EU RURAL REVIEW: https://ec.europa.eu/enrd/sites/default/files/enrd_publications/publi-enrd-rr-32_long-term-vision_0.pdf

• Aquesta resposta s'ha modificat el fa 2 anys, 10 mesos per Silvia.

Agroecology and Sustainable Agriculture:
ALL-Ready: Agroecology Living Lab and Research Infrastructure Network.
AgriLink: Linking farmers, advisors, and researchers for agricultural innovation.
AE4EU: Promoting agroecology for sustainable agricultural systems.

Soil and Land Management:
SMS: Research and innovation roadmap for soils and land management.
PREPSOIL: Preparing for the ‘Soil Deal for Europe’ Mission.
NATI00NS: National engagement activities for the ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’ Mission.

Food Systems and Sustainability:
ZeroW: Innovations for a zero food waste supply chain.
FOOD TRAILS: Building urban food policies for sustainable city region food systems.
HOLiFOOD: Tackling food system risks in a changing global environment.

Digital Innovation and Decision Support:
FAIRshare: Farm advisory digital innovation tools for agriculture.
SUSTAINABLE: Artificial intelligence (AI) systems for precision agriculture management.
EU4Advice: Collaboration network for short food supply chains (SFSCs) advisors.

Water Management and Resource Efficiency:
STARS4Water: Supporting adaptive and sustainable water management.
ULTIMATE: Industrial water-utility symbiosis for a smarter water society.
REWAISE: Resilient water innovation for a smart economy.

• Aquesta resposta s'ha modificat el fa 2 anys, 10 mesos per Silvia.
• Aquesta resposta s'ha modificat el fa 2 anys, 10 mesos per Silvia.

Page: 132

HORIZON-MISS-2023-SOIL-01-08: Co-creating solutions for soil health in Living Labs Specific conditions
The Commission estimates that an EU contribution of around EUR 12.00 million would allow these outcomes to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of a proposal requesting different amounts.
The total indicative budget for the topic is EUR 36.00 million. Research and Innovation Actions
Eligibility conditions: The conditions are described in General Annex B. The following exceptions apply:
The following additional eligibility criteria apply: Proposals must apply the multi-actor approach. See definition of the multi-actor approach in the introduction to this Mission.
Legal and financial set-up of the Grant Agreements: The rules are described in General Annex G. The following exceptions apply:
Beneficiaries may provide financial support to third parties. The support to third parties can only be provided in the form of grants (further to calls or, if duly justified, without a call for proposals). The maximum amount to be granted to each third party is EUR 200 000, to allow for the active participation of appropriate stakeholders, including farmers, businesses or civil society in living labs and achieve the objectives of the actions described under the scope.

Expected Outcome: Activities under this topic respond directly to the goal of the Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’210 of setting up 100 living labs to lead the transition to healthy soils by 2030. They support the specific objectives of the Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’ dealing with urgent soil health challenges (see in particular specific objectives 1 to 6 and 8). Activities should thereby contribute to meeting the European Green Deal ambitions and targets, such as those related to food and nutrition security, climate, biodiversity, environment and rural areas211.
Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following outcomes:
 Living labs across Europe are fully operational and have established themselves as places for co-creation and testing of solutions for soil health in rural and urban areas.
 Increased capacities for participatory, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary R&I approaches, allowing for effective cooperation between research, practice and policy to tackle soil health challenges.
 Practice oriented knowledge and tools are more easily available to land managers and contribute to an enhanced uptake of solutions for soil health and related ecosystem services.
 Strengthened collaborations between actors across territories and sectors and increased consideration of effective solutions for soil health in regions where the selected living labs are operating.
 Policy makers in the EU and Associated Countries are more aware of local needs with regard to soil health and can use this knowledge to design more effective policies.
Scope: While more research is needed to restore and maintain healthy soils in the EU, an important barrier still encountered to accelerate the transition towards a climate-neutral and green European Union is the gap between science and practice, between knowledge and implementation. The Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’ proposes a novel approach to research and innovation in the area of soil health, including the implementation of living labs. Living labs have the potential to empower a green transition towards healthy soils by developing solutions in a co-creative manner and involving actors in real life settings at territorial level to achieve large-scale impact.

