How to apply
Greenlight 2026–27
Thinking about applying to our Greenlight fund?
This page walks you through everything you need to know, from checking your eligibility - to what happens if you're successful.
Read on to find out more, or view our PDF guide for full details.
Step 1
Check you're eligible
Greenlight is open to ECCAN members only. If you're not already a member, it's free to join before you apply.
Not sure if you’re a member already? View our members directory.
We fund local not-for-profit and community-led organisations delivering climate action projects in Edinburgh. Read through our mission and values.
Individuals can apply on behalf of informal groups for smaller awards.
Your project needs to do at least one of the following:
Reduce greenhouse gas emissions or environmental impact
Protect or enhance local biodiversity
Help communities adapt to and build resilience to climate change
Raise awareness of climate change and prompt action
Support communities to work together on the climate emergency
We won't fund:
Carbon trading, offsetting, or market-based solutions
Equipment or activities that increase dependence on fossil fuels
Environmentally damaging activities
Commercial projects seeking to return a profit
Projects outside a community context
Step 2
Read our priorities
Every application is assessed against our general criteria, but this year we are particularly keen to fund the following:
Youth-led projects.
We want to hear from young people taking the lead on climate action in their communities. Projects where young people are driving ideas and delivery are especially welcome.
Projects that widen access and participation.
We prioritise projects that bring more people into climate action — particularly those who face barriers to engagement, including people from minority or disadvantaged communities.
Climate adaptation initiatives.
As Edinburgh's climate changes, communities need to prepare. We welcome projects that help people understand, plan for, and build resilience to the impacts of climate change at a local level.
Projects that connect with and include other ECCAN members are given preference, especially for larger awards. Use the Members Map to find groups near you.
Step 3
Look at what we've funded before
Before you apply, it's worth having a look at the projects we funded last year - to get a sense of the kinds of work we support and help you think about how your project might fit.
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This collaborative project explored how individuals and communities can grow edible plants without access to a garden, with a particular focus on encouraging young people to get growing and build a deeper connection with where their food comes from.
Participants learned practical growing skills together, experimenting with ways to grow food without chemicals or peat and sharing ideas around more sustainable approaches to food and everyday life.
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Waste to Wonder brought together migrant and BME women for a series of creative workshops exploring how waste materials can be transformed into practical and ornamental objects.
Through shared making, participants exchanged skills, creativity and ideas around reuse, while creating objects with value for themselves, their homes and their communities.
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This grassroots project organised a community garden competition in Craigmillar and Niddrie, getting local people involved in caring for their environment through food and flower growing in public spaces and private gardens.
This was a small grant with a wide reach - demonstrating that even modest funding can bring a neighbourhood together and increase local biodiversity.
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Greener Generations Leith is a multi-cultural climate action and community food project based in Leith, engaging over 120 older people on a weekly basis. This project developed climate action activity packs and newsletters for 100 housebound or socially isolated older people who are unable to attend events in person.
The packs created another way for people to stay connected, share ideas and take part in conversations and activities around climate action from home.
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This collaborative project brought together Rhyze Mushroom Farm, Lauriston Farm and Grassroots Remedies to develop a shared food preservation and seed saving hub – a dedicated space for processing excess produce, saving seeds and hosting educational workshops.
The hub creates space for people to share skills around growing, preserving and storing food, while making better use of surplus produce and supporting local food resilience.
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This project brought together Porty Community Energy, Craigmillar and Niddrie Matters, and the Edinburgh Tool Library’s Retrofixers to tackle home energy in the Craigmillar and Niddrie areas. The Retrofixers delivered training sessions and 12 draught-proofing home visits, while Porty Community Energy ran a community heat network survey and focus groups, presenting findings to residents at public meetings.
Alongside practical support to help make homes warmer and more energy efficient, the project created space for local residents to shape conversations around future heat networks and energy in their area.
