GreenLight 24-25 - An overview
ECCAN is proud to report on our seedgrant funding programme – “GreenLight” – for the year to 31/3/25. The fund opened for applications in August 2024, and awarded £122k to 32 fantastic projects across the city. The projects spanned a wide range of climate action activities, including energy/retrofit, transport/active travel, food/growing, circular economy/waste, greenspace/biodiversity, and more.
A full list of awarded projects is included in the table below, as well as a summary of the projects and its outcomes that may be of use to our wider network of groups and individuals wanting to take more climate action in Edinburgh.
For any questions on the programme please get in touch via greenlight@eccan.scot.
| Group/organisation | Award [£] | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Edible Estates | 19,621 | Develop Community Climate Action Plans, using Sniffer's routemap, to help 5 disadvantaged communities to navigate climate change; the project will help raise awareness, identify actions and encourage long-term behaviour change. |
| Earth in Common | 15,638 | Create a new plant nursery in Leith; run a series of 36 workshops using their Carbon Literacy Organisation-accredited programme; and hold an inaugural event to further raise awareness and engagement, entitled 'Biosphere Blether'. |
| Porty Community Energy | 12,500 | Travel Agents of Change project - people share their low carbon (flight-free) travel stories and enter into a competition to win vouchers towards their next low carbon holiday; publish a magazine with the stories, and tour an outdoor exhibition. |
| The Edinburgh Tool Library | 10,000 | Currently in NE Edinburgh, they will open a new base in SW Edinburgh, offering their services including tool library, skills classes and repairs events, and a new scheme to allow people to share paint, helping the circular economy/reduce waste. |
| BANZAI - Bruntsfield Area Net Zero Action Initiative |
7,695 | Campaign for active travel, contribution to a cargo bike library , along with a bike librarian to coordinate bike lending into the community. |
| Tummies Not Trash | 5,754 | Prevent food waste by rescuing surplus food from supermarkets and distributing it through a network of community partner organisations and to individuals to encourage people to think differently about how the use food. |
| Bikes for Refugees (Scotland) SCIO | 5,000 | Repair 50 donated bikes and give them to refugees/asylum seekers along with bike safety equipment, to boost active travel in a community very much in need. |
| The Meaning Map Project | 5,000 | Create visual, impactful 'meaning maps' in 5 communities across the city via mapping workshops; aiming to inspire communities to develop climate action goals. |
| Rhyze Mushrooms Cooperative CIC | 4,926 | Contribution to polytunnel - produce 300kg of mushrooms per month to help feed local people sustainably; repurpose local business waste; volunteering opportunities. |
| Drylaw and Telford Community Association | 4,262 | Restore two fruit orchards with intergenerational volunteering sessions, boosting biodiversity and raising awareness; plus a winter Wassail community engagement event. |
| EALA Impacts CIC | 4,100 | Reuse Rover project - shipping container to be taken to demolition and construction sites to collect unused materials to recirculate to social enterprises. |
| Youth Vision | 4,094 | Edible Woodland and Biodiversity project, working with young people and their families from disadvantages areas; woodland maintenance and education; building paths for accessibility; structured programme and workshops. |
| Broomhouse Community Growers Association | 3,500 | Small solar power project for the community garden. Allowed them to replace tools with electric alternatives. |
| Wee Spoke Hub | 3,500 | Community bike repair shop (part of SHRUB coop). Specific project on wheelchair repair. |
| Bridgend Farmhouse | 2,000 | Apple Press and Tree Planting Days; community-led initiative for local families to engage in apple pressing sessions and tree planting. |
| Salisbury Centre | 1,705 | Establish new seed library |
| Parents4Future | 1,500 | Climate awareness/engagement programme for school aged children |
| Edinburgh Building Retrofit & Improvement Collective (EdinBRIC) |
1,000 | Universal bike trailer to expand the use of the 'Retrofit Rover' (developed previously as a roadshow tool to raise awareness of building retrofit) to be used by other volunteers and community groups. |
| The Green Team | 1,000 | Contribution to cargo bike to expand the work of their Green Schools and Communities project. |
| Edinburgh Old Town Development Trust | 1,000 | Our project will create and enhance community garden spaces in Edinburgh’s Old Town—Grassmarket, Cannongate, and the Royal Mile—serving as green hubs to boost biodiversity, well-being, and food security. These gardens will produce food for our community pantry and lunches while strengthening residents' ties to their environment. |
| Settlement Community Project / Grow2Eat | 1,000 | Community shop, zero waste hub, food growing skills |
| Transition Edinburgh South | 1,000 | Community garden at Gracemount walled garden; weekly Queer Gardening group. |
| Conscious Weaving - ELREC | 965 | Awareness raising; sustainable materials; art impact; climate conversations |
| Open Arms - ELREC | 960 | Run 12 "Rag Doll Making" workshops for minority and migrant women, out of recycled materials, raising awareness of sustainability. |
| The Green Team | 850 | working with a University researcher, to explore learning benefits and guide practice in engaging children in environmental stewardship |
| LGBT Health and Wellbeing | 800 | Learn to grow workshop bringing the community together |
| Edinburgh Tool Library | 735 | Bike maintenance training to support users of their Cycle Kitchen service to help people repair their bikes at low cost. Two trainees. |
| University of Edinburgh, School of Architecture |
450 | Workshop on net-zero architectural design for local architects and architecture students. |
| Cozy future QPC | 350 | Community overhaul of a high density housing development for cost saving and clean heating, for example via future proofed insulation programme and installation of a district network heat system, with a view to energy transition to net zero emissions. The aim of this project is to raise awareness and engagement amongst residents. |
| Greening our streets (Meadows Community Garden) |
350 | Tools and tree stakes for the community garden |
| SCCAN | 350 | Session for families incorporating reading of eco-themed stories focused on conservation of nature and sustainable communities bringing parents and children to imagine, create, think and trouble-shoot together. |