Applications for UK Sustainability Challenge Grant Program now being accepted
The Sustainability Challenge Grant Program is designed to engage and support multidisciplinary teams from the University community in the development of scholarly, creative, and research projects that promote sustainability by engaging students, advancing field(s) of study, and seeking to balance economic, social, and ecological factors.
Applications for the University of Kentucky Sustainability Challenge Grant Program are being accepted now through Sept. 4. Individual projects are eligible to receive up to $50,000. Application materials can be found at research.uky.edu/tfise/sustainability-challenge-grants.
This year's proposals are encouraged to align with one or more of UK Sustainability’s five guiding principles:
- Make the pursuit of sustainability an integral part of the UK student experience
- Reinforce the University’s commitment to our people
- Reduce campus emissions
- Become a zero-waste campus
- Model environmental excellence
“Over the past decade, this program has been a powerful catalyst for bringing together faculty, staff and students from multiple disciplines to focus on the exciting and important work of understanding the interplay between environmental, social and economic systems,” said Shane Tedder, director of facilities services and sustainability in Facilities Management. Tedder also serves as assistant director for the Tracy Farmer Institute for Sustainability and the Environment.
Since the program’s inception 11 years ago, 71 projects have been awarded a total of $2.1 million to pursue a wide range of sustainability-driven projects on campus and beyond. Learn more about these projects.
- Digital Stormwater Learning Lab: An Innovative Framework for Stormwater Monitoring, Management, and Education
- Healthy Futures Through Heritage: Adaptive Reuse for Rural Kentucky Clinics
- Living Materials, Moving Spaces
- SOS (Save our Seeds): An Appalachian Heritage Seed Project
- Ugly Produce Project: A Living Lab to Reduce Food Waste and Advance Sustainability Education
The program is a collaborative effort of the Tracy Farmer Institute for Sustainability and the Environment and the Office of Sustainability in Facilities Management.
Funding for the program is provided by the Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration, the Vice President for Research, the Office of the Provost, the Tracy Farmer Institute for Sustainability and the Environment, and the Student Sustainability Council.
For more information visit https://research.uky.edu/tfise/sustainability-challenge-grants.
