Broadening the living labs approach for soil health in Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)
Programme Category
Programme Name
Programme Description
Horizon Europe is the European Union (EU) funding programme for the period 2021 – 2027, which targets the sectors of research and innovation. The programme’s budget is around € 95.5 billion, of which € 5.4 billion is from NextGenerationEU to stimulate recovery and strengthen the EU’s resilience in the future, and € 4.5 billion is additional aid.
Identifier Code
Call
Summary
Living labs are an effective tool to bridge the gap between science and practice in soil health. They are based on three key principles: (a) co-creation of solutions with diverse stakeholders, (b) implementation in real-life settings, and (c) active involvement of end-users. These labs bring together multiple actors who conduct experiments on sites such as farms, forests, urban green spaces, industrial areas, and enterprises, where practices are tested and monitored under real conditions.
Improving soil health requires site-specific and adaptive practices. However, reaching millions of small land managers with tailored solutions and advisory support remains a challenge, mainly due to weak feedback loops between land managers and researchers, which can result in inappropriate or poorly adapted practices.
This topic therefore promotes human-centred initiatives that integrate research, development, education, and extension to support sustainable soil management. The aim is to accelerate and expand the adoption of context-specific soil health solutions in Africa and Latin America & the Caribbean (LAC). While the Mission Soil living labs concept will not be directly replicated, it will serve as inspiration for new participatory models and community-driven initiatives emerging from African and LAC contexts to act as drivers of change in soil management.
Detailed Call Description
Proposals should:
- Support the set-up of at least 12 participatory initiatives in real-life sites in at least 5 to 6 countries in each region (Africa or LAC). The participatory initiatives should co-design, co-develop and co-implement with all relevant actors, locally adapted solutions and holistic approaches to key soil health challenge(s) related with one or more of the Mission Soil specific objectives. The initiatives should cover a diversity of environmental, socio-economic and cultural contexts across the regions (Africa or LAC) and the proposed solutions should be adapted to these contexts. The initiatives should integrate knowledge and expertise from SSH disciplines.
- Support the participatory initiatives to monitor and assess the progress on soil health and socio-economic resilience derived from the implementation of the solutions. For this, adequate indicators (new or existing) should be used, and a baseline established.
- Support land managers, land users, advisers as well as any relevant actors involved in the participatory initiatives, to co-implement the solutions, by providing training, capacity building, knowledge exchange, etc. (e.g. sharing best practices, organising demonstration activities or cross-visits). Actors involved in the participatory initiatives should not be partners of the successful proposals funded under this topic.
- Identify initiatives that are exemplary in their performance on soil health improvement and can act as places for demonstration of solutions (similar to the Mission Soil lighthouse concept) to efficiently disseminate knowledge and accelerate the adoption, scale up and transferability of solutions and increase the impact on the ground.
- Develop an inclusive exchange mechanism among the established initiatives to enable a rapid peer-to-peer learning and a toolbox to support the adaptation and replication of these initiatives in other contexts by others. The exchange mechanism should operate as an incubator of new initiatives in at least 5 to 6 countries in each region (Africa or LAC) and be designed to allow geographical expansion and sustainability.
- Ensure long-term ambition, continuity, and sustainability of the established mechanism beyond the Horizon Europe funding, including through attracting other funding and identifying possible business models and actions involving local authorities, social economy entities and social enterprises business communities, SMEs, investors, entrepreneurs and philanthropic organisations.
Call Total Budget
Financing percentage by EU or other bodies / Level of Subsidy or Loan
100%
Expected EU contribution per project: €6.00 million.
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 €300.000. At least 60% of the total requested EU contribution must be allocated to this purpose. €300.000 is considered necessary to meet the requirements of the topic, cover costs to set up participatory initiatives in real-life sites, engage with and consult extensively stakeholders, and demonstrate solutions to soil health challenges.
Thematic Categories
- Agriculture - Farming - Forestry
- Agriculture - Food
- Environment and Climate Change
- Land Development
- Research, Technological Development and Innovation
- Rural development
Eligibility for Participation
- Associations
- Businesses
- Educational Institutions
- Farmers Unions
- Farmers, Agriculturalists
- Large Enterprises
- Legal Entities
- Local Authorities
- NGOs
- Non Profit Organisations
- Other Beneficiaries
- Private Bodies
- Producer Associations
- Researchers/Research Centers/Institutions
- Semi-governmental organisations
- Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
- State-owned Enterprises
- Training Centres
Eligibility For Participation Notes
A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects.
Due to the scope of this topic, all legal entities established in: (i) all African Union member states*; or (ii) in all member states of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC)** are exceptionally eligible for Union funding (i.e., even if they are not established in a low-middle income country, following the ‘List of Participating Countries in Horizon Europe’, which are directly eligible for funding).
* “African Union member states” includes countries whose membership has been temporarily suspended.
** The member countries of CELAC.
Proposals must apply the multi-actor approach. See definition of the multi-actor approach in the introduction to this work programme part.
Call Opening Date
Call Closing Date
National Contact Point(s)
Research and Innovation Foundation
Address: 29a Andrea Michalakopoulou, 1075 Nicosia, P.B. 23422, 1683 Nicosia
Telephone: +357 22205000
Fax: +357 22205001
Email: support@research.org.cy
Website: https://www.research.org.cy/en/
Contact Person:
Mr. Christakis Theocharous
Scientific Officer A’
Email: ctheocharous@research.org.cy