Nowadays, there exist various definitions and conceptualizations of living labs. However, three components are recognizable within the now well-established living labs research concept, which include (a) co-creation with a large set of stakeholders, (b) carried out in real- life settings and (c) involving the end-users. For the purpose of the Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’, Soil health living labs are defined as “user-centred, place-based and transdisciplinary research and innovation ecosystems, which involve land managers, scientists and other relevant partners in systemic research and co-design, testing, monitoring and evaluation of solutions, in real-life settings, to improve their effectiveness for soil health and accelerate adoption”.
Living labs are collaborations between multiple partners that operate and undertake experiments on several sites at regional or sub-regional level. Individual sites could be e.g. farms, forest stands, urban green or industrial areas, enterprises and other entities, where the work is carried-out and monitored under real-life conditions, regardless of the land size, tenure (land ownerships) or the type of economic activity.
Lighthouses, in contrast, are defined as “places for demonstration of solutions, training and communication that are exemplary in their performance in terms of soil health improvement”. They are individual, local sites (one farm, one forest exploitation, one industrial site, one urban city green area, etc.) that either can be part of a living lab or be situated outside a living lab.
According to the Mission Implementation Plan, living labs involve partners from different backgrounds, disciplines and/or sectors and are composed of 10 to 20 experimental sites. However, depending on the specific context (e.g. the land use(s), the soil health challenge(s) addressed), applicants can propose living labs with fewer experimental sites. By working together on themes of common interest, the various partners involved in a living lab will be able to replicate actions and solutions, compare results, exchange good practices, validate methodologies and benefit from cross-fertilisation within a local/regional setting.
More specifically, each of the funded projects should:
 Set up four to five living labs (or more, as applicable to the land use(s) and purpose of the project) to work together on thematically related soil health challenges, addressing the same or several land use types. The living labs should be located in at least three different Member States and/or Associated Countries. Proposals should describe the rationale for cooperation across the various living labs and explain how the work

undertaken will contribute to one or more of the Mission’s specific objectives214. Living labs on carbon farming are excluded from this topic as a dedicated topic for carbon farming living labs is opened in this work programme215.
 Establish, based on the projects’ goals and objectives, a detailed work plan with the activities to be undertaken in an interdisciplinary way, ensuring the co-design, co- development, and co-implementation of locally adapted solutions.
 Carry out participatory and transdisciplinary research and innovation in living labs to seek practical solutions to problems/challenges identified, taking into account the relevant drivers and pressures. Moreover, activities should address challenges to the scaling up and the transferability of solutions. Proposed strategies and solutions should be adapted to the different environmental, socio-economic and cultural contexts in which the living labs are operating. Living labs working in the area of agriculture are expected to promote sustainable practices, applied across a range of farming systems and benefit both conventional and organic farming.
 Identify sites that demonstrate high performance in terms of their actions and results on soil health improvement and that may be converted into lighthouses.
 Establish for each living lab a baseline for the selected soil health challenge(s), in order to allow for an accurate assessment of the conditions and changes of soils in the different sites over time and for monitoring of progress towards the objectives of the respective living labs and the project overall. As appropriate, make use of the set of soil health indicators presented in the Soil Mission Implementation Plan. To this end, funded projects should work closely with the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) to contribute to their efforts on soil monitoring and the development of the European Union Soil Observatory (EUSO).
 Monitor and carry out an assessment of the effects of the developed innovative practices or introduced solutions on soil health and related ecosystem services. This should include a demonstration of the viability (e.g. technical, economic) of the proposed solutions.
 Propose strategies (e.g. financial, organisational) to ensure long-term sustainability and continuity of the living labs beyond the Horizon Europe funding, including the identification of possible business models and actions involving local authorities, business communities, SMEs, investors, entrepreneurs.
 Document in an easy and accessible way the developed solutions in order to facilitate their uptake by land managers and transmit the acquired knowledge to relevant actors.

