Social, economic and cultural factors driving land management and land degradation

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Programme Category

EU Competitive Programmes

Programme Name

Horizon Europe (2021-2027)

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.

Programme Details

Identifier Code

HORIZON-MISS-2021-SOIL-02-04

Call

Social, economic and cultural factors driving land management and land degradation

Summary

Avoiding soil degradation and fostering soil health is for a large part conditional upon the land management practices implemented by land managers, together with pressures on natural and semi-natural habitats. Those practices are framed by several factors (economic, social and cultural) and by the policies applied (agriculture, spatial planning, environment, economic, land tenure, etc.). It is necessary to understand those factors and the manner to influence them, so that farmers and other land managers in rural and urban areas are supported in implementing practices that are conducive to soil health and related ecosystem services.

Detailed Call Description

Proposed activities will:

  • study in-depth the role of the following factors in soil health and land degradation: (1) economic factors, e.g. in relation to subsidies and other policy instruments, the polluter pays principle, payments for ecosystem services, costs and benefits of prevention, price of agricultural products, income, land markets, land tenure and prices; (2) social factors, e.g. in relation to civil society, social cohesion, income inequality, population density, farm structures, rural economy, farm demography; (3) cultural aspects, e.g. in relation to values and norms, strength of governance and public institutions, environmental awareness, product preferences, representation of soil and land in Member State rural cultures, education;
  • identify the most important aspects that drive land management and land degradation with a view to elaborate integrated approaches, policies and (funding) strategies contributing to lifting the constraints impeding soil health recovery and land improvement and enable sustainable land management;
  • develop and test (interactive) tools to assess risks as well as identify and visualise hotspots of land degradation across Europe.

Projects should

  • take account of the diversity of land uses (agriculture, forests, abandoned land, residential, mining and industry, recreational, etc.) and of geographical diversity in the EU;
  • work in an interdisciplinary manner and involve the effective contribution of social sciences and humanities (SSH) disciplines (including economics, sociology, history, geography);
  • include a task to collaborate with other projects financed under this topic;
  • take due account of the potential of digital technologies including artificial intelligence.

Call Total Budget

€10,00 million

Financing percentage by EU or other bodies / Level of Subsidy or Loan

100%

EU contribution per project:  €5,00 million

Thematic Categories

  • Agriculture - Farming - Forestry
  • Industry
  • Land Development
  • Research, Technological Development and Innovation

Eligibility for Participation

  • Central Government
  • Large Enterprises
  • Parliamentary Bodies

Call Opening Date

22/12/2021

Call Closing Date

24/03/2022

National Contact Point(s)

Research and Innovation Foundation
29a Andrea Michalakopoulou, 1075 Nicosia
P.O.Box 23422, 1683 Nicosia
Phone Number: +357 22205000
Email Address: support@research.org.cy
Website: https://www.research.org.cy/en/

Contact Persons:

Dr Angelos Ntantos
Scientific Officer
Telephone: 35722205033
Email: antantos@research.org.cy

Dr Ioannis Theodorou
Scientific Officer
Telephone: 35722205038
Email: itheodorou@research.org.cy

(Publish Date: 03/01/2022-for internal use only)

EU Contact Point

Εuropean Commission, Directorate-General for Research and Innovation

https://ec.europa.eu/info/departments/research-and-innovation_en#contact