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Call key data
Optimising the sustainable production of wood and non-wood products in small forest properties and development of new forest-based value chains
Call number
HORIZON-CL6-2023-CircBio-01-12
deadlines
Opening
22.12.2022
Deadline
28.03.2023 17:00
Funding rate
100%
Call budget
€ 12,000,000.00
Estimated EU contribution per project
€ 6,000,000.00
Link to the call
Link to the submission
Call content
short description
This topic addresses sustainable production potentials with a view to securing and promoting small-scale forest management for the sustainable use of wood and non-wood products, while fully respecting the cascading use principle and contributing to biodiversity objectives, including forest ecosystem restoration and protection.
Call objectives
European forests belong to around 16 million owners, whereby about 60% of the forest area is privately owned, the majority being small properties, often lacking proper attention by their owners mainly due to fragmentation and non-profitability. Knowledge on small-scale private forest owners’ expertise, skills, motivations and needs to manage forests sustainably, including both traditional and non-traditional owner types, is limited.
Genuinely trans-disciplinary approaches in research and innovation are needed that combine the environmental and socio-economic dimensions and closely engage with broader stakeholder communities.
Proposals will:
- Create a better understanding of the circumstances of small forest property owners and behaviour for both traditional and non-traditional owner types.
- Explore, analyse, and develop innovative forest management approaches, including silvicultural practices, carbon farming, digital tools (for example blockchain, robotics, AI or IoT/sensors), organisational, cooperation and business models, advisory services, education and training concepts, policy frameworks and social and institutional models that take into account different ownership types.
- Assess and develop innovative and tailored support structures, programmes and instruments, covering traditional and non-traditional owner types, considering size, geographical, professional and personal backgrounds, value orientations, age, gender, etc.
- Collect, analyse, and develop targeted approaches for activating and mobilising forest owners, particularly non-traditional, non-farm, absentee, urban or women as forest owners taking into consideration existing good practice guidance and examples.
- Define sustainable production potentials for wood and non-wood forest products through improved integrated management approaches.
- Develop new business models to promote the sustainable and value-added utilisation of damaged (burnt, broken, degraded conditions etc.) or infected wood (e.g., by bark-beetle, etc.) within strictly defined ecological thresholds and in line with the cascading use principle, forestry side streams and non-wood forest products (e.g., cork, etc.).
- Contribute positively to the UN and EU sustainability goals (climate, biodiversity, risks, income streams, ecosystem services etc.).
- Explore the role of social, economic, political, and institutional factors to improve political-institutional frameworks on different administrative levels.
- Engage small forest property owner types and all relevant actors in co-creation processes for developing viable measures and tools at local and European scale that contribute to increased awareness and motivation for ensuring sustainable use, restoration, and conservation of resilient small-scale private forest properties.
- Involve rural communities with a view to optimising the mobilisation of forest resources, improving land management practices, and reducing land abandonment in full respect of climate mitigation and adaptation, biodiversity protection and restoration objectives.
- Foster knowledge exchange and capacity-building.
The project must implement the multi-actor approach and ensure an adequate involvement of the primary production sector and the wider forest-based value chain.
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Expected effects and impacts
This topic supports the EU forest strategy for 2030 by securing and promoting small-scale forest management for the sustainable use of wood and non-wood products, while fully respecting the cascading use principle and contributing to biodiversity and climate objectives, including forest ecosystem restoration and protection.
Expected results
- Development of regional and local management models for small-scale forest holdings in support of the EU forest strategy for 2030, adapted to the wide variety of contexts found in the EU.
- Better understanding of knowledge, skills, motivation and needs of small-scale forest owners, and development of targeted and innovative approaches for effective support structures and instruments for the various ownership types.
- Contribution to forest-related policy goals of the European Green Deal, including the development of a forest-based bioeconomy, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, the increase of carbon removals, the protection of ecosystem services and the restoration and conservation of forest biodiversity.
- Improved guidelines on carbon farming and PES (Payment for Ecosystem Services) design and implementation in Europe formulated and implemented.
- Development of lively, prosperous and resilient rural areas and integration of small-scale forests owners in the bioeconomy value chains.
- Improvement of the quantity and quality of EU forests, their multifunctional role and resilience needs under climate change and contribution to halting and reversing biodiversity loss.
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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.
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
Proposals must apply the multi-actor approach. See definition of the multi-actor approach on pages 21-23 of the work programme.
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.
Beneficiaries may provide financial support to third parties. The support to third parties can only be provided in the form of grants. The maximum amount to be granted to each third party is € 60,000.00.
Call documents
HE-Work Programme 2023-2024, Cluster 6, Destination 3HE-Work Programme 2023-2024, Cluster 6, Destination 3(463kB)
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