Call: LC-GD-1-1-2020: Preventing and fighting extreme wildfires with the integration and demonstration of innovative means
Programme |
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Type of Fund | Action programme |
Description
of programme "Horizon 2020 - Societal Challenges " | A challenge-based approach will bring together resources and
knowledge across different fields, technologies and disciplines, including social sciences and the humanities. This will cover
activities from research to market with a new focus on innovation-related activities, such as piloting, demonstration, test-beds,
and support for public procurement and market uptake. Funding focuses on the following challenges:
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Link | Link to Programme |
Description of programme "Climate Action, Environment, Resource Efficiency and Raw Materials" |
This Subprogramme aims to achieve a resource- and water-efficient economoy and society that is also resilient to climate change. Furthermore, it seeks to promote the protection and sustainable management of natural resources and ecosystems. Lastly, the Programme also supports the sustainable supply and use of raw materials, in order to meet the needs of a growing global population within the sustainable limits of the planet's natural resources and eco-systems. |
Call | LC-GD-1-1-2020:
Preventing and fighting extreme wildfires with the integration and demonstration of innovative means |
Description of call "LC-GD-1-1-2020: Preventing and fighting extreme wildfires with the integration and demonstration of innovative means" | The Green Deal explicitly calls to “reduce the incidence and extent of forest fires”. It also calls “to boost the EU’s ability to predict and manage environmental disasters” as an immediate priority. Large-scale and more intense wildfires are becoming an increasing concern. Fire is a natural component in many ecosystems across Europe but more and more Europeans suffer directly and indirectly from wildfires. Between 2017 and 2020, fires have killed hundreds of persons and ravaged forests and Natura 2000 sites not only in Southern Europe, but increasingly also in Central, Eastern and Northern Europe. In addition to the extraordinary socioeconomic impact in terms of loss of human lives of residents and first responders, health, infrastructures and economic activity, extreme wildfire events have also serious and sometimes irreversible ecological impacts when considering soil degradation, water scarcity and biodiversity loss. Moreover, wildfires are among the first contributors to climate change, with up to 20% of total global greenhouse gas emissions per year. Furthermore, the large surfaces burnt cannot absorb so much CO2 any longer, reducing the climate change mitigation potential of carbon sinks. Extreme wildfires are now observed more frequently in higher altitudes and latitudes and further contribute to accelerating climate change by increased black carbon fall-out on ice/snow and by melting of underlying permafrost. In addition, large wildfires degrade air quality through the direct emissions of toxic pollutants affecting first responders and local residents, while populations in regions far away from the wildfires can be exposed to other pollutants as the air is transported, with short- and long-term impact on human health. Climate change, certain forestry practices, ecosystem degradation and rural depopulation increase the depth and breadth of wildfires in the EU. Climate change is predicted to increase fire risk, with longer fire seasons, more frequent fire events, new fire-prone regions and more severe fire behaviour. The burnt area in southern Europe during the 21st century would sharply increase. The number of people living near wildland and exposed to high-to-extreme fire danger levels for at least 10 days per year would grow by 15 million with 3°C warming, compared to now. Furthermore, global warming could result in a substantial shift northwards of European ecological domains, making the recovery or re-establishment of non-adapted ecosystems more difficult after a fire. Extreme wildfire events as in Southern Europe in 2017-2018 and in California, Brazil and Australia in 2019, are likely to become common throughout the whole of Europe. Scope:The new context of extreme wildfires requires accelerating the shift towards implementing a more holistic fire management approach that integrates environmental, climate, health & safety/security, cultural and socio-economic aspects with:
Activities should go beyond the state of the art and previous R&I activities at EU level, cooperate with ongoing relevant Horizon 2020 projects and make best use of existing EU initiatives and services (such as Copernicus, Galileo and EGNOS). Activities should involve relevant international, national and EU agencies (e.g. European Environment Agency (EEA), European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), …) and end-users (such as forest owners, forest-based industry actors, environmental and nature management organisations, firefighters, local and regional authorities, etc) from Member States and Associated Countries. In line with the strategy for EU international cooperation in research and innovation, multilateral international cooperation is encouraged. Subtopic 1 (Innovation Actions): Actions funded under this call will speed up the pan-European adaptation process to extreme wildfires by advancing and applying research and innovation, including demonstration pilot sites, while making best use of existing data (e.g. remote sensing, in-situ or community-based data), technologies (e.g. Big Data and Artificial Intelligence) and services (as Copernicus, Galileo and EGNOS). Innovative means and methods should be developed, integrated and demonstrated in different environments across Europe (including EU Outermost regions) and tailored to geographical and socio-economic