Soil health, pollinators and key ecosystem functions

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Code: 34053 | Identifier Code: HORIZON-MISS-2024-SOIL-01-05 | Programme name: 2939 | Sub-program: Missions | Start submission calls: 08/05/2024 | End submission calls: 08/10/2024

Pollination is a key ecosystem service for crops and food production. Therefore, a specific focus on pollinating insects is required. Many solitary wasps and 70% of wild bees nest below ground and require protection during this crucial period of their lifecycle.

Projects results are expected to contribute to all of the following outcomes:

• Improved knowledge and understanding of the biology and ecology of insect species spending part of their life cycle on or in the soil, with specific focus on ground-nesting pollinators.
• Better understanding of the major causes of the decline of these insects and the synergistic effects of various threats, including the quantitative and qualitative aspects related to the magnitude of their decline.
• More effective measures to tackle the loss of soil-dependent insects.

Systems to quantify nitrogen fluxes and uncertainties in European landscapes

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Code: 34050 | Identifier Code: HORIZON-MISS-2024-SOIL-01-04 | Programme name: 2939 | Sub-program: Missions | Start submission calls: 08/05/2024 | End submission calls: 08/10/2024

Soil-derived gaseous nitrogen emissions from agriculture are often overlooked due to challenges in monitoring. A comprehensive assessment of both gaseous and non-gaseous nitrogen losses, including their geographical distribution and varying temporal resolution, is essential to inform effective greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation strategies and encourage the adoption of higher Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) tiers at the national level.

Nitrogen losses are highly episodic, and the current temporal and spatial resolution of information regarding nitrogen dynamics across Europe is insufficient for a comprehensive estimation of the full nitrogen budget at a continental scale. The most commonly used methodology for measuring N-flux involves discontinuous flux measurements accompanied by standard gap-filling methods, which lead to large uncertainties and biased emission factors. Additionally, most existing observations focus on temperate zones and single flux exit pathways, neglecting the full spectrum of nitrogen forms, including both gaseous and non-gaseous forms across different climatic conditions. Data and observations are particularly lacking in the Mediterranean basin and some nitrogen transformation pathways are not well investigated. To address these gaps, accurate information must be acquired, which will facilitate the development of effective management strategies that effectively minimise total nitrogen losses from soil. Additionally, this information will improve the parameterization and validation of models and increase the confidence of model predictions when scaled to the continental level. This will ultimately lead to a more refined and accurate estimation of nitrogen surplus, enrich existing dashboard estimates, and further support the evaluation of the effectiveness of management strategies, and guide future research and policy decisions related to mitigation efforts.

Towards a dynamic monitoring system to assess status and spatiotemporal changes of soil erosion at European scale

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Code: 34048 | Identifier Code: HORIZON-MISS-2024-SOIL-01-03 | Programme name: 2939 | Sub-program: Missions | Start submission calls: 08/05/2024 | End submission calls: 08/10/2024

Current EU/European estimates on soil loss by water and wind erosion are long-term averages performed with empirical models, which, in agricultural areas, are subject to huge uncertainties. Improved estimates would contribute to developing a process-based model, which can incorporate management practices and their potential for reducing soil loss by water, and wind erosion in agricultural fields and facilitate the adoption of the best practices. Other processes such as tillage erosion or gullies can also be considered.
Existing partially explicit parcel data (e.g., LPIS-GSA), data from the EU Land use and land cover survey (LUCAS) and the latest updates from the COPERNICUS platform could/should be used to improve current pan-European modelling frameworks.

Living Labs in urban areas for healthy soils

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Code: 34046 | Identifier Code: HORIZON-MISS-2024-SOIL-01-02 | Programme name: 2939 | Sub-program: Missions | Start submission calls: 08/05/2024 | End submission calls: 08/10/2024

Urbanization is a challenge for soil health, due to construction and infrastructure development that entails, among other, land take, soil sealing, contamination or compaction. Against this background and by working together on common challenges, actors in living labs in urban areas will be able to replicate actions and solutions, compare results, exchange good practices, validate methodologies, benefit from cross-fertilisation, and connect with their local/regional ecosystem.

Co-creating solutions for soil health in Living Labs

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Code: 34044 | Identifier Code: HORIZON-MISS-2024-SOIL-01-01 | Programme name: 2939 | Sub-program: Missions | Start submission calls: 08/05/2024 | End submission calls: 08/10/2024

The Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’ proposes a novel approach to research and innovation in the area of soil health, including the implementation of living labs.