In line with the nature of living labs, proposals must implement the multi-actor approach. The list of stakeholders will vary depending on features specific to each living lab and can involve different types of actors such as researchers, land owners or land managers, industry (e.g. SMEs), public administrations, representatives of civil society (e.g. consumers, environmental NGOs). Care should be taken to describe the capabilities and roles of the different partners involved in the project, depending on their area of expertise. For example, while some partners may lead the conceptual work and coordinate the work within and across living labs, others may focus on carrying-out experiments, providing advice, testing and validating innovative solutions, or be involved in outreach activities.
To encourage and facilitate the involvement of different types of actors in the living labs, applicants are reminded of the different types of participation possible under Horizon Europe: This includes not only beneficiaries (or their affiliated entities) but also associated partners, third parties giving in-kind contributions, subcontractors and recipients of financial support to third parties.
Proposals may provide for financial support to third parties (FSTP) to implement one or more of the living lab activities described in this topic further to calls or, if duly justified, without a call for proposals. Applicants are reminded to consult the standard conditions for “financial support to third parties” set out in Annex B of the General Annexes including those that apply to FSTP calls.
Proposals should include a dedicated task and appropriate resources to collaborate with other Living Lab projects funded under this topic as well as with projects funded under other Work Programme topics of the Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’ which are relevant to the chosen soil health challenge(s). In addition, proposals should seek for synergies with projects PREPSOIL, NATI00NS and NBSSOIL. Additionally, projects should cooperate and benefit from the services of a dedicated ‘Living Lab Support Structure’ to be established by the Specific Grant Agreement under this Work Programme .
Cooperation with relevant networks active at local level, such as EIP-AGRI operational groups, is encouraged in order to promote the involvement of key local stakeholders in living labs activities or in the dissemination of solutions. The projects should also build on other existing activities and ensure cooperation with relevant projects and partnerships, such as EIT Knowledge and Innovation Communities (EIT KICs) or the ‘European partnership on accelerating farming systems transition: Agroecology living labs and research infrastructures’, which will also support living labs.

Proposals should demonstrate a route towards open access, longevity, sustainability and interoperability of knowledge and outputs through close collaboration with the European Union Soil Observatory (EUSO).

General information
Programme
Horizon Europe Framework Programme (HORIZON)
Call
Research and Innovation and other actions to support the implementation of mission A Soil Deal for Europe (HORIZON-MISS-2023-SOIL-01)
Type of action
HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions
Type of MGA
HORIZON Action Grant Budget-Based [HORIZON-AG]
Deadline model
single-stage
Opening date
17 January 2023
Deadline date
20 September 2023 17:00:00 Brussels time
Open for submission
Topic description
ExpectedOutcome:
Activities under this topic respond directly to the goal of the Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’[1] of setting up 100 living labs to lead the transition to healthy soils by 2030. They support the specific objectives of the Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’ dealing with urgent soil health challenges (see in particular specific objectives 1 to 6 and 8). Activities should thereby contribute to meeting the European Green Deal ambitions and targets, such as those related to food and nutrition security, climate, biodiversity, environment and rural areas[2].

Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following outcomes:

Living labs across Europe are fully operational and have established themselves as places for co-creation and testing of solutions for soil health in rural and urban areas.
Increased capacities for participatory, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary R&I approaches, allowing for effective cooperation between research, practice and policy to tackle soil health challenges.
Practice oriented knowledge and tools are more easily available to land managers and contribute to an enhanced uptake of solutions for soil health and related ecosystem services.
Strengthened collaborations between actors across territories and sectors and increased consideration of effective solutions for soil health in regions where the selected living labs are operating.
Policy makers in the EU and Associated Countries are more aware of local needs with regard to soil health and can use this knowledge to design more effective policies.
Scope:
While more research is needed to restore and maintain healthy soils in the EU, an important barrier still encountered to accelerate the transition towards a climate-neutral and green European Union is the gap between science and practice, between knowledge and implementation. The Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’ proposes a novel approach to research and innovation in the area of soil health, including the implementation of living labs. Living labs have the potential to empower a green transition towards healthy soils by developing solutions in a co-creative manner and involving actors in real life settings at territorial level to achieve large-scale impact.

Nowadays, there exist various definitions and conceptualizations of living labs. However, three components are recognizable within the now well-established living labs research concept, which include (a) co-creation with a large set of stakeholders, (b) carried out in real-life settings and (c) involving the end-users[3]. For the purpose of the Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’, Soil health living labs are defined as “user-centred, place-based and transdisciplinary research and innovation ecosystems, which involve land managers, scientists and other relevant partners in systemic research and co-design, testing, monitoring and evaluation of solutions, in real-life settings, to improve their effectiveness for soil health and accelerate adoption”.

