After two successful open funding rounds, the Ocean Community Empowerment and Nature (OCEAN) Grant Programme is adopting a more focused approach for its next round.
OCEAN’s current portfolio represents a diverse range of marine conservation and poverty reduction projects, with emerging evidence of the potential to scale and sustain their impact. Our latest funding round – ‘OCEAN Uplift’ – will be a closed round, giving us the opportunity to invest in the progress made by our existing Grantees and help them to strengthen their foundations. The key focus of this round will focus on additional work that will improve the sustainability, and/or scale the project. By this we mean:
- Sustainability means strengthening the likelihood that OCEAN project benefits continue beyond the funding period.
- Scaling means extending the reach, depth or wider influence of an OCEAN approach that has already been tested through delivery and shows credible potential for greater impact.
The application window will be open between 2 November 2026 and 11 January 2027 and only lead organisations of existing Grantees will be able to apply.
Why this round is closed
This change of approach for this round doesn’t reflect on the quality of organisations that applied previously or a reduced ambition for the programme. Instead, it is a deliberate shift towards building on, and extending, the impact of the work we already support. Whilst we recognise this may be disappointing for some, by building on the community relationships, delivery systems, partnerships and evidence that projects have already established, we have an opportunity to deliver additional impact more quickly.
OCEAN Uplift will be fully competitive. Existing OCEAN Grantees will still need to submit applications and as with previous rounds, these will be independently assessed.
Will there be an open round?
At this point, we don’t have any further information on new funding rounds, except that we will not be launching a new open call for applications this year. We will update the website and OCEAN social media channels as we receive more information about future funding rounds.
Staying close to OCEAN’s values
From the outset, OCEAN’s approach has gone beyond funding. The programme works closely with Grantees to provide tailored support throughout their delivery journey, helping them respond to challenges, strengthen their capabilities and maximise the impact of their funding.
The close relationships OCEAN has forged with its Grantees enables us to respond to the challenges they face and provide the expertise and help they need to make the most of their funding and ultimately deliver value for money. OCEAN Uplift builds on these, providing continued support to the strongest projects as they work towards greater scale and sustainability.
OCEAN Uplift means building on the quality and potential of the projects we already support to help them achieve lasting impact at a greater extent. Our investment in these projects reflects our confidence in their potential to scale and sustain their work beyond the life of the programme. We can’t wait to see what they do next.
Image credit: Uttaran, Bangladesh
