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Call key data
Capturing market trends and societal perceptions for tailor-made forest services
Call number
HORIZON-CL6-2023-CircBio-01-13
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 new opportunities for primary producers to diversify the income by developing new sustainable business models.
Call objectives
Forests provide invaluable benefits to people and the planet. They are biodiversity hubs and habitats, vital for climate and water regulation, soil stabilisation and the purification of air and water. Their carbon sequestration and storage capacity make them an important alley in the fight against climate change. Also, forests and the forest-based sector provide multiple socio-economic functions and benefits, including jobs and development possibilities in rural areas. Their role in providing food, medicines and materials and their value for recreation and learning from nature is indispensable for the transition to a circular bioeconomy and a healthy society.
However, there is an increasing demand on European forests to provide a high diversity of goods and ecosystem services at the same time. The choice of forest management can produce different outcomes for ecosystem services and productivity in the short and the long-term. Forest owners should consider possible trade-offs and synergies with regards to the multifunctional role of forests, their interaction with climate change and their role for biodiversity. Therefore, there is a need for balanced and integrative approaches to ensure ecosystem services in the long-term and to provide sufficient resources for a sustainable and circular bioeconomy, while at the same time, contributing to GHG emissions reductions and carbon removals to contribute to 2030 and 2050 EU climate targets.
Proposals will:
- Set-up a transdisciplinary forum at the science-policy-society interface to regularly disseminate research results, discuss options for upscaling promising approaches (including technological needs and possible solutions) and collaborate with relevant policy makers, stakeholders and the wider public.
- Explore the evolving societal demands under changing climate conditions for different forest goods and services in an interdisciplinary and integrative approach to improve the knowledge that will help to balance the demands while safeguarding forest’s capacities to deliver them in the best possible way.
- Based on previous research results (.e.g., InnoForest, Sincere, etc.), improve the understanding of ecosystem service interactions at different temporal scales both short-term and long-term and consider relevant social, environmental and economic interdependencies and path dependencies.
- Identify region and national specific market-driven approaches to create new or reactivate value chains and business models based on co-operation between forest owners, policymakers and users of ecosystem services with a view to develop tailor-made solutions and strengthen interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral cooperation.
- Select a set of representative European PES cases, including carbon farming cases, with sufficient implementation length and data availability for a holistic impact evaluation.
- Analyse and compare the data for contextualizing results vis-a-vis the existing literature on PES design and implementation, including carbon farming.
- Improve existing and develop new business models to determine the value and possible funding of sustainable forest management, including through the valuation of ecosystem services such as biodiversity, non-wood products, carbon sequestration and storage, clean water supply, soil protection, recreation, health amenities etc.; and develop standardized methods for their valuation where needed with the goal to maximise sustainable benefit across ecosystem services.
- Propose standards for measuring, assessing and valuating ecosystem services in different regional settings, which could lead to more efficient market mechanisms across Europe in support of forest management practices ensuring sustainable use and biodiversity conservation and restoration.
- Promote and provide advice for the set-up of adequate payment schemes through private and public funding instruments at national and EU-level (including the CAP).
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.
This topic should involve the effective contribution of SSH disciplines.
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Expected effects and impacts
This topic contributes to the new EU forest strategy for 2030 by addressing new opportunities for primary producers to diversify income and employment opportunities and developing new sustainable business models.
Expected results
- Improved integrated management concepts with a focus on market-oriented approaches to meet the growing demand for ecosystem services, including carbon removals through carbon farming.
- Development of decision support and management tools (including digital technologies such as AI, sensors or robotics) that will facilitate the joint delivery of multiple ecosystem services.
- Increased long-term resilience of forest production and use systems and associated value chains.
- Improved guidelines on carbon farming and PES (Payment for Ecosystem Services) design and implementation in Europe formulated and implemented.
- Accelerated uptake of sustainable business models in the primary production sector.
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.
Call documents
HE-Work Programme 2023-2024, Cluster 6, Destination 3HE-Work Programme 2023-2024, Cluster 6, Destination 3(463kB)
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