Living labs are collaborations between multiple partners that operate and undertake experiments on several sites at regional or sub-regional level[4]. Individual sites could be e.g. farms, forest stands, urban green or industrial areas, enterprises and other entities, where the work is carried-out and monitored under real-life conditions, regardless of the land size, tenure (land ownerships) or the type of economic activity.

Lighthouses, in contrast, are defined as “places for demonstration of solutions, training and communication that are exemplary in their performance in terms of soil health improvement”. They are individual, local sites (one farm, one forest exploitation, one industrial site, one urban city green area, etc.) that either can be part of a living lab or be situated outside a living lab.

According to the Mission Implementation Plan, living labs involve partners from different backgrounds, disciplines and/or sectors and are composed of 10 to 20 experimental sites. However, depending on the specific context (e.g. the land use(s), the soil health challenge(s) addressed), applicants can propose living labs with fewer experimental sites. By working together on themes of common interest, the various partners involved in a living lab will be able to replicate actions and solutions, compare results, exchange good practices, validate methodologies and benefit from cross-fertilisation within a local/regional setting.

More specifically, each of the funded projects should:

Set up four to five living labs (or more, as applicable to the land use(s) and purpose of the project) to work together on thematically related soil health challenges, addressing the same or several land use types. The living labs should be located in at least three different Member States and/or Associated Countries. Proposals should describe the rationale for cooperation across the various living labs and explain how the work undertaken will contribute to one or more of the Mission’s specific objectives[5]. Living labs on carbon farming are excluded from this topic as a dedicated topic for carbon farming living labs is opened in this work programme[6].
Establish, based on the projects’ goals and objectives, a detailed work plan with the activities to be undertaken in an interdisciplinary way, ensuring the co-design, co-development, and co-implementation of locally adapted solutions.
Carry out participatory and transdisciplinary research and innovation in living labs to seek practical solutions to problems/challenges identified, taking into account the relevant drivers and pressures. Moreover, activities should address challenges to the scaling up and the transferability of solutions. Proposed strategies and solutions should be adapted to the different environmental, socio-economic and cultural contexts in which the living labs are operating. Living labs working in the area of agriculture are expected to promote sustainable practices, applied across a range of farming systems and benefit both conventional and organic farming.
Identify sites that demonstrate high performance in terms of their actions and results on soil health improvement and that may be converted into lighthouses.
Establish for each living lab a baseline for the selected soil health challenge(s), in order to allow for an accurate assessment of the conditions and changes of soils in the different sites over time and for monitoring of progress towards the objectives of the respective living labs and the project overall. As appropriate, make use of the set of soil health indicators presented in the Soil Mission Implementation Plan. To this end, funded projects should work closely with the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) to contribute to their efforts on soil monitoring and the development of the European Union Soil Observatory (EUSO).
Monitor and carry out an assessment of the effects of the developed innovative practices or introduced solutions on soil health and related ecosystem services. This should include a demonstration of the viability (e.g. technical, economic) of the proposed solutions.
Propose strategies (e.g. financial, organisational) to ensure long-term sustainability and continuity of the living labs beyond the Horizon Europe funding, including the identification of possible business models and actions involving local authorities, business communities, SMEs, investors, entrepreneurs.
Document in an easy and accessible way the developed solutions in order to facilitate their uptake by land managers and transmit the acquired knowledge to relevant actors.
In line with the nature of living labs, proposals must implement the multi-actor approach. The list of stakeholders will vary depending on features specific to each living lab and can involve different types of actors such as researchers, land owners or land managers, industry (e.g. SMEs), public administrations, representatives of civil society (e.g. consumers, environmental NGOs). Care should be taken to describe the capabilities and roles of the different partners involved in the project, depending on their area of expertise. For example, while some partners may lead the conceptual work and coordinate the work within and across living labs, others may focus on carrying-out experiments, providing advice, testing and validating innovative solutions, or be involved in outreach activities.

To encourage and facilitate the involvement of different types of actors in the living labs, applicants are reminded of the different types of participation possible under Horizon Europe: This includes not only beneficiaries (or their affiliated entities) but also associated partners, third parties giving in-kind contributions, subcontractors and recipients of financial support to third parties.

Proposals may provide for financial support to third parties (FSTP) to implement one or more of the living lab activities described in this topic[7] further to calls or, if duly justified, without a call for proposals. Applicants are reminded to consult the standard conditions for “financial support to third parties” set out in Annex B of the General Annexes including those that apply to FSTP