Plico Future Fund Grant Backs Ku-ring-gai Climate Action

Local not-for-profit Regen Sydney has been awarded a $20,000 grant through the Plico Future Fund and is now delivering a nine-month program of workshops, walking tours, and co-design sessions across the Ku-ring-gai area. 

The grant was awarded under the Fund’s Innovation “Bright Idea” category, which is capped at a single $20,000 recipient each year.

The Plico Future Fund is run by Plico Energy, a Western Australian clean energy company.

Community Council Chair, Jamie Ball, explained to The Post that every new Plico member who signs up to the company’s solar and battery scheme triggers a company donation to the fund.

“This donation scheme has now distributed more than $100,000 to grassroots projects across New South Wales, Victoria, and Western Australia.” Ball remarked.

Since receiving the grant back in July, Regen Sydney has begun their pilot and now plans to build on their earlier work establishing cross sector “communities of practice” in Waverley and the Inner West.

In Ku-ring-gai, the organisation is working alongside Net Net-Zero Ku-ring-gai and EnergyZE North Shore.

Regen Sydney Mission Steward Dr Kiran Kashyap explained that the project is about shifting residents from passive consumers to active participants in their own neighbourhood’s future. “A lot of people feel that energy transition or climate action is someone else’s job. What we’re trying to do is help people find where their own passion and agency fits, and step into that,” Kashyap said.

“We’re not coming in to reinvent the wheel. What we want to do is create a shared agenda for change, so their efforts have a greater impact together than they would separately.”

Applications for the next round of Plico Future Fund grants close on Friday 30 September. Community groups, schools, charities, and grassroots organisations interested in applying can find guidelines and application forms linked below.