Environmental protection

Homepage > Environmental Protection > Environmental Action Fund

Environmental Action Fund (EAF)

These pages are for anyone interested in Environmental Action Fund grants, or knowing what work the Fund supports.

 

What is the EAF?

The Environmental Action Fund (EAF) is a Defra funding scheme which helps voluntary and community sector groups to further the Government's sustainable development objectives within England.

Grants awarded to groups range from £25,000 to £250,000 per year (£75,000 and £750,000 over the three year grant period).

As part of the eligibility criteria groups have to find eligible matching funding and ensure that a work plan is agreed with Defra containing well defined objectives, measurable outcomes and clear timescales.

The funding priorities and actual distribution of EAF grants are decided by Defra Ministers.

What is the EAF currently funding (2005-2008)?

Grant awards for 2005-2008 funding

In 2005-2008, priority is given to projects that contribute to the sustainable consumption agenda identified in the Government's Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) Framework.

We sought applications from groups that could change behaviours: finding ways of making sustainable living attractive to consumers, and sustainable processes attractive to producers.

In particular, EAF is funding projects that are:

  • influencing patterns of consumption within communities* in England to become more sustainable.
  • focusing on moving from awareness of consumption challenges into action for more sustainable consumption behaviours, building the capability and commitment of communities to change the existing patterns.
  • for the most part have England-wide coverage or strong potential for widespread application. Projects with a local or regional focus were encouraged as long as they could demonstrate the potential for wider influence or replication.
  • looking at consumption issues across the board or in broad consumption themes - for example, the consumption impacts surrounding the domestic household, or the impacts of its leisure-time activities.
  • going beyond single issues covered by other more specific programmes (which, for example, focus on aspects of energy efficiency, waste or mobility).
  • attempting to make some leap of innovation in social or market activity (as distinct from innovation in technology). To that extent, projects which have a narrower focus on a specific good or service, involving new ways of supplying and consuming, were considered - especially if they had the potential to stimulate innovative thinking in other consumption streams.
  • delivered by eligible bodies in the voluntary, not-for-profit sector. However, projects which involve participation by business or public sector organisations were not ruled out - indeed, partnerships of this kind may be a distinctive feature of innovative projects.

* "Communities" can be physical communities at local or regional levels; or communities defined by common features of a social, demographic, religious or cultural kind.

For information only, the application pack consisted of:

For more background please refer to Changing Patterns: UK Government Framework for sustainable consumption and production

Back to top

Ongoing research into EAF projects in 2005-08

We continue to take very seriously the lessons to be learned from EAF-funded work to see how we can improve both processes and policies. As part of this constant reassessment, and building on CAG’s research findings, we’ve commissioned a further evaluation programme which will track the progress of EAF projects funded in 2005-08 for work on sustainable consumption and production. Interim reports from this study will be published on the Defra website as the project progresses. This will be an important part of Defra’s wider programme of research into sustainable consumption and production - you can out more about this at www.defra.gov.uk/environment/business/scp/index.htm

Defra commissioned Brook Lyndhurst to undertake a three-year evaluation of the EAF (2005-2008) to assess and determine behaviour change impact and key factors for success. The year one and two interim reports and executive summaries are available below:

Year one

This first interim report identified key lessons learnt, opportunities and risks and considers the potential for projects to deliver an innovative test bed of approaches that contribute to the Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) agenda, along with a series of recommendations which were actioned by Defra.   For instance, we provided evaluation support to groups who responded to our offer of a one-to-one evaluation consultancy (Recommendation 5) and we provided groups with easily digestible information about behaviour change theories (Recommendation 4).

Year two

The second report builds on these findings especially beginning to evalaute the extent to which there is potential for projects to deliver an innovative test bed of approaches that contribute to the Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) agenda. We are considering recommendations and will be looking to take these forward during the remainder of this programme and beyond.

How can we apply for funding?

The current round of funding is closed and no further EAF funding is available during the 2005-2008 period.

There is particular pressure on Defra’s budget during the 2008-11 CSR (Comprehensive Spending Review) period, but it has been proposed that a single new fund would replace Defra's grant schemes such as the EAF, Climate Challenge Fund and Every Action Counts. The fund would be set up to work with the Voluntary and Community sector (VCS) to encourage people to adopt a ‘greener’ lifestyle. Following consultation with the Third Sector it is Defra’s intention that strategic partners would be appointed to this scheme whilst ensuring that local third sector groups could be effectively involved by any national strategic partners, where the local groups can help achieve the required overall outcomes. Further details on the proposed scheme, are expected to be announced during the next 2/3 months.

