The Green Roof Organisation (GRO) has launched its GRO Travel Scholarship, designed to support emerging professionals across the green, blue and biosolar roof sector.
The scheme offers practical support, industry mentoring and international learning opportunities to early-career practitioners who want to broaden their knowledge, build new connections and bring fresh ideas back into the UK market.
Inspired by established travel scholarship models, including the Nuffield Farming Scholarship, the GRO Travel Scholarship will provide a bursary to help successful applicants undertake a short programme of study travel. In its pilot phase, the scholarship is expected to support one or two scholars per year, with a grant of £750 and access to relevant contacts from across the European green roof industry. Each scholar will also be supported by a named GRO board member acting as a mentor and point of contact.
The aim is simple: to create an accessible opportunity for motivated professionals to visit projects, meet specialists, explore new approaches and return with learning that can be shared widely. Study topics could cover any aspect of green roof delivery, including biodiversity, water management, climate resilience, design, installation, maintenance, policy, training or the integration of blue and biosolar systems.
The scholarship reflects GRO’s wider ambition to promote high-quality nature-based roof solutions across towns and cities in the UK. By helping younger professionals see best practice first-hand, the scholarship will strengthen the skills, confidence and networks needed to deliver these benefits at scale.
Successful scholars will be expected to develop a clear study topic and travel plan, undertake agreed visits and research, and share their findings with GRO members, sponsors and the wider industry. Outputs are expected to include a short-written report, presentation, Greenscape article, and contributions to webinars, podcasts or video content.
The pilot programme is proposed to open for applications in autumn 2026. Candidates may include designers, contractors, researchers, manufacturers, maintenance specialists, local authority officers, landscape professionals and others with a demonstrable interest in the green roof sector. Selection will focus on the quality of the proposed study topic, the applicant’s commitment to the industry, the potential benefit to GRO and the candidate’s ability to communicate their learning effectively.
There will also be opportunities for GRO members and wider industry partners to support the scholarship through sponsorship. Sponsors will be recognised through scholarship communications and invited to engage with the scholar during their travels.
For applicants, the GRO Travel Scholarship offers a rare chance to step outside day-to-day project work and explore how other places are responding to shared challenges. For GRO and the wider sector, it offers a practical route to bring international knowledge into UK practice, support the next generation of industry leaders and strengthen relationships with world green roof practitioners.
Call to action: applicants and sponsors
Interested in applying? If you are an emerging professional with a strong interest in green, blue or biosolar roofs, start thinking about a study topic that could bring practical learning back to the UK sector. Look out for application details through GRO communications and Greenscape during the proposed autumn 2026 launch period.
Interested in sponsoring? GRO members and industry partners are invited to support the scholarship through sponsorship or in-kind assistance. Sponsors will help develop future sector leaders while supporting knowledge exchange, professional development and a positive industry story around collaboration and climate resilience.
For more info email GRO: admin@greenrooforganisation.org / or GRO Board Member Tom Young: tomyoung@tep.uk.com
Find out more about GRO: www.greenrooforganisation.org