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
In 2017, 25% of land in Southern, Central and Eastern Europe was estimated to be at high or very high risk of desertification. The risk is likely to have further increased since then, and to continue increasing because of accelerating climate change and continued pressures from land use and land-use change. Desertification leads to loss of biodiversity, of organic carbon and of other land-based ecosystem services, including reduced agricultural and forest productivity. Desertification further amplifies global warming through the release of CO2 and other greenhouse gases linked with the decrease in vegetation cover. Thus, it has severe environmental, social and economic consequences which need to be urgently tackled.
Detailed Call Description
Proposed activities should:
- Synthesise and gather evidence on the drivers and impacts of land degradation at all relevant scales, using diverse data flows and where relevant models, with a view to supporting alternative land management actions (scenarios) that alleviate the pressures from land uses and land-use changes leading to desertification.
- Identify, demonstrate the effectiveness, and promote the scale-up of measures for reducing and reversing desertification and increasing soil’s water-retention capacity, taking into account (actual and projected) changes in climatic conditions. Work should be carried out at different scales and address various types of land use (agriculture, forestry and natural land) and land use changes. Due attention should be given to the role of plant and microbial diversity in increasing the resilience of land vis-a-vis desertification processes.
- Specifically for agricultural land including both conventional and organic farming, identify and demonstrate farming or other land-use practices which are more resilient and are suitable for combatting desertification while sustaining ecosystem services and preventing land abandonment.
- Facilitate learning and exchange among all relevant actors, including across sectors, by promoting in the scope of activities various types of innovations (nature-based, technological, socio-economic, cultural and institutional) and/or various types of land use (natural and semi-natural as well as agricultural, agroforestry and forest areas).
- Develop policy recommendations for creating incentives and overcoming obstacles for the widespread uptake of measures that have demonstrated to be effective for the prevention of desertification and restoration and are suitable for scaling-up.
- Carry-out activities for awareness-raising on desertification and for the demonstration and dissemination of solutions, also as part of the UN Day to combat desertification and drought.
Call Total Budget
Financing percentage by EU or other bodies / Level of Subsidy or Loan
70%
EU Contribution per project: €7.00 million
Thematic Categories
- Agriculture - Farming - Forestry
- Environment and Climate Change
- Land Development
- Regional Development
- Research, Technological Development and Innovation
- Rural development
Eligibility for Participation
- Central Government
- Farmers Unions
- Farmers, Agriculturalists
- International Organisations
- Large Enterprises
- Other Beneficiaries
- Parliamentary Bodies
- Private Bodies
- Researchers/Research Centers/Institutions
- Semi-governmental organisations
- State-owned Enterprises
Eligibility For Participation Notes
If projects use satellite-based earth observation, positioning, navigation and/or related timing data and services, beneficiaries must make use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS (other data and services may additionally be used).
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: 22/02/2023-for internal use only)