Programme Category
Programme Name
Programme Description
Horizon Europe is the European Union (EU) funding programme for the period 2021 – 2027, which targets the sectors of research and innovation. The programme’s budget is around € 95.5 billion, of which € 5.4 billion is from NextGenerationEU to stimulate recovery and strengthen the EU’s resilience in the future, and € 4.5 billion is additional aid.
Identifier Code
Call
Summary
Carbon farming can be defined as a green business model that rewards land managers for taking up improved land management practices, resulting in the increase of carbon sequestration in living biomass, dead organic matter and soils by enhancing carbon capture and/or reducing the release of carbon to the atmosphere, in respect of ecological principles favourable to biodiversity and the natural capital overall.
Living labs are collaborations between multiple partners that operate and undertake experiments on several sites at regional or sub-regional level. Individual sites could be e.g. farms, forest stands, urban green or industrial areas, enterprises and other entities, where the work is carried-out and monitored under real-life conditions, regardless of the land size, tenure (land ownerships) or the type of economic activity.
Lighthouses are individual, local sites (one farm, one forest exploitation, one industrial site, one urban city green area, etc.) that either can be part of a living lab or be situated outside a living lab.
Detailed Call Description
More specifically, the funded project(s) should:
- Set up four to five living labs (or more, as applicable to the land use(s) and purpose of the project) to work together on carbon farming, covering one or several land use types. The living labs shall be located in at least three different Member States and/or Associated Countries. Proposals should describe the rationale for cooperation across the various living labs and explain how the work undertaken will contribute to the Mission’s specific objective 2.
- Establish, based on the goals and objectives of the project(s), a detailed work plan with the activities to be undertaken in an interdisciplinary way, ensuring the co-design, co-development, and co-implementation of locally adapted solutions.
- Carry out participatory and transdisciplinary research and innovation in living labs in view of seeking practical solutions to carbon farming challenges, taking into account the relevant drivers and pressures. Moreover, challenges to the scaling up and the transferability of solutions should be addressed. Proposed strategies and solutions should be adapted to the different environmental, socio-economic and cultural contexts in which the living labs are operating. Living labs working in the area of agriculture are expected to address sustainable practices, applied across a range of farming systems, and benefit both conventional and organic farming.
- Identify sites that demonstrate high performance in terms of their actions and results on carbon farming and that may be converted into lighthouses.
- Establish for each living lab a baseline for carbon farming, in order to allow for an accurate assessment of the conditions and changes of soils in the different sites over time, and a clear monitoring of progress towards the objectives of the respective living lab and of the project overall. The funded project(s) should make use of relevant accounting methodologies for quantification of carbon removals, addressing the durability, additionality and environmental safeguards/co-benefits of carbon farming.
- Monitor and carry out an assessment of the innovative practices for carbon farming, taking into account the effects of ongoing climate change on carbon sequestration potential and dynamics. This should include a demonstration of the viability of the proposed solutions. Propose strategies (e.g. financial, organisational) to ensure long-term sustainability and continuity of the living labs beyond the Horizon Europe funding, including through identification of possible business models and actions.
Beneficiaries may provide financial support to third parties. The support to third parties can only be provided in the form of grants (further to calls or, if duly justified, without a call for proposals). The maximum amount to be granted to each third party is €200 000 to allow for the active participation of appropriate stakeholders, including farmers, businesses or civil society in living labs and achieve the objectives of the actions described under the scope.
Call Total Budget
Financing percentage by EU or other bodies / Level of Subsidy or Loan
100%
EU Contribution per project: €12.00 million
Thematic Categories
- Agriculture - Farming - Forestry
- Environment and Climate Change
- Research, Technological Development and Innovation
- Rural development
Eligibility for Participation
- Consumer Organisations
- Farmers Unions
- Farmers, Agriculturalists
- Investment Funds
- Large Enterprises
- Legal Entities
- Natual person / Citizen / Individual
- NGOs
- Non Profit Organisations
- Other Beneficiaries
- Private Bodies
- Producer Associations
- Researchers/Research Centers/Institutions
- Semi-governmental organisations
- Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
- State-owned Enterprises
Eligibility For Participation Notes
In line with the nature of living labs, proposals must implement the multi-actor approach. The list of stakeholders will vary depending on features specific to each living lab and can involve different types of actors such as researchers, land owners or land managers, industry (e.g. SMEs), public administrations, representatives of civil society (e.g. consumers, environmental NGOs).
Αctions involving local authorities, business communities, SMEs, investors, entrepreneurs.
Stakeholders, including farmers, businesses or civil society in living labs
Call Opening Date
Call Closing Date
National Contact Point(s)
Research and Innovation Foundation
29a Andrea Michalakopoulou, 1075 Nicosia,
P.B. 23422, 1683 Nicosia
Telephone: +357 22205000
Fax: +357 22205001
Email: support@research.org.cy
Website: https://www.research.org.cy/en/
Contact Person:
Myrto Anastasiadou
Scientific Officer
Email: manastassiadou@research.org.cy
(Publish Date: 21/02/2023-for internal use only)