For the purpose of the Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’, soil health living labs are defined as “user-centred, place-based and transdisciplinary research and innovation ecosystems, which involve land managers, scientists and other relevant partners in systemic research and co-design, testing, monitoring and evaluation of solutions, in real-life settings, to improve their effectiveness for soil health and accelerate adoption”.

Living labs are thus collaborations between multiple actors 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 locations, where the work is carried out and monitored under real-life conditions.

Lighthouses, in contrast, are defined as “places for demonstration of solutions, training and communication that are exemplary in their performance in terms of soil health improvement”. They 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.

According to the Mission Implementation Plan, living labs involve actors from different backgrounds, disciplines and/or sectors and are composed of 10 to 20 experimental sites. However, depending on the specific context (e.g., the land use(s), the soil health challenge(s) addressed), applicants can propose living labs with fewer experimental sites.

Size & weight reduction of cell and packaging of batteries system, integrating lightweight and functional materials, innovative thermal management and safe and sustainable by design approach (Batt4EU Partnership)

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Code: 34042 | Identifier Code: HORIZON-CL5-2024-D2-02-03 | Programme name: 2939 | Sub-program: Climate, Energy and Mobility (Cluster 5)(2021-2027) | Start submission calls: 07/05/2024 | End submission calls: 05/09/2024

This topic focuses on delivering a safe and sustainable by design approach for batteries reduced in size and weight which will deliver the performance necessary for mobile applications. The objective is to ruggedise energy storage packs by enlarging the environmental and operational conditions in which they can operate, while maintaining a high level of performance and achieving a reduction in the size and weight of the battery pack.

Post-Li-ion technologies and relevant manufacturing techniques for mobility applications (Generation 5) (Batt4EU Partnership)

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Code: 34039 | Identifier Code: HORIZON-CL5-2024-D2-02-02 | Programme name: 2939 | Sub-program: Climate, Energy and Mobility (Cluster 5)(2021-2027) | Start submission calls: 07/05/2024 | End submission calls: 05/09/2024

This topic aims at developing:

• Generation 5 technologies for mobility applications.
• Relevant manufacturing techniques which are affecting performance, safety and costs.
• Cell designs which will allow for full and easy recyclability at the end of their life.

This topic also aims at evaluating the possible manufacturing compatibility with existing lithium-ion production infrastructure.
Proposals should address improvements in sustainable materials designs to reach the manufacturability and high safety of the selected Generation 5 technology for mobility applications.

Sustainable high-throughput production processes for stable lithium metal anodes for next generation batteries (Batt4EU Partnership)

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Code: 34037 | Identifier Code: HORIZON-CL5-2024-D2-02-01 | Programme name: 2939 | Sub-program: Climate, Energy and Mobility (Cluster 5)(2021-2027) | Start submission calls: 07/05/2024 | End submission calls: 05/09/2024

As Li metal anodes will be needed for the Gen 4b, Gen 4c and Gen 5 batteries, It is important to create a European production chain for their manufacturing, in order to guarantee secure supply chains for the next generation battery producers with a focus on high performance and recyclability for Gen 4b, Gen4c or Gen5 cells.
Therefore this topic is focused on sustainable high-throughput production processes for stable lithium metal anodes for next generation batteries.

EU Member States/Associated countries research policy cooperation network to accelerate zero-emission road mobility (2ZERO Partnership)

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Code: 34034 | Identifier Code: HORIZON-CL5-2024-D6-01-13 | Programme name: 2939 | Sub-program: Climate, Energy and Mobility (Cluster 5)(2021-2027) | Start submission calls: 07/05/2024 | End submission calls: 05/09/2024

This topic focuses on the EU Member States/Associated countries research policy cooperation network, to accelerate zero-emission road mobility.

A framework for cooperation will enhance the efforts to achieve this pan-European challenge by joining forces, sharing knowledge, bundling financial resources and coordinating activities, creating complementarities, coherence and building synergies across the EU (e.g. 2ZERO partnership) and EU Member States (MS) and Associated Countries (AC)´s R&I funding programmes, national plans, efforts, approaches and in collaboration with the Associated Countries.

