Insights and learning
Little Ouse Headwaters Project (LOHP)
We learn so that we, and the organisations we work with, can make intelligent and evidence-based decisions about how to be effective in a complex environment.
Our approach to learning is guided by two questions:
- What does the world look like for the issues, organisations and people we support?
- Where are we making most and least progress and why?
Below you'll find our insights reports - sharing what we've learned from our funding - along with research or evaluation reports we've commissioned, and key publications from work we fund.
Do also take a look in Latest for news and blogs about our work.
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Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Our commitments on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion as an organisation and through our work.
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Climate Change
Read about our commitment to addressing the causes and impacts of climate change.
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Open and trusting grant-making
Learn about our commitments to open and trusting grant-making, which is part of a campaign launched by the Institute for Voluntary Action Research (IVAR).
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You might be interested in
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10 December 2025Blue Spaces: Working in partnership to improve local freshwaters in the UK
The Blue Spaces programme set out to support people and organisations to take imaginative approaches to looking after their freshwater environments. Read our report, which shares the collective learning of everyone involved – from the funding process to the different approaches of the 19 funded projects, and the learning programme co-designed with them.
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Acting on feedback: what we’ve done in 2025
After hearing your feedback, we’re sharing the actions we’ve taken in 2025 to improve our processes, make our guidance clearer, and support a more inclusive approach.
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Seascapes: Restoring the UK marine environment
We’re excited to share a new two-part report by Pelagos Consulting on how to scale and sustain marine recovery across the UK. Watch our webinar with the report's author, David Tudor, to explore the findings. Morven Robertson, Esmée’s Funding Manager, also reflects on what this means for our future approach to funding and support towards seascapes.
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Insights from place-led funding 2: Continuing to learn and improve our approach
We're pleased to share our second Insights from place-led funding report, which shares learning on three large scale initiatives we supported in three places: Barking & Dagenham, Plymouth, and Sandwell.
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