Sustainability and innovation might be two of the most pivotal concepts of the next few decades or potentially centuries. As a Higher Educational Institution in a rapidly changing society and climate, we are responsible for equipping our raw talent with the skills needed to develop ground-breaking ideas seeking to better our uncertain collective future.

However, these skills, nor the young people that wield them cannot be developed in the classroom; they require ideation, participation, collaboration, stress-testing, and mentor insight. They require the freedom to fail, rethink, and renew without fear of financial implications or limitations. Only through these opportunities - that Universities are best placed to provide -can students comprehend and learn real-world problem-solving talents and carry them into the working world.

This is where the Sustainability Fund steps in, providing grants of up to £5,000 to enable student teams to co-create, design and implement a project addressing one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals in partnership with academic colleagues. The Fund is organised by the University’s Sustainability Team and its Centre for Education and Teaching Innovation and is open to any student, regardless of subject, degree-level, background or social status.

The University of Westminster is a progressive, compassionate and inclusive centre of knowledge and teaching, operating in one of the world's greatest cities. Being one of the UK's first polytechnic institutions, we have a 175-year history of promoting every stratum of a global society and leading change where it matters most. In today's world, this can be seen in our response to the identified UN Sustainable Development Goals, where we are ranked 29th out of 796 universities in reducing inequality and in the top 50 for responsible consumption and production. There really is no better University to channel and nurture student talent in the fields of innovation and sustainability.