If you wish to be added to the EAF mailing list please see contacts below.

Back to top

What has the EAF funded in previous years?

On 4 April 2002, Ministers awarded £4.2 million in funding to help support "Biodiversity" and "Understanding and awareness of sustainable development" projects for three years (2002-05). Pending the creation of English Nature/Natural England, Biodiversity grants awarded to groups in 2002-05 were rolled forward for a further year in 2005-06 (amounting to £1.95million).

Biodiversity projects

EAF funded Biodiversity projects to carry out strategic activities that met the Government's objective of promoting species and habitat biodiversity in England.

Biodiversity is the richness and variety of plants, birds, animals, fish and insects that exist throughout the world. It concerns the whole variety of living things, form the commonplace to the greatly endangered, and the habitats that support them.

People's interaction with biodiversity shows whether our social and economic development is sustainable.

Understanding and awareness of sustainable development projects

EAF also funded understanding and awareness projects. This included education for sustainable development (ESD): the learning needed if individuals, communities and businesses are to develop the knowledge, values and skills they need to participate in decisions about the way they do things, individually and collectively, both locally and globally, that will maintain and improve our quality of life and the quality of life of generations to come.

Understanding and awareness funding also sought to support voluntary groups carrying out work developing innovative ideas about ways to remove barriers to sustainable development, in particular in the areas of climate change, resource productivity and waste. Work with an urban or rural focus was eligible.

For further information see the news releases on the awards of grants made in 2002-03, 2003-04 and 2004-05.

Biodiversity projects – funding for 2006/07 and 2007/08

The biodiversity stream of the Environmental Action Fund has been transferred to English Nature/Natural England.

Launched on 15 December 2005, the fund will now be known as “The Countdown 2010 Biodiversity Action Fund” and will be administered by English Nature. The fund will continue to support projects carried out by voluntary organisations which will help deliver the objectives of the England Biodiversity Strategy and Biodiversity Action plan targets for England.

The scheme is now closed for applications as funds for the 2006-07/2007-08 funding rounds have been allocated. For details of the grants awarded in March 2006:

Back to top

If EAF is not for you

Defra are unable to advise on the suitability or otherwise of other sources of grants for your work. However, Defra has a free "Sources of Grant" leaflet, which gives details of other grant schemes funding similar work to that which the EAF has supported.

Back to top

Further information

Annual report

More information about groups and work supported by EAF grants can be found in the EAF annual report:

Activate

Defra also produces Activate, a six-monthly newsletter. Activate features news and information items as well as articles from EAF-funded groups. The latest editions are available in PDF format (or contact us for printed copies):

Evaluation of Defra’s 2002 – 2005 EAF Programme

An independent evaluation of EAF in 2002-05 by CAG Consultants was completed in January 2006. CAG have produced a final report and executive summary available below:

The report holds lessons for the EAF itself, and also for Defra more widely. The research has taken forward our understanding of how best to work with the voluntary and community sector to promote and support more sustainable behaviour. It also provides some useful pointers on the effectiveness of different types of behaviour change activity in different contexts, and with different target communities.

As part of the report CAG have drawn up a list of recommendations, and Defra’s EAF team will be looking to take these forward over the current (05-08) set of grants and beyond. And some new recommendations back up changes that have already been made for the new 2005-08 funding round.

Other publications

Copies of the then DETR's "Guide to Good Practice in Managing Environmental Projects" are also available in printed form from the contact details below . This was published in 1997, and although much of it will still be useful to groups, we cannot guarantee the currency of all the resources it describes.

Back to top

Contacting Defra

If you want further information about the Environmental Action Fund in relation to current sustainable consumption and production projects, then you should first consult the pages mentioned above. If you then still need to contact the EAF team, you can do so as follows

Defra
Environmental Behaviours Unit
Business Resource Efficiency and Consumers Division
5C Ergon House
Horseferry Road
London SW1P 2AL

Email: rosemary.thurbon@defra.gsi.gov.uk
Tel: 020 7238 4609

Further information is available on our Help page about downloading or reading Adobe Acrobat documents.

Page last modified: 18 April 2008

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs