Sustainable construction grants up for grabs in East Midlands

East Midlands' construction firms are being encouraged to act fast if they want to claim their share of £200,000 of grants being made available by the region's Sustainable Construction Innovation Network (iNet).


A call for applications and proposals to the Sustainable Construction iNet’s Higher Education Collaboration Fund has just been issued, offering firms involved in the construction or associated industries the chance to bring their ideas and products to life by teaming up with the region’s universities.

Grants in the region of £30,000 to £50,000 are available for small to medium sized enterprises operating in the sustainable construction arena.

The qualifying firms receiving funding, will form a three-way partnership with any two universities in the East Midlands, which are already undertaking relevant research work.

Financed by the East Midlands Development Agency (emda) and the European Regional Development Fund, the Higher Education Collaboration Fund, provides county companies with access to specialist knowledge, skills and processes currently out of reach.

“Universities are not just about educating undergraduates,” says Charles Meynell, senior innovation advisor for the Sustainable Construction iNet.

“As well as the learning, there’s a considerable amount of research and development work being conducted.

“Some of this incredibly valuable knowledge doesn’t always see the light of day and the Higher Education Collaboration Fund is designed to unlock this information and make it accessible to East Midlands’ construction companies.

“We appreciate times are difficult for companies, so we’re really pleased to be able to announce this funding opportunity. We’re especially want to hear from companies undertaking projects in components and materials, design and decision tools, retrofit for the future, user behaviour, design for future climate change, management, operation and integration of low carbon energy.

“But they need to act quickly – the closing date is 17th August.”

Firms interested in applying or finding out more about the grant and the other support and funding the Sustainable Construction iNet can provide should visit www.eminnovation.org.uk/construction

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