Call for proposals:
Equality diversity and inclusion in hydrogen cluster development

Learning from GW-SHIFT and supporting inclusive growth across South West England and South Wales

Key info

Call opens: 3 November 2026

Submission deadline: 5pm GMT on 8 January 2027

Notification of outcome: By the end of February 2027

Maximum budget: £50,000 including VAT

Maximum project duration: Six months

Final completion and deliverables deadline: 30 September 2027

Purpose

We invite proposals for research into how equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) can support the development of the emerging hydrogen cluster across South West England and South Wales.

The commission has two connected objectives:

1.     Assess the effectiveness of existing EDI approaches within the GW-SHIFT program and identify improvements for future programs.

2.     Examine EDI as a cluster development issue, identifying the barriers, opportunities and practical interventions that could support inclusive skills pipelines, fair access to employment and enterprise opportunities, and broad community benefit. Recognising that that barriers may differ substantially between academia, industry and civic partners, particularly SMEs, local authorities and community organisations, which may face distinct capacity and resource constraints.

Learning from GW-SHIFT should inform a wider understanding of what an inclusive hydrogen cluster requires and how progress could be achieved and measured.

Rationale

Hydrogen cluster development raises questions about who can participate, who benefits and whose perspectives shape decisions.

A more inclusive approach could widen the workforce talent pool, help address skills shortages, and improve recruitment, retention and retraining. It could also open routes into technical and vocational careers for people and places currently underserved by education, training and employment opportunities, including less prosperous communities in the South Wales valleys and parts of South West England.

Inclusion also extends beyond the employed workforce. Local government, education providers, community organisations and residents may all contribute to cluster development through civic leadership, public engagement and participation in decisions.

The research should examine whether, and under what conditions, inclusive approaches could strengthen community relationships, local legitimacy and the social licence for hydrogen deployment. It should also consider potential implications for investor and policymaker confidence, without assuming that EDI interventions will necessarily influence investment decisions or the future hydrogen strategy.

Research scope

Below are the key areas of focus for the project and the response to address these should explicitly align with the objectives of the EPSRC EDI Action, particularly around improving access, participation, progression and inclusive research and innovation environments.

  • Assess the design, implementation and effectiveness of existing EDI approaches, considering:

    • Their objectives, intended beneficiaries and underlying assumptions.

    • How EDI has been embedded in program governance, partnerships, activities and monitoring.

    • Evidence of changes in participation, access, experience or outcomes.

    • Which interventions have been the most effective and whether any groups remain without support.

    • How could the program broaden participation beyond existing networks through targeted outreach, co-design approaches and partnerships with organisations representing underrepresented communities?

    • Consider whether current funding, assessment and engagement mechanisms may unintentionally favour established institutions, organisations or individuals, potentially creating barriers for new entrants and underrepresented groups.

    • Gaps, unintended effects and limitations in the available evidence.

    • Practical lessons for future programs, distinguishing program-level actions from issues requiring wider cluster coordination.

  • Identify barriers to entering, remaining in and progressing through hydrogen-related employment and training, including:

    ·       Access to information, careers advice, qualifications, apprenticeships and vocational pathways.

    ·       Opportunities for retraining and transfer from adjacent industries.

    ·       Recruitment practices, workplace culture, retention and progression.

    ·       Transport, affordability, caring responsibilities, digital access and the location of training and employment.

    ·       The interaction between socioeconomic disadvantage, geography and protected characteristics.

    ·       The roles employers, training providers and public bodies could play in widening participation.

    Particular attention should be given to socioeconomic disadvantaged communities in South Wales and the South West.

  • Explore how people beyond the directly employed workforce can participate meaningfully in cluster development. This should include:

    ·       The roles and capacity of local authorities, community organisations, civic institutions and residents.

    ·       Whose voices are represented in cluster priorities and decision-making, and whose are missing.

    ·       Community expectations, concerns and conditions for trust.

    ·       How employment, training, supply-chain and other benefits could reach underserved places.

