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Call key data
Needs-based adaptation to climate change in Africa
Call number
HORIZON-CL5-2023-D1-01-11
deadlines
Opening
13.12.2022
Deadline
18.04.2023 17:00
Funding rate
100%
Call budget
€ 10,000,000.00
Estimated EU contribution per project
€ 5,000,000.00
Link to the call
Link to the submission
Call content
Call objectives
The African continent is on the frontline of the climate emergency; it is highly vulnerable and adaptation to both present and future impacts of climate change is urgent and crucial to secure its long-term resilience and prosperity but it is challenging in the current economic context. While the demand for high-quality, actionable climate information and services is growing, there is a need for more holistic, better connected, more interactive and more user-oriented approaches across the entire adaptation value chain from knowledge production to users. This ranges from improved knowledge base, through increased accessibility, up to enhanced uptake of information and climate services by end-users spanning policy makers, governmental agencies, local authorities, civil society and the private sector. The focus of this topic is on countries in Sub-Saharan Africa – given the region’s limited response capacities coupled with high vulnerability to climate change impacts that range from droughts, through rising sea levels, cyclones, and floods to rising temperatures and rainfall anomalies with serious implications, notably, for food and water security.
Actions should:
- Improve the understanding of current and future climate related threats (and opportunities) in Africa in the context of socio-demographic developments, extending into sectors/domains that are underexplored from climate-risk perspective and including dynamics between climate, biodiversity, and political/economic risks such as migration, food security and urbanisation patterns. Actions may address improvements in accuracy and skill of forecasts/projections, in particular as regards the sub-seasonal-to-seasonal time scale.
- Identify key adaptation challenges, needs and gaps in the broader socio-economic context, including intersection with other policy objectives such as biodiversity protection, increase in agricultural productivity and reduction of inequalities.
- Enhance planning, implementation and evaluation of climate adaptation strategies and measures (including ecosystem-based adaptation and nature-based solutions, as well as integrated adaptation and mitigation actions) and the understanding of their socio-economic determinants and benefits.
- Improve and upscale existing and/or develop and test new climate services/tools that bridge the gap between information availability and uptake by end-users in different sectors, including through capacity building and addressing issues such as access, uncertainty, trust, risk perception and management, and other barriers. In either case, actions should demonstrate a clear path towards broader deployment of the services developed.
- Promote better understanding and enhanced cooperation between various actors such as regional climate centres, national meteorological services, intermediaries, and end-users. Direct participation of relevant entities in the projects is strongly encouraged.
- Explore and leverage opportunities associated with the digital revolution (including progress in automation, artificial intelligence, and communications) to improve diffusion of climate knowledge and promote more efficient service delivery.
- Advance knowledge on value assessment of climate services and apply it to the services developed within projects.
Projects may focus on a specific country/region in Sub-Saharan Africa for more customised activities but should evaluate and disseminate information on the broader relevance of their outcomes and options for replication also in other locations.
Actions should pursue active engagement and consultation with relevant stakeholders such as African government agencies, civil society organisations and citizen groups to harness local knowledge and to better account for end-user needs, taking into account the gender dimension. This should include research on co-production of climate information and user engagement models themselves to define which approaches are most suitable for adaptation purposes. Moreover, social innovation should be considered in order to achieve the expected outcomes.
Actions should build on previous work and established structures in the region. Participants should make use of the latest socio-economic, geophysical, and other relevant data, leveraging by rapid progress in digital technologies. This should include observational data from the Copernicus part of the EU Space Programme and other relevant sources (such as in the context of GEOSS Global Earth Observation System of Systems).
Actions should also take into consideration the results of relevant Horizon 2020 projects, such as FOCUS-Africa, Down2Earth, CONFER or HABITABLE, in view of progressing the state of the art and taking the already developed services/tools to the next level.
In line with the Strategy for EU international cooperation in research and innovation (COM(2021) 252), international cooperation is encouraged and projects should aim at comprehensive involvement of African researchers and organisations, in view of maximising the impact and relevance of the projects.
This topic requires the effective contribution of SSH disciplines and the involvement of SSH experts, institutions as well as the inclusion of relevant SSH expertise, in order to produce meaningful and significant effects enhancing the societal impact of the related research. Applicants should ensure that their project and activities do not exacerbate tensions in the region and may consider guidelines to integrate conflict sensitivity in climate action projects.
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Expected results
Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:
- Accelerated deployment of climate services to build climate resilience.
- Better informed climate adaptation policy response, stronger adaptive capacity and climate resilience in Africa, with a focus on the Sub-Saharan region.
- Improved synergies between adaptation action and other policy objectives, notably the Sustainable Development Goals agenda.
- Contribution to the international dimension of the EU Adaptation Strategy and to the Africa-EU Partnership.
- Knowledge base to underpin major international scientific assessments such as the IPCC Assessment Reports.
