The Smart Villages project, originally based at the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford in the UK, was established by the European Academies Science Advisory Council (EASAC), and the Cambridge Malaysian Education and Development Trust (CMEDT). Key partners in the project were the national science academies and their networks, together with Practical Action and The Energy Resources Institute (TERI), two organisations with wide experience of implementing village energy projects. Funding for the first phase of activities (2012-2017) was provided by CMEDT and the Templeton World Charity Foundation.
Following the successful conclusion of this first phase of activities, Smart Villages decided to take forward their findings, and leverage the unique global base of knowledge and network that we have assembled, to pursue the linked goals of universal energy access and rural development. We are now working as a non-profit company, Smart Villages Research Group ltd, together with the registered charity The Smart Villages Foundation. Support for our latest projects has been provided by grants from the Cambridge Malaysian Education and Development Trust (CMEDT), UKRI InnovateUK, the Energy for Access Coalition, and the University of Loughborough, DFID, the Coca-Cola Foundation, the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, the University of California Santa Barbara and the Benioff Ocean Initiative.