A new framework to improve traffic safety culture in the EU

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Code: 34031 | Identifier Code: HORIZON-CL5-2024-D6-01-12 | Programme name: 2939 | Sub-program: Climate, Energy and Mobility (Cluster 5)(2021-2027) | Start submission calls: 07/05/2024 | End submission calls: 05/09/2024

A Safe System entails the understanding and managing of all elements of the transport system, including the behaviour and interplay of its actors. Comparative analysis shows persistent differences in road safety performances between EU Member States/Associated countries. These differences may be attributable to differences in culture, which are hard to explain with classical risk models. Efforts should therefore be made to complement road safety initiatives by a safety culture perspective, i.e., the values, beliefs, priorities and viewpoints shared among groups of road users and stakeholders that influence their decisions to behave or act in ways that affect safety, while also considering energy consumption.

Assessing road safety cultures in different national, regional or local systems, groups and organisations is believed to help understanding and explaining different patterns of risk perception and risk taking across communities and countries – and can likewise inform tailored interventions for these (sub-)cultures, which all come with their specific norms, values, beliefs and behaviours (including gender-related behavioural patterns). These interventions should address all relevant actors in the system for road transport of people and goods, and consider future developments, such as potential impacts by increasing automation levels or by the introduction of new means of road transport such as e-scooters and hoverboards.

Effects of disruptive changes in transport: towards resilient, safe and energy efficient mobility

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Code: 34029 | Identifier Code: HORIZON-CL5-2024-D6-01-11 | Programme name: 2939 | Sub-program: Climate, Energy and Mobility (Cluster 5)(2021-2027) | Start submission calls: 07/05/2024 | End submission calls: 05/09/2024

The importance of a robust transport systems becomes highly evident in times of rapid, changes that are neither planned, scheduled nor predicted. The COVID-19 pandemic has pointed at several issues (e.g. delivery of essential goods, ensuring uninterrupted and safe public transport operations for essential workers etc.) that need to be addressed to secure future resilience of the transport system and to ensure that the level of transport safety is not only maintained, but also meeting more demanding targets. For instance, the decreased use of public transport during the pandemic has to some extent led to increases in both biking and walking, but also an increased use of cars in some parts of the world. At the same time, decreased traveling has meant fewer vehicles on the roads in certain areas, whereas others have seen an increase of delivery vehicles, as home deliveries have surged. Likewise, the current energy market realities have made even more pressing the need of an energy efficient mobility system that could absorb disruptions in the fuel supply chain.

Digital tools/services and new transport means (e.g. urban air mobility and micro mobility), new ways how to use the infrastructure (e.g. even more shared spaces with different types of vehicles, both highly automated and manually controlled) in a more energy efficient manner and new behaviour should be included in the research.

Ensuring the safety, resilience and security of waterborne digital systems

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Code: 34027 | Identifier Code: HORIZON-CL5-2024-D6-01-10 | Programme name: 2939 | Sub-program: Climate, Energy and Mobility (Cluster 5)(2021-2027) | Start submission calls: 07/05/2024 | End submission calls: 05/09/2024

Increasingly, modern waterborne transport relies upon smart digital and connected systems to ensure safe and efficient operation. Waterborne digital system can be vulnerable to both malicious intervention and the consequences of system failure. The challenge to assure the safety and resilience of digital systems is particularly important within large complex vessels where the level of integration and connectivity is high and where the consequences of failure can be particularly severe. Therefore, the topic is focused on ensuring the safety, resilience and security of waterborne digital systems.

Policies and governance shaping the future transport and mobility systems

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Code: 34025 | Identifier Code: HORIZON-CL5-2024-D6-01-09 | Programme name: 2939 | Sub-program: Climate, Energy and Mobility (Cluster 5)(2021-2027) | Start submission calls: 07/05/2024 | End submission calls: 05/09/2024

Governance, policies and incentives play an important role in shaping transport and mobility systems and influence the development and implementation of different technologies and modes of transport (e.g. walking, cycling, public transport and rail). It is therefore important to study how policies and regulations could be best used to govern transport and mobility systems in desired directions, so that they become more sustainable and just, for instance with regard to gender, place, or low-income households, as well as their fiscal impacts.

In addition, the COVID-19 crisis has significantly altered commuting habits; remote and telework have become widespread together with other flexible work arrangements. The true impact of these changes on gas emissions and on the well-being of people as well as on the real-estate market (offices) are not known. This is now an opportunity to leverage on an ongoing change in habits that could result in significant GHG reduction.