Eligibility Criteria
Regions / countries for funding
Moldova (Moldova), Albania (Shqipëria), Armenia (Հայաստան), Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosna i Hercegovina / Босна и Херцеговина), Faeroes (Føroyar / Færøerne), Georgia (საქართველო), Iceland (Ísland), Israel (ישראל / إِسْرَائِيل), Kosovo (Kosova/Kosovë / Косово), Montenegro (Црна Гора), Morocco (المغرب), North Macedonia (Северна Македонија), Norway (Norge), Serbia (Srbija/Сpбија), Tunisia (تونس /Tūnis), Türkiye, Ukraine (Україна), United Kingdom
eligible entities
EU Body, Education and training institution, International organization, Natural Person, Non-Profit Organisation (NPO) / Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Other, Private institution, incl. private company (private for profit), Public Body (national, regional and local; incl. EGTCs), Research Institution incl. University, Small and medium-sized enterprise (SME)
Mandatory partnership
Yes
Project Partnership
To be eligible for funding, applicants must be established in one of the following countries:
- the Member States of the European Union, including their outermost regions
- the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) linked to the Member States
- third countries associated to Horizon Europe - see list of particpating countries
Only legal entities forming a consortium are eligible to participate in actions provided that the consortium includes, as beneficiaries, three legal entities independent from each other and each established in a different country as follows:
- at least one independent legal entity established in a Member State; and
- at least two other independent legal entities, each established in different Member States or Associated Countries.
The following additional eligibility criteria apply: Consortia must include at least 3 entities established in at least 2 different Sub-Saharan African countries.
Any legal entity, regardless of its place of establishment, including legal entities from non-associated third countries or international organisations (including international European research organisations) is eligible to participate (whether it is eligible for funding or not), provided that the conditions laid down in the Horizon Europe Regulation have been met, along with any other conditions laid down in the specific call topic.
A ‘legal entity’ means any natural or legal person created and recognised as such under national law, EU law or international law, which has legal personality and which may, acting in its own name, exercise rights and be subject to obligations, or an entity without legal personality.
Specific cases:
- Affiliated entities — Affiliated entities (i.e. entities with a legal or capital link to a beneficiary which participate in the action with similar rights and obligations to the beneficiaries, but which do not sign the grant agreement and therefore do not become beneficiaries themselves) are allowed, if they are eligible for participation and funding.
- Associated partners — Associated partners (i.e. entities which participate in the action without signing the grant agreement, and without the right to charge costs or claim contributions) are allowed, subject to any conditions regarding associated partners set out in the specific call conditions.
- Entities without legal personality — Entities which do not have legal personality under their national law may exceptionally participate, provided that their representatives have the capacity to undertake legal obligations on their behalf, and offer guarantees to protect the EU’s financial interests equivalent to those offered by legal persons.
- EU bodies — Legal entities created under EU law including decentralised agencies may be part of the consortium, unless provided for otherwise in their basic act.
- Joint Research Centre (‘JRC’)— Where provided for in the specific call conditions, applicants may include in their proposals the possible contribution of the JRC but the JRC will not participate in the preparation and submission of the proposal. Applicants will indicate the contribution that the JRC could bring to the project based on the scope of the topic text. After the evaluation process, the JRC and the consortium selected for funding may come to an agreement on the specific terms of the participation of the JRC. If an agreement is found, the JRC may accede to the grant agreement as beneficiary requesting zero funding or participate as an associated partner, and would accede to the consortium as a member.
- Associations and interest groupings — Entities composed of members (e.g. European research infrastructure consortia (ERICs)) may participate as ‘sole beneficiaries’ or ‘beneficiaries without legal personality’. However, if the action is in practice implemented by the individual members, those members should also participate (either as beneficiaries or as affiliated entities, otherwise their costs will NOT be eligible
other eligibility criteria
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).
Additional information
Topics
Relevance for EU Macro-Region
EUSAIR - EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region, EUSALP - EU Strategy for the Alpine Space, EUSBSR - EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, EUSDR - EU Strategy for the Danube Region
UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs)
Additional Information
All proposals must be submitted electronically via the Funders & Tenders Portal electronic submission system (accessible via the topic page in the Search Funding & Tenders section). Paper submissions are NOT possible.
Proposals must be complete and contain all parts and mandatory annexes and supporting documents, e.g. plan for the exploitation and dissemination of the results including communication activities, etc.
The application form will have two parts:
- Part A (to be filled in directly online) contains administrative information about the applicant organisations (future coordinator and beneficiaries and affiliated entities), the summarised budget for the proposal and call-specific questions;
- Part B (to be downloaded from the Portal submission system, completed and then assembled and re-uploaded as a PDF in the system) contains the technical description of the project.
Annexes and supporting documents will be directly available in the submission system and must be uploaded as PDF files (or other formats allowed by the system).
The limit for a full application (Part B) is 45 pages.
Call documents
HE-Work Programme 2023-2024, Cluster 5, Destination 1HE-Work Programme 2023-2024, Cluster 5, Destination 1(664kB)
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