Reall Awarded KTP: Innovate UK Funding for Gender and Climate Mainstreaming

We are excited to share that Reall has been awarded a £214k Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) project with the University of Warwick, funded by UKRI through Innovate UK. This two-year collaboration will embed cutting-edge academic expertise directly into our organisation, supporting our strategic goals and further advancing our leadership in gender- and climate-smart affordable housing. 

We have already laid critical foundations through recent research partnerships with Warwick, between a 2024 Accelerated Knowledge Transfer (AKT) grant and newly awarded ESRC Impact Accelerator Account (IAA) funding, with both projects helping Reall develop gender best practice, and embed gender into our strategy and operations. These collaborations have confirmed that sustainable housing is not just an infrastructure issue, it’s a gender and climate issue too. 

The KTP will be delivered jointly by Reall and the University of Warwick, working closely with Prof Juanita Elias (Politics and International Studies) and Dr Jonathan Clarke (Global Sustainable Development). We will recruit a full-time Gender and Climate Associate to work across our teams to: 

• Extract, develop and embed climate- and gender-focused innovation and best practice into Reall’s projects and wider approach 

• Use this to develop new project ideas, unlock new income streams, and position affordable housing as a solution to some of the world’s most pressing challenges 

This work will directly support Reall’s long-term fundraising goals, establishing us as a sustainable, mission-driven organisation equipped to scale impact across Africa and Asia. 

What’s Next? 

We have now begun recruitment for the Associate role, a unique opportunity to help shape one of the most exciting and impactful transformations in the affordable housing space.  

Key attributes and skills of the ideal candidate include:  

• Expertise in gender studies, climate studies, housing or a related field. 

• Analytical skills to design and evaluate frameworks that measure gender and climate impacts within housing projects.  

• Research experience, collaborating with academic researchers and development practitioners, with a proven track record of producing research that drives impact.   

• Business development experience, managing or supporting business development activities (research grants or consultancy contracts), or working within the consultancy space.  

• Effective communication to present complex ideas clearly and persuasively to diverse audiences, including stakeholders and funders.  

If you or someone you know meets these skills and is passionate about sustainability, social justice, and systems change, please see the role advert for more details. 

We are grateful to UKRI, Innovate UK, and our partners at the University of Warwick for helping make this forward-thinking investment possible. Together, we’re showing that affordable housing can and must be a solution to gender inequality and climate change. 

This blog was written by Dr Hannah Robinson (Monitoring, Research and Evidence Co-ordinator) and Ben Atkinson (Programme Lead – Data and Evidence)