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
The proposed Directive on Soil Monitoring and Resilience (Soil Monitoring Law – SML) aims to put in place a coherent and integrated soil monitoring framework for all soils across the EU.
However, currently there are many different methods in the EU to monitor and assess soil health, from sampling to laboratorial procedures, and some Member States have long-standing soil monitoring systems and procedures which they prefer to keep for economic reasons and to safeguard long-term datasets.
Validated transfer functions are therefore needed to reliably convert soil measurements to a common reference method and to facilitate a smooth and cost-effective transition to a harmonized soil health assessment across the EU.
Some knowledge on transfer functions is already established for certain soil physical and hydraulic properties, but existing knowledge does not cover the entire combination of laboratorial and field methods available across the EU for all the soil descriptors present in the SML proposal.
Detailed Call Description
Proposed activities should:
- Identify and collect the information available in existing samples archives such as LUCAS.
- Develop and test, together with Member State monitoring bodies, transfer functions for all descriptors proposed in the SML proposal (e.g. soil organic carbon, excess nutrient content, soil acidity, pH, P-Olsen, Electrical conductivity, bulk density, etc.) and for the diverse methods used for field sampling collection (including sampling depth) and analysis different than those prescribed in the SML proposal. Identify conversion factors to transform data from one method to another.
- Compare results obtained by different sampling protocols and laboratorial procedures, and link national monitoring systems with LUCAS outputs and the protocols of ISO/CEN and others included in the SML proposal.
- Determine the most reliable statistical methods for combining soil data collected with different sampling protocols and analytical methodologies to produce harmonised and comprehensive statistics and maps.
- Validate transfer functions by sampling a subset of the LUCAS 2022 locations, covering at least 21 MS and 80% of the EU land surface area and analogous to LUCAS in terms of land cover and climate regions. Α minimum of 30% of the budget must be allocated for the sampling and analysing of at least 4000 samples.
Call Total Budget
Financing percentage by EU or other bodies / Level of Subsidy or Loan
100%
Expected EU contribution per project: €6.00 million.
Thematic Categories
- Environment and Climate Change
- Other Services
- Research, Technological Development and Innovation
Eligibility for Participation
- Central Government
- Legal Entities
- Other Beneficiaries
- Private Bodies
- Researchers/Research Centers/Institutions
- State-owned Enterprises
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.
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 Persons:
Mr. Christakis Theocharous
Scientific Officer A’
Email: ctheocharous@research.org.cy
Mr. George Christou
Scientific Officer
Email: gchristou@research.org.cy