Improved transport infrastructure performance – Innovative digital tools and solutions to monitor and improve the management and operation of transport infrastructure

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Code: 34021 | Identifier Code: HORIZON-CL5-2024-D6-01-08 | Programme name: 2939 | Sub-program: Climate, Energy and Mobility (Cluster 5)(2021-2027) | Start submission calls: 07/05/2024 | End submission calls: 05/09/2024

Innovative digital tools and solutions will allow to upgrade transport infrastructure ensuring an improved performance and safety, together with a reduction of emissions and better inclusiveness. Increasing the performance of multi-modal transport infrastructure can be achieved through improving the efficiency of the assets and by the cross-modal data management. Digital solutions are key to reduce drastically disruptions in traffic flows, increase transport efficiency and lower its dependency on fossil fuels.

Transport infrastructure needs to be capable of harvesting the benefits from digitalisation at management and operations levels, as well as in relation with the user. Digitalisation can support the achievement of sustainability targets and provide a better service to infrastructure end users, including enhanced public transport services. Digital technologies, such as big data, the Internet of Things, Digital Twins, together with Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning techniques provide a great potential for developing mobility solutions.

The integration between transport infrastructure and digital technologies will help achieve personalised seamless passenger and freight journeys transport across different transport modes. This integration will consider safety and security starting from the design phase, while simultaneously automating and accelerating the decision process at every level from maintenance to traffic management.

Special attention should be given to the accessibility of new digital tools from persons with disabilities and older persons, in order to ensure that this segment of the population is also able to participate fully and benefit from digital progress. As set by the Green Deal, priorities should be given for projects allowing modal shift from road to more sustainable mode such rail and inland waterways.

Scaling up logistics innovations supporting freight transport decarbonisation in an affordable way

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Code: 34019 | Identifier Code: HORIZON-CL5-2024-D6-01-07 | Programme name: 2939 | Sub-program: Climate, Energy and Mobility (Cluster 5)(2021-2027) | Start submission calls: 07/05/2024 | End submission calls: 05/09/2024

Building on previously funded projects and ongoing activities (e.g. Connecting Europe Facility, Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe projects), ensuring compliance with the data sharing framework pursued by the Digital Transport and Logistics Forum (DTLF), and taking into account the development of the common European mobility data space, proposals will pilot, demonstrate and scale up systemic collaborative solutions regarding logistics nodes, multimodal logistics networks connectivity, business and governance models. The focus will be on both digital and physical interoperability as well as on the adoption of zero-emission vehicles/vessels.

Optimising multimodal network and traffic management, harnessing data from infrastructures, mobility of passengers and freight transport

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Code: 34017 | Identifier Code: HORIZON-CL5-2024-D6-01-06 | Programme name: 2939 | Sub-program: Climate, Energy and Mobility (Cluster 5)(2021-2027) | Start submission calls: 07/05/2024 | End submission calls: 05/09/2024

Optimised multimodal network and traffic management is essential for an efficient transport network and seamless door-to-door mobility of passengers and freight. Such advanced capabilities need to be supported by harnessing data from physical and digital infrastructures, as well as from the mobility of passengers and freight, involving different types of vehicles, rolling stock, aircraft and vessels (including zero-emission, connected and automated), technologies and the use of innovative services. At the same time, novel forms of mobility (e.g. shared, micro-mobility or even hyperloop) and new services (e.g. Mobility as a Service) present new challenges, but also great opportunities for enhanced management and optimisation of the transport network. This includes advances to fully utilise dynamic and interoperable data exchange from multiple actors and transport modes, for well-tested and validated systems and operations, with appropriate governance arrangements in place.

Robust Knowledge and Know-How transfer for Key-Deployment Pathways and implementation of the EU-CEM (CCAM Partnership)

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Code: 34015 | Identifier Code: HORIZON-CL5-2024-D6-01-05 | Programme name: 2939 | Sub-program: Climate, Energy and Mobility (Cluster 5)(2021-2027) | Start submission calls: 07/05/2024 | End submission calls: 05/09/2024

A common basis for CCAM Knowledge in Europe is available today with the online CCAM Knowledge Base which constitutes a one stop shop for all relevant R&I initiatives, tools, methodologies, regulations and standards in the field. The Knowledge Base should be expanded and further adapted to the needs of all relevant stakeholders. Results and lessons learned from the EU, national and international projects should be made available and accessible to targeted user groups. Proposed actions should in particular provide support for stakeholders to move into operations by identifying key building blocks and standards for deploying pilot services and enable capacity building for key actors of different use cases /applications domains as well as for citizens and non-experts on how to use CCAM systems and services and to become aware of new developments and related risks.

