Greener Homes call for ideas

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Greener Homes call for ideas

Deadline: submissions accepted on a rolling basis

Through the Greener Homes initiative, Nesta, the UK’s innovation agency for social good, is offering up to five x £10,000 development grants for compelling broadcast and/or digital projects that incorporate themes about how the ways we heat and power our homes are changing. We are looking for entertaining, fresh stories and approaches that bring a range of audiences to this subject.

We are not looking for boring, on-the-nose content. We want to support brilliant and arresting ideas about the changes that are taking place on the home front. The aim of this development fund is to provide promising ideas with important early-stage funding to deliver a proof of concept, so that they are pitch-ready to raise the funding required to go into production.

We’re looking for ideas that can come to screen in the next 12 months. With regard to form, we are agnostic; the digital & broadcast ideas we want to support could include:

  • content for a specific platform or influencer
  • a factual entertainment show
  • a new item in an existing consumer programme
  • an innovative short-form documentary idea amplified on digital platforms
  • immersive content, or a DIY show

Ultimately, we want to support ideas that audiences at scale will want to watch and engage with.

For ideas of story entry points, check out the Putting these themes on screen section of this Handbook.

What’s on offer?

  1. The Greener Homes Development Fund offers successful projects a £10,000 non-recoupable grant to develop an idea into a production-ready project.
  2. In addition, should you need them, Nesta experts will be on hand to offer factual insights and support to complement your editorial.
  3. When you have a proof of concept and are ready to raise the funds required to move into production, for high-potential projects, Nesta’s Greener Homes Content Fund may be interested in co-funding (up to 50%) if there’s confirmed funding interest from a platform or broadcaster.

Why are we doing this? 

The next two decades will require substantial adjustments when it comes to our homes. Reducing carbon emissions in the switch to electrification will create smarter, cheaper, cleaner, healthier and greener places to live. It will also reduce the UK’s reliance on imported fossil fuels, creating more energy stability and autonomy.

Households are bigger emitters of greenhouse gases than any other sector. For this reason, the UK’s independent Climate Change Committee assesses that increasing heating efficiency and replacing fossil fuels (such as gas and oil) with renewable energy will be necessary in almost all homes. They estimate that around half of homes in the UK should be using a heat pump by 2040 if we are to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 to mitigate climate change.

The UK has committed to meet the legally binding goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050 (2045 in Scotland). Recent government announcements are paving the way for a clean power transition, and the home will be on the frontline of many of these changes.

The concept of ‘home’ is powerful and plays an important role in all forms of storytelling. But how these stories are told – and the information that’s conveyed – will inevitably need to reflect the changes taking place. This is especially true as consumer demand and government legislation evolve, and homes become more energy efficient due to the way they are built or modified.

The societal shift towards electrification, and the accompanying changes to our homes, is one of the most significant transitions since the industrial revolution, and will bring with it compelling human stories on themes such as community, skills, and inclusion. Nesta is keen to support the development, and potentially, the production of these stories to reach a range of audiences.

Furthermore, broadcasters have committed to the Climate Content Pledge, which commits them to using their content to help audiences understand what tackling climate change might mean for them, as well as inspire and inform sustainable choices.

How to apply to the Greener Homes Development Fund

The Fund is open on a rolling basis, which means the assessment of submissions will be ongoing, with an initial response within four weeks. Please submit your submission via this expression of interest form which will ask you to provide:

  • an outline of your idea & how it relates to Greener Homes
  • details of key creative and on-screen talent
  • how you would use a development grant 
  • which broadcaster and/or platforms you anticipate it might be seen on, and an outline of where you might be at with those conversations
  • a high-level outline of the eventual production budget 
  • how you might optimise the way audiences will engage with it
  • if it’s available, to share a proposal, and if you have it, a sizzle reel
  • details of the registered company to which the development funds will be transferred.

How decisions will be made

The criteria we will use to assess projects will include:

  1. How compelling the creative idea is, its potential to engage audiences and how it brings the themes of Greener Homes alive in an entertaining and/ or engaging way.
  2. Who the team is and what their track record & expertise is to realise the project.
  3. Whether there is already active interest from a broadcaster or platform (a written endorsement of interest is an added bonus).

Got any questions?

Please drop us a line by contacting us at greenerhomes@nesta.org.uk.

On-screen sustainability experts Picture Zero are offering free Greener Homes briefings (1.5 hours) over Zoom, providing an opportunity to learn more about how to bring these themes to audiences. If this is of interest, we can put you in touch.