    ·       Approaches to engagement that give communities meaningful influence. Consider inclusion from the perspective of belonging alongside participation, including whether individuals feel welcome, able to contribute, influence decision-making and remain engaged over time.

    ·       How the distribution of benefits and burdens may affect local legitimacy and support for deployment.

  • Examine how inclusive development could contribute to cluster capability, resilience and growth. The research should assess plausible links to workforce availability, delivery capacity, investor confidence and policymaker confidence, while recognising other factors that influence these outcomes.

    Recommendations should remain useful under different hydrogen deployment and policy scenarios, rather than depending on a particular government strategy or investment decision.

Approach

Applicants should propose a proportionate, mixed-method approach combining program review, analysis of relevant evidence, and engagement with employers, education and training providers, public bodies, civic organisations and communities within the region and within the low carbon hydrogen sector.

Proposals should explain how they will reach people who are less likely to participate through established industry or institutional networks. They should include accessible participation methods, appropriate recognition of participants’ time, and clear arrangements for consent and data protection.

The research should distinguish demonstrated outcomes from stakeholder perceptions and plausible future benefits. Applicants should explain how they will address evidence gaps and avoid overstating attribution or causality.

Application Guidance

  • The commission should deliver:

    ·       An assessment of GW-SHIFT’s existing EDI approaches and lessons for future programs.

    ·       A cluster-wide analysis of barriers and opportunities, identifying differences between communities, places, research institutions, industry and civic organisations.

    ·       A prioritised action plan identifying responsible organisations, potential delivery partnerships, indicative resource requirements and timescales.

    ·       A practical monitoring framework covering access, participation, experience and outcomes.

    ·       A concise policy and investment briefing setting out findings, uncertainties and implications.

    ·       A findings workshop with program and cluster stakeholders to test recommendations and support implementation.

    Recommendations should identify actions that GW-SHIFT or successor programs can take directly, alongside those requiring collective action across the cluster.

    All project activity must be completed, and all final deliverables submitted, by 30 September 2027.

  • This work will be commissioned as a consultancy project. Proposals are welcome from universities, civic organisations, charities and businesses.

    Applicants should demonstrate that they have the expertise, capacity and delivery arrangements required to complete the work within the proposed budget and timetable.

  • The maximum budget is £50,000 inclusive of any VAT. Applicants must provide a detailed, itemised budget breaking down the proposed expenditure, including staff time, day rates where applicable, engagement activities, travel, accessibility costs, subcontracting and other project costs.

    Projects must last no longer than six months. Applicants must specify their proposed start and end dates. No project may finish later than 30 September 2027, and all deliverables must be submitted by that date.

  • Submissions must include:

    ·       Understanding of the brief and proposed research questions.

    ·       Methodology, stakeholder coverage and inclusive engagement plan.

    ·       Relevant team expertise in EDI, evaluation, skills, community engagement and regional or cluster development.

    ·       A detailed project plan setting out activities, responsibilities, milestones, deliverables, dependencies and proposed start and end dates.

    ·       A detailed, itemised budget showing the breakdown of expenditure and how it supports delivery.

    ·       Approach to research ethics, accessibility, data protection and evidence limitations.

    ·       Key delivery risks and mitigation measures.

    The project plan must demonstrate how the work and all deliverables will be completed within six months and no later than 30 September 2027.Submissions must include:

    ·       Understanding of the brief and proposed research questions.

    ·       Methodology, stakeholder coverage and inclusive engagement plan.

    ·       Relevant team expertise in EDI, evaluation, skills, community engagement and regional or cluster development.

    ·       A detailed project plan setting out activities, responsibilities, milestones, deliverables, dependencies and proposed start and end dates.

    ·       A detailed, itemised budget showing the breakdown of expenditure and how it supports delivery.

    ·       Approach to research ethics, accessibility, data protection and evidence limitations.

    ·       Key delivery risks and mitigation measures.

    The project plan must demonstrate how the work and all deliverables will be completed within six months and no later than 30 September 2027.

  • Proposals will be assessed against the following weighted criteria, totalling 100% of the overall score.

    • Understanding of EDI as a cluster development issue — 15%. Understanding of both commission objectives, the research scope and the distinct barriers facing communities, places and partner organisations across South West England and South Wales.

    • ·       Quality and feasibility of the research design — 25%. A robust, proportionate mixed-method approach addressing the brief, with clear plans for evidence collection and analysis, research ethics, data protection, evidence gaps and limitations on attribution.

    • ·       Credibility of the approach to reaching underserved communities — 20%. An inclusive, accessible engagement plan that reaches beyond established networks, enables meaningful participation and influence, and appropriately recognises participants’ time.

    ·       Relevant expertise and understanding of the regional context — 10%. Evidence of relevant team expertise in EDI, evaluation, skills, community engagement and regional or cluster development, with clear roles and sufficient capacity.

    ·       Practical value of the proposed outputs — 10%. Clear, usable outputs that meet the brief, including prioritised actions, delivery responsibilities and a practical monitoring framework, with recommendations useful under different deployment and policy scenarios.

    ·       Quality and deliverability of the project plan — 10%. A realistic plan with activities, responsibilities, milestones, dependencies and risk mitigation, completing all work within six months and no later than 30 September 2027.

    ·       Value for money and clarity of the detailed budget — 10%. A transparent, itemised budget with justified costs, appropriate resources for accessible engagement and a clear relationship between expenditure and outputs, within £50,000 inclusive of any VAT.

    Scoring method. Each criterion will be scored from 0 to 5: 0 = not addressed; 1 = poor; 2 = limited; 3 = satisfactory; 4 = good; 5 = excellent. The weighted score for each criterion will be calculated as (score ÷ 5) × percentage weighting. Weighted scores will be added to give an overall score out of 100.

Submission and selection

Call opens - 3 November 2026

Proposals close - 5pm GMT on 8 January 2027

Review and selection - January–February 2027

Applicants notified of the outcome - By the end of February 2027

Project duration - Maximum six months

Final deadline for project completion and all deliverables - 30 September 2027

  • Proposals must be sent to gw-shift@bath.ac.uk no later than 5pm on 8 January 2027 including all relevant supporting documents. There will be no exceptions to this deadline including any supporting documents unless previously agreed by GW-SHIFT in writing at least 5 working days before the submission deadline. 

    Any questions regarding the call should be sent gw-shift@bath.ac.uk. Please note the University of Bath will be closed from 24th December to 3rd January inclusive. No queries will be answered during this period.

Applicant mentoring

GW-SHIFT is committed to supporting a broad and diverse range of people for all its funding and activities.

Applicants who feel they would benefit from additional support in developing their application can request mentoring support from GW-SHIFT. Where possible, we will identify a suitable mentor from across the GW-SHIFT community, matched to the applicant’s needs.

Mentoring may include support in understanding the call, developing and communicating the proposed challenge, strengthening the application, and considering collaboration, impact and delivery.

This support is intended to help applicants engage confidently with the funding opportunity. It does not form part of the assessment process and does not guarantee funding. Anyone providing substantive mentoring support to an applicant will not be involved in reviewing or assessing that application.

We particularly encourage requests from early-career researchers and applicants from groups currently underrepresented in research and innovation.

To request mentoring support, please contact GW-SHIFT@bath.ac.uk

Inclusion and accessibility support

GW-SHIFT would like all aspects of the program to be as inclusive and accessible as possible.

We recognise that some applicants or project participants may face practical barriers that make it harder to engage fully with the application process or funded activity. This may include, for example, childcare or other caring responsibilities, accessibility requirements, additional travel needs, or other circumstances that could affect participation.

Where appropriate, additional support may be available to help remove these barriers.

If you think you may need support, please contact the GW-SHIFT team as early as possible at GW-SHIFT@bath.ac.uk to discuss your circumstances. Requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis and in confidence.