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 social, economic, cultural, political, and regulatory factors that drive land management and land degradation and the interaction among these factors has been insufficiently explored.
Moreover, there is a knowledge gap in estimating the costs that land degradation generates on-site, directly affecting land users and managers, and offsite, borne by society.
Currently, the lack of knowledge on the costs of land degradation hampers the development of cost-benefit scenarios for the adoption and implementation of soil conservation and restoration actions across the EU and Associated Countries.
An improved understanding of the social, economic, political, regulatory, and cultural factors, together with quantification of the costs of land degradation, should lead to evidence-based strategies, policies and integrated approaches that support land managers in rural, intermediate, and urban areas to adopt and implement sustainable land management practices that reduce and eventually stop land degradation and enhance soil health.
Detailed Call Description
Proposed activities should:
- Identify the social, economic, cultural, political, and regulatory factors that drive soil management and degradation and are key in the development of strategies, policies and integrated approaches for sustainable land management across different land uses. The analysis should include, among other factors, those related to gender, education, inequalities, and access to land.
- Review existing socio-economic methods and models for assessing land degradation costs and conduct pan-European assessments of the socio-economic costs of different aspects of land degradation (e.g. soil organic carbon losses, soil erosion, biodiversity decline, nutrient loss, soil contamination, soil sealing, and land subsidence) across all relevant land use types. Such assessments should be based on the integration of soil bio-physico-chemical indicators with socio-economic methods and models.
- Carry out cost-benefit analyses of soil conservation measures and sustainable land management approaches by building on other EU funded projects or initiatives.
- Evaluate the socio-economic impacts of EU Green Deal policies related to land degradation (scenario analysis) and the socio-economic costs and benefits of their implementation.
- Explore how existing patterns of thought and action can be modified to implement sustainable land management. This should include the analysis of successful examples of sustainable human-soil relations, and their replicability should be encouraged among stakeholders through peer-to-peer learning and capacity building.
- Develop a toolbox of policy solutions for different governance levels to promote sustainable land management and avoid land degradation and sealing, considering the diverse cultural, political, and administrative systems, land uses, and geographical and pedo-climatic conditions in the EU and Associated Countries.
In carrying out the activities, consortia should:
- Work in an interdisciplinary way bringing together environmental sciences and social sciences and humanities (SSH) disciplines (including economics, political science, sociology, history, geography, cultural anthropology, behavioural sciences).
- Regularly engage with policy makers and stakeholders to co-create and evaluate strategies to mitigate land degradation and sealing.
Call Total Budget
Financing percentage by EU or other bodies / Level of Subsidy or Loan
100%
Expected EU contribution per project: €5.50 million.
Thematic Categories
- Environment and Climate Change
- Other Services
- Research, Technological Development and Innovation
- Social Affairs & Human Rights
Eligibility for Participation
- Educational Institutions
- Legal Entities
- Other Beneficiaries
- Private Bodies
- Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
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