BIG and its predecessors have always had an important focus on supporting the environment.
In doing so, our understanding of ‘environment’ is not only about protecting the natural environment, but also recognising the links between nature and economic and social factors.
Many of our programmes have linked communities and their priorities to greener outcomes, or to approaches that involve managing natural resources:
- The Scottish Land Fund allowed many rural communities to take charge of and manage forests and to set up windfarms that help sustain and develop local economies.
- Transforming Your Space encouraged communities to take charge of projects and to identify a wide range of benefits.
- Our support for Transforming Waste helped to develop community-led solutions to recycling and waste management.
- Our experience shows how an early focus on ‘greener’ issues, like biodiversity, can bring community groups together, helping communities to feel safer and more cohesive. As the evaluation of Green Spaces and Sustainable Communities shows, our approach to funding has also helped environmental organisations to explore and promote new ways of working.
Our commitment to sustainable development is built on our wider understanding of the relationship between environmental, social and economic factors. More generally, we have worked with the Intelligent Funding Forum to produce Funding for the Future: how all grant-makers can help to create a greener world, published by the Association of Charitable Foundations.
Read an overview of some of our learning in the area of sustainable development.
Our focus on involving communities in environmental projects means that you may find further useful information under our stronger communities theme.
Please contact us if you have any questions or comments.