conditions, with different types of fuels (e.g. forest/bush /peat fire threats), landscapes and biodiversity values (e.g. coastal/alpine/agriculture/rural/Wild-Urban Interface/islands) and scales (e.g. local/regional /national/cross-border/EU/international). The approach should be systemic: encompassing different climate scenarios, biogeographical/socio-economic contexts, traditional practices and new means for faster and smarter management of all interconnected fire management phases, i.e. prevention and preparedness (including forecasting and landscape management for impact mitigation, adapting tree species composition and forest management practices), detection and response (including fire containment, extinction, potential evacuation and recovery) and post-fire restoration and adaptation to climate change. Proposals should consider an Integrated Fire Management strategy to include viewpoints from all parties in a participative way. They should cover all of the fire management phases (i.e. prevention and preparedness, detection and response, restoration and adaptation), while focusing within each phase on a subset of activities, as described below: Phase A - Prevention and Preparedness The integration of environmental, climate and socio-economic conditions (including tangible and intangible cultural heritage) with proactive governance (public and private actors), community-based risk awareness, prevention and preparedness activities may include among others:
Phase B - Detection and Response Anticipation and mitigation of high-impact events will benefit from research and innovation in space, aerial, ground, material and digital technologies, which should be integrated altogether with environmental, climate and social disciplines and existing EU initiatives on monitoring and suppression of wildfires. Activities should be demonstrated in a broad range of weather conditions and geographical scenarios. Activities may include among others:
Phase C - Restoration and Adaptation Proposals should aim at supporting the socio-ecological transition towards more resilient communities, in particular those most exposed to wildfire risk. Activities may include among others:
Subtopic 2 (Coordination and Support Action): This action aims to ensure that the demonstration of innovative and integrated approaches fulfils the expected impacts, by coordinating and supporting the Innovation Action projects funded under this topic. Activities may include among others:
Expected Impact: The actions funded under this call topic should jointly contribute substantially to achieving by 2030 the following targets in Europe (with respect to 2019):
In order to maximise impact, the most promising results demonstrated in the actions are expected to be up-scaled and deployed into:
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Link | Link to Call |
Thematic Focus | Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, Research & Innovation, Technology Transfer & Exchange, Disaster Prevention, Resiliance, Risk Management, Climate, Climate Change, Environment & Biodiversity, Children & Youth, Education & Training |
Funding area | EU Member States Albania / Shqipëria Bosnia and Herzegovina Iceland / Ísland Moldova Montenegro / Crna Gora/Црна Гора North Macedonia / Северна Македонија Norway / Norge Serbia / Сpбија Switzerland / Schweiz / Suisse / Svizzera Turkey / Türkiye Ukraine / Україна Oukraïna Others |
Origin of Applicant | EU Member States Albania / Shqipëria Bosnia and Herzegovina Iceland / Ísland Moldova Montenegro / Crna Gora/Црна Гора North Macedonia / Северна Македонија Norway / Norge Serbia / Сpбија Switzerland / Schweiz / Suisse / Svizzera Turkey / Türkiye Ukraine / Україна Oukraïna Others |
Eligible applicants | Education and Training Centres, Federal State / Region / City / Municipality / Local Authority, Research Institution, Lobby Group / Professional Association / Trade Union, International Organization, Small and Medium Sized Enterprises, SMEs (between 10 and 249 employees), Microenterprises (fewer than 10 employees), NGO / NPO, Public Services, National Government, Start Up Company, University, Enterprise (more than 250 employees or not defined), Association |
Applicant details | All legal entities located in the EU or in Third Countries can participate in Horizon 2020 |
Project Partner | Yes |
Further info | Proposals should address only one
of the two subtopics. In line with the strategy for EU international cooperation in research and innovation, multilateral international cooperation is encouraged, in particular with United States, Canada, Australia, Russia, Japan, Brazil, South America, Indonesia and South Africa to leverage knowledge, resources and best practices, as well as to decrease risks and increase impact worldwide. Proposals should ensure that the diversity of concerned actors (e.g. science, governance
and practice communities, public and private sectors) is well represented in the consortium to address all phases, and should
also dedicate resources to engage in the Coordinated Support Action (Subtopic 2) for clustering and partnering activities
with other actions.
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Type of Funding | Grants |
Financial details | Total call budget:
The Commission considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU of between EUR 15 to 20 million would allow the specific challenge to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts.
The Commission considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU of between EUR 2 to 3 million would allow the specific challenge to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts. Funding rate for
IA: 70% (except for non-profit legal entities, where a rate of 100% applies) |
Submission | Online via Funding & Tenders Portal |
Contact Details | Link to the National Contact Point Finder. |
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