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Mwamba is a community organisation supporting migrant, refugee and African and ethnic minority women across Edinburgh through culturally-informed wellbeing support, conversation cafés, community kitchens and creative activities.
As part of their Nourish & Flourish project, Mwamba ran seven community cooking sessions bringing together sixty women from Venezuela, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Trinidad, Bermuda and Zambia.
The sessions wove together food culture and climate action, with participants exploring zero-waste cooking, food storage, batch cooking and recipe improvisation together.
Attendees are now compiling their favourite recipes into a Nourish & Flourish cookbook, with plans to start a community walking group and gardening project this summer.
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Networking Key Services (NKS) – a health and welfare organisation in Edinburgh working to reduce isolation and support communities – produced an original stage drama exploring climate change and its causes through everyday life and community experience.
The project used performance and storytelling to open up climate conversations in an accessible and relatable way, creating space for reflection, discussion and connection across communities.
Step 4
Come to an ECCAN surgery
We know funding applications can feel daunting.
Before you put pen to paper, come and speak to the ECCAN team at one of our applicant surgeries. Sessions are available online and in person.
Surgeries are held in groups and available from mid-May.
Step 5
Submit your application
You can apply online or contact us for a paper form.
There are two application tracks depending on the size of grant you're applying for. Deadlines and timelines for each track are outlined below.
MICRO GRANTS
A
£250 - £5,000
Applications open
11th May
Closure of offering ends when all funds have been awarded, with a target of 1st October 2026.
MAJOR PROJECT GRANTS
B
£5,001 - £20,000
11th May
Applications open
Application Surgeries
Late May
Applications close
15th June
Voting begins
17th June
Voting ends
10th July
Decisions announced
20th July
Your application should set out:
A clear project idea and the difference you expect it to make.
A realistic timeline with a clear sense of how you'll deliver it.
A budget showing how the funding will be spent.
Evidence that your organisation has the capacity and experience to see it through.
How many people you expect to reach, both directly and indirectly.
Step 6
Voting and decisions
Based on feedback from last year, we've simplified the process. Grants under £5,000 are now decided on a rolling basis with no voting required, and a faster turnaround for smaller awards.
All ECCAN members are eligible to vote. Details on how to vote will be shared soon.
MICRO GRANTS
A
£250 - £5,000
Decided on a rolling basis. No community vote required for grants up to £5,000.
MAJOR PROJECT GRANTS
B
£5,001 - £20,000
Decided by community member vote. Preference given to projects that involve multiple ECCAN members.
Step 7
If you're successful
Congratulations - here's what to expect next.
Spending deadline.
All award money must be spent and your project complete by 31st March 2027. This is a condition of funding. It's worth bearing this in mind when planning your project - if you're applying for something seasonal, make sure your timeline fits within this window.
Sharing your story.
We'll be documenting this year's Greenlight projects - the people behind them, the work they do, and the impact they have. All awardees will be asked to take part, and we'll support you to engage with this piece of work.
Staying involved.
Greenlight gets better every year because of the people who've been through it. Previous awardees are invited to play a role in the following year's process - helping to shape what good climate action looks like across Edinburgh. We hope you'll want to stay part of it.
Reporting.
At the end of your project we'll ask you to tell us what you delivered, how many people you reached, and what you learned. We'll keep reporting as simple as possible - the most important thing is that you tell us your story.
What if we're unsuccessful?
If you're unsuccessful, please don't be discouraged - get in touch and we'll do our best to give you useful feedback and help you think about next steps.
Ready to apply?
Applications are now open.
You can apply online here, or contact us if you require a paper form.
FAQs
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To apply, you will need to become a member of ECCAN, and to be one of the following: community group (with or without a constitution), registered charity, social enterprise/non-profit, Community Interest Company, Community Benefit Society, or an individual.
Your project should be run by local people under their direction and for the benefit of their community and the environment.
