community spinning and knitting workshops
King Henry VIII 3-19 School, a school in Abergavenny in Wales: a Precious Plastic project. School students already operate a small plastics recycling project, producing keyrings, jewellery, coasters, and bookmarks. They plan to develop their Plastics Lab with new machinery and become a local hub for community recycling.
The Girls’ Day School Trust, a school in Brighton: a Precious Plastic project focused on design thinking. With its FutureGirlsDesign project, the school plans to turn plastic waste into valuable educational resources, offering an opportunity to teach the principles of the circular economy and innovative design. Students will create items like sunglasses and planters from recycled plastic.
Creation Mill, a social enterprise in Langholm in Scotland: using wool to restore Tarras Valley’s peatland. Creation Mill plans to work with the Tarras Valley Nature Reserve to develop wool logs made from local South Country Cheviot sheep to restore the damaged peatland within the valley.
United States
Number of projects awarded funding: 8
Peninsula Precious Plastics, a non-profit in San Carlos, California: a Precious Plastic project focused on engaging the local community. The group plans to host ‘Meet & Melt’ events where visitors bring waste plastic to upcycle into new items and new volunteers are taught how to use the equipment.
Neighborhood Forest, a New York-based non-profit: engaging 8,000 children to plant and care for their very own tree. This project is a continuation of the organisation’s 15-year tradition of engaging youth in nature-based decarbonisation through urban and residential tree planting.
Race to Zero Waste, a California-based non-profit: this project will see student zero waste ambassadors receive training to help implement reusable foodware and improve return rates to reduce emissions from waste.
South Bay Clean Creeks Coalition (SBCCC), a volunteer group in San Jose, California: funding 12 months of TEAM 222 Creek Cleanups. SBCCC’s team of volunteers has been keeping local creeks clean since 2013, and so far has removed over 720 tons of trash from local waterways.
North East Trees, a Los-Angeles organisation: this project plans to green the city by planting LA’s first micro-grassland. Low-fire risk grasses will be planted to restore degraded urban park hillsides where trees are prohibited.
Liberty Science Center (LSC), an interactive science museum in Jersey City: a Precious Plastic project. LSC plans to create a plastic recycling workspace to allow students to create new products with plastic waste. The project aims to demonstrate to students how creative innovation can have real world impact and create value from waste.
Inner City Green Team Economic and Environmental Development (ICGT), a non-profit that cultivates climate awareness and waste equality in New York public housing communities: this project will offer public housing residents technical skills in plastic circular production. It will reinforce ICGT’s message of environmental sustainability and socio-economic development, and will build on its existing partnership with Precious Plastics NYC.
1 Plastic Life, a non-profit in Los Angeles county: a community plastic awareness project: a Precious Plastic project that plans to recycle less-typical materials and also deliver an educational program. The 1 Plastic Life program will cover topics such as local plastic pollution, zero-waste products, plastic-free living and more.
Inspired by this story? Start an impactful project today in your community!