INCLUDE+ is inviting proposals for projects that seek to enhance digital equity through collaborative forms of civic action. We are particularly interested in projects focusing on systemic or structural change, which aim to do impactful work in the world as part of their project. We invite proposals for projects up to the value of £50,000, to begin no later than April 2026 and lasting no more than 9 months.
We aim to fund 5 to 7 projects in this round and we will co-develop projects with investigators following review processes for the Project Proposal (i.e. Sections 1 and 2 of the application form). Proposals will be peer reviewed by a floating panel drawn from the Network+ community, and others recruited as required, to represent the scope of its expertise. They will assess the Project Proposal in accordance with our INCLUDE+ Process, INCLUDE+ Principals and fit to call.
Following the Project Proposal review, successful projects will be invited to develop their project further through discussions with INCLUDE+ Investigators, project partners and our Advisory Board. The aim of this approach is to mitigate against exclusion by enabling applications from all sectors; connecting projects with relevant partner organisations and experts; ensuring meaningful outcomes and work; and connecting projects to our core values and Network+ Process, which prioritises inclusive and reflexive approaches.
Projects should be interdisciplinary and bring together a wide range of expertise from outside academia. They should be broadly aligned and reflect on our IN+ Principles through their approaches and questions. They should work directly and actively with communities and organisations beyond the Higher Education Sector to create digital forms of civic action that make a difference in the real world and for the communities the projects work with. These actions should be co-produced with communities, not only as project outputs but as part of an ongoing process of doing, making and intervening. At this stage in the timeline for INCLUDE+, we are focused on interventions, actions and steps towards structural/systemic change: collaborating, building, and creating digital interventions that enable communities to act, rather than documenting or analysing them.
Some areas we would be keen to explore include ethical procurement and practice; ethical working relations between third sector, public sector and tech/industry; ethical adoption of external resource [digital/expertise]; non-capitalistic valuation of existing assets; alternative policies, structures, or frameworks in action.
Examples of civic action from previously funded projects include embedding new expertise into organisations; intervening into top-down bureaucratic labour demands through automation [creating automated form-filling tools for example], iterating open blueprints and guides that others have created; cross-sector mandates or strategic documents.
We are particularly keen to receive Project Proposals which develop cross-sectoral collaborations and extend our existing networks in meaningful ways.
Expressions of Interest should be emailed to Rosie Wilkinson (INCLUDE+ Co-ordinator: [email protected]) no later than 31st December 2025, with the subject line ‘Application Submission’.
Projects will start no later than April 2026 and run for no more than 9 months.
Background to INCLUDE+
INCLUDE+ is a network exploring how social and digital environments can be built, shaped and sustained to enable all people to thrive. The five-year programme of activities (2022-2027) builds a knowledge community around in/equalities in digital society that will comprise industry, academia, the public and third sectors in response to the UKRI Equitable Digital Society theme.
We ask how wellbeing, precarity, and civic culturefeed and are generated by, wider structural inequalities (bureaucratic, algorithmic, data-driven, discursive, normative). Secondly, we ask how those socio-technical structures are negotiated, lived, felt and intervened into by the communities we work with. Third, we explore and build alternatives through digital forms of civic action that intervene into the world. Our intention, together with a diverse range of collaborators, is to [co]dissect and [co]create digitally equitable futures and provide practical outputs, recommendations and methods that might get us there. In this funding call, we are focused on exploring and building alternative structures through digital forms of civic action that intervene into the world.
INCLUDE+ Values
At INCLUDE+, we value all forms of expertise (professional and lived) and aim to offer an equitable platform for this to be shared. We seek a diversity of perspectives and allow all voices to be heard, particularly those which tend to be suppressed. We aim to ground our work in the INCLUDE+ Principles – implementation of which is expected to be co-shaped by the funded project.
What are we looking for?
This funding call follows three years of existing research into digital equity that has been summarised through our 2025 report IN+ Principles and Digital Equity in Practice. We are looking for projects that focus on systemic/structural change, are collaborative, and develop the work we have supported so far.
Projects should:
- Take forward findings from our report IN+ Principles and Digital Equity in Practice
- Work in community settings, with communities and value all forms of knowledge
- Generate (digital) forms of civic action that will intervene in the world
Who can apply?
Ultimately, we are looking to fund collaborative and potentially cross sectoral partnerships but recognise that finding a partnership might be difficult. We will support the development of Project Proposals to a full proposal, and this can include connecting project partners. Projects do not need to include an academic institution. However, the lead applicant must be affiliated with a registered organisation with the administrative capacity to comply with our Due Diligence processes.
Funding Available
The projects will be funded for up to a maximum of 9 months with £50,000 available. This is funded at 100% of direct costs to both Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and all other organisations. Overheads are payable on core staff time for non HEI organisations. All HEIs can claim appropriate FTE for DA staff time for PIs and CoIs. Please see the Costing Template for further information.
How Project Proposals will be assessed
We will assess your application in terms oWe will assess your application in terms of
- Your proposed project idea and its link to the themes of INCLUDE+
- How your proposal responds to INCLUDE+ Principles.
We hosted an online workshop on Monday 28th October 2024, to guide prospective applicants on how IN+ Principles might be applied to proposals. The recording can be viewed on our YouTube channel.
Eligible costs
Resources that can be requested under this call, and subject to UKRI funding regulations, include:
- Investigator and researcher time, including participants. For the latter, please refer to the NIHR payment guidance for researchers and professionals). In keeping with these NIHR guidelines, Consultant or day-rate costs for self-employed researchers are capped at £300 per day unless a clear and evidenced rationale is offered otherwise.
- Travel and subsistence appropriate to delivery of the project. Please refer to the University of Leeds guidance on non-staff expenses for accommodation, subsistence and air, rail and road travel for permitted rates and fares.
- Equipment
This is not an exhaustive but rather, indicative, list of eligible resources. If you have any questions about costing eligibility, please contact Rosie Wilkinson ([email protected]).
Process of Application:
- Project Proposal submitted by 31st Dec 2025
- Outcome of review w/c 2nd February 2026
- Working with INCLUDE towards full proposal, for submission by 27th February 2026
- Projects Start April 2026
- Midway event/reflect Sept 2026
- Projects end January 2027
Additional Grant Terms and Conditions:
Awards will be made under UKRI standard terms and conditions. Please note that this award is a contribution towards the incurred costs of a project activity from an existing UKRI award.
Please ensure that no commercial in confidence information is provided as part of your proposal.
Project leaders are required, as a grant condition, to produce 5 outputs to be published on the website:
- Produce a preliminary report identifying how their project will extend the Project Proposal and develop themes appropriate to the INCLUDE+ [Section 3 of the Project Proposal]. Due 27th February 2026.
- Contribute to the IN+ Process, resources and blog through participation, content and dialogue (such as blog posts, interviews, short summaries, to be negotiated): ongoing
- Produce an interim report (or alternative) at the mid-way stage reflecting on the methods, practices and approaches to be delivered during an INCLUDE+ organised event. Deadline: September 2026.
- Produce a final report detailing the future questions and areas (format is negotiable) within 2 months of the project end date. Due: March 2026.
- Provide evidence of civic action and reflections methods and process (outputs to be determined by project). Due: March 2026.
Project leaders are also required, as a grant condition, to attend and present at the annual event in September 2026 (at the University of Leeds). Support for attendance will be provided on a case-by-case basis.