If you are applying as an individual, you need a partner organisation with a bank account who is willing to receive the funds on your behalf. This organisation should be a local community organisation. If you need help to find a partner, please join one of our upcoming surgeries to discuss your options.
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Applying couldn't be easier - simply click the link and fill out the application form on this webpage.
If you require a paper application form please get in touch and we can send this to you.
All applications for grants over £5,000 will be submitted to our online voting platform using the information submitted in your application.
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The application process for both pots are now open.
Details of application deadlines and dates are laid out in Step 5 of this page.
We hope to announce awardees within two weeks of the closing dates.
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Absolutely - we actively encourage previous recipients to apply again as we want to support continuity of good work. Whether you received funding from us last year or several years ago we’d love to hear how earlier projects have developed and what you want to do next.
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Yes - up to a maximum of two projects. However, please do not apply for two projects in categories above £5000. We wish to fund as many diverse organisations and projects as possible.
Grants up to £5,000 are available on a rolling basis - the pot stays open throughout the year and is reviewed in two tranches, so if you miss one round there'll be another opportunity.
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ECCAN will be running surgeries to help groups with the application process. Please go to Step 4 for further information on surgery dates and locations, or consult the Events calendar on our website.
If any information on this page is difficult to understand we are happy to provide it in other formats, including larger print upon request.
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Projects must take place within the City of Edinburgh and demonstrate clear community benefit locally.
If your organisation is based outside Edinburgh, you’ll need to explain how your work is embedded within the city.
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No. Informal and un-constituted groups can still apply, particularly for smaller grants. If you are applying as an individual, you will need a partner organisation with a bank account willing to receive funds on your behalf.
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Yes - where they are clearly needed to deliver the project. Equipment costs should remain proportionate to the overall application and support clear community benefit.
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Yes - Greenlight can support staff or freelance costs linked to delivering new or expanded project activity.
However, the fund is not intended to cover ongoing core staffing or existing organisational costs.
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For grants that go to community vote, parts of your application will be published on the voting platform on the ECCAN website.
Personal information and sensitive financial details will not be published.
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You will receive an automated email acknowledging receipt of your application form.
We will notify successful applicants by email. The email will contain a formal grant acceptance proforma, including bank details. This proforma should be signed, dated and returned to ECCAN within 10 working days.
Please note that all funding must be spent and projects be substantially delivered by end of March 2026.
Your project programme submitted with the application should reflect this clearly. We will not accept applications that show delivery beyond this date.
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Yes, learning from your project is part of the ECCAN process. We are interested in hearing about any challenges you faced with your project, and things that worked well.
Please do take lots of photos of your project for knowledge sharing and publicity purposes. Please be aware that if you don't provide feedback and evidence of how you have spent the grant, we won't be able to consider you for grants in the future.
For medium and large scale projects we ask that participants engage in a bi-monthly sharing workshop with a short written report. The online workshop will comprise a verbal report. The bi-monthly reports will then be collated into a project end-report by you, looking at challenges, risks, outputs and outcomes.
For small grants, we will ask for a two page PDF report with photos. Broadly speaking this will look at challenges, risks, outputs and outcomes. We love to hear stories as to how the project has made a positive impact on the environment, the community and people’s lives.
We will issue all awardees with a short form to complete to document how you have spent the money and the impact it has made. Please return this form within 6 months of your funds being allocated. Please send us photographs or photocopies of receipts showing what you have spent the money on.
We'll be documenting this year's Greenlight projects - the people behind them, the work they do, and the impact they have. All awardees will be asked to take part, and we'll support you to engage with this.
Our feedback process
ECCAN will publish a data-driven report on the voting process for the purposes of transparency.
To request a copy after awards have been made please email us.
Thank you and good luck
Edinburgh Communities Climate Action Network
Top floor, 14 Forth Street Edinburgh EH1 3LH
Edinburgh Communities Climate Action Network (ECCAN) is a registered Scottish Charity (SC052989) regulated by the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR).