This post was originally published on Sustainability Matters
Submissions are open for the annual Canon Oceania Grants program. The 2025 program provides $40,000 in grants to support community organisations across Australia and New Zealand.
The program supports community groups to share their stories, foster understanding and strengthen their impact. Canon will award grants across the categories of Education, Community, Environment and First Nations (AU)/Cultural (NZ).
The Canon Oceania Grants program aims to empower community groups with the technology and resources they need to tell and amplify their stories to make a greater impact.
“Canon Oceania is proud to support the incredible work of grassroots organisations across New Zealand. Guided by our Kyosei philosophy of living and working together for the common good, our belief in the role communities play as the fabric of our society is deeply embedded in everything we do,” said Kotaro Fukushima, Managing Director for Canon Oceania. “Our Grants Program aims to empower these groups to achieve their goals and make a real difference in the lives of others. By providing access to technology and funding, we hope to help them amplify their impact and create positive change in our society.”
The 2025 grants will be awarded under the following categories:
- Community Grant — open to organisations with their community at the heart of what they do, ranging from not-for-profits to grassroots groups.
- Education Grant — open to schools and other educational centres for both children and adults.
- Environment Grant — open to not-for-profits and organisations dedicated to raising awareness of the protection of the environment or promoting sustainable practices.
- First Nations/Cultural Grant — open to First Nations community groups and organisations. It was launched for the first time in 2024.
Each grant awards the recipient with AU$5000 ($2500 cash and $2500 in Canon products).
Over the last 19 years, the Canon Oceania Grants program has provided support to over 120 community organisations and schools across Oceania, with more than $600,000 in monetary and product support. Its annual grants program helps provide not-for-profits with funding and the latest cameras, printers and storytelling gear to share their stories and amplify their voices.
Canon continued its partnership with 2018 Environment Grant winner, Rainforest Rescue, supporting its work in restoring the NightWings area of the Daintree Rainforest, helping to replant native trees and protecting the diverse wildlife habitat.
“There is immense power in an image, especially to engage and educate people, here in Australia and all over the world, about the work we do to restore the rainforest. When people can’t come to the Daintree, it’s important to be able to bring it to them,” said Kristin Canning, Partnerships Director for Rainforest Rescue. “If we didn’t have community engagement, we wouldn’t be able to do this work that is so vital to what we do. The Canon Oceania Grant has empowered us to invite people into the soul of what we do.
“The Canon Oceania Grant has also given us high-quality imaging to so we can study the species we find and ensure that what we’re looking at is what we think it is. It gives us confidence to know that we’re achieving our biodiversity objectives and doing the right thing by the rainforest and the wildlife here.”
Canon also continues to support The Reconnect Project, the 2024 Community Grant winner, in its mission of community empowerment.
“Winning the Grant from Canon has allowed us to up our game professionally in terms of the types of messages that we can communicate and the look and the appeal of those messages,” said Annette Brodie, Founder and CEO for Reconnect Project.
“With professional equipment, we’re able to record high-quality training videos and information about our services, we’re able to interview our case workers that are providing devices to clients and getting their stories. And that then helps us to spread our message to a wider audience, and particularly to corporates who might be looking to donate their decommissioned tech.”
Submissions are open now via the Canon website. The wider community will vote on finalists in August, and winners will be announced in September.
Image caption: The 2024 Education Grant winner, Farm My School.
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