The EU Common Evaluation Methodology (EU-CEM) developed in project “FAME” funded under CL5-2021-D6-01-06 aims at becoming the basic methodology for all CCAM related evaluations to support collaboration, exchange and harmonisation. The methodology will need to be implemented for existing and innovative use cases by CCAM projects and aligned with national mobility strategies and approaches. Training programmes for CCAM projects will be necessary to integrate the methodology and to collect feedback on lessons learned during its implementation.

A States Representatives Group (SRG) has been created within the CCAM Partnership to ensure a continuous dialogue at European and national level for the sharing of information on CCAM R&I to increase coordination between European and national R&I funding schemes, and among national programmes. To carry out its mission efficiently, the SRG will need support to collect and analyse information on national R&I initiatives and to implement cooperation activities.

AI for advanced and collective perception and decision making for CCAM applications (CCAM Partnership)

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Code: 34012 | Identifier Code: HORIZON-CL5-2024-D6-01-04 | Programme name: 2939 | Sub-program: Climate, Energy and Mobility (Cluster 5)(2021-2027) | Start submission calls: 07/05/2024 | End submission calls: 05/09/2024

To integrate and tackle complex traffic scenarios, CCAM technologies will require highly advanced decision-making based on enhanced collective awareness – the stage beyond on-board perception, advancing, incorporating information from multiple sources and including interpretation for the aggregation of this information. Developing collective awareness should take into account the state of the vehicle, the driver and the road user environment. It can also involve the tracking of other road users’ behaviour and generating predictions on a short horizon, which can be based on the input from advanced behavioural models, e.g. those developed within CL5-2022-D6-01-03 projects. The integration of these findings will lead to collective awareness for CCAM.

The use of multiple sources (sensors and sensor fused information, maps, infrastructure, other road users, and localisation systems) and the sharing of the overall situational information and related intentions of the vehicle and that of its direct environment will be an important building block towards collective awareness. Collective awareness should create a larger time window in safety critical situations and generate benefits for the overarching mobility system, which include efficient traffic management and improved traffic flow as it incorporates situation prediction capabilities and environmental benefits (which can eventually include e.g. smart charging strategies).

In order to continue to define the role and limits of AI and of emerging new developments within AI, this topic recommends exploring Hybrid Intelligence (HI) as such a new subset of AI. Hybrid Intelligence is the process of developing and mobilising Artificial Intelligence (AI) to expand on human intelligence and expertise, thereby ensuring human-like control of CCAM operations. Applying an HI approach will allow CCAM technologies to integrate human expertise and intentionality into its decision-making in order to generate meaningful and appropriate actions that are aligned with ethical, legal and societal values.

Orchestration of heterogeneous actors in mixed traffic within the CCAM ecosystem (CCAM Partnership)

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Code: 34010 | Identifier Code: HORIZON-CL5-2024-D6-01-03 | Programme name: 2939 | Sub-program: Climate, Energy and Mobility (Cluster 5)(2021-2027) | Start submission calls: 07/05/2024 | End submission calls: 05/09/2024

The aim is to advance on the orchestration of heterogeneous actors in mixed traffic by building on, linking and integrating the following streams of research results and innovation challenges.

Scenario-based safety assurance of CCAM and related HMI in a dynamically evolving transport system (CCAM Partnership)

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Code: 34008 | Identifier Code: HORIZON-CL5-2024-D6-01-02 | Programme name: 2939 | Sub-program: Climate, Energy and Mobility (Cluster 5)(2021-2027) | Start submission calls: 07/05/2024 | End submission calls: 05/09/2024

To ensure the safety of CCAM, it is essential that vehicles are not only safe during the (first) type approval, but also during their complete lifetime in a fast-changing road transport system. Changes can result from the evolution of the CCAM system itself, for example, as a result of increasing connectivity using V2X communication, the use of AI-based systems, and OTA (over-the-air) software updates.

Until full automation in transport is reached, the human driver will keep on playing an essential role. Also, the interaction with other road users will change, supported by technologies that allow a CCAM system to communicate its intentions to other road users.

As a consequence of these innovations and developments, the safe deployment of CCAM systems needs an extension of the safety validation procedures and certification schemes, taking advanced human-machine interaction and a continuous in-service monitoring approach into account. Due to the many different scenarios and variations that can occur realistically and that consequently need to be tested, it should be possible that a large part of the assessment is performed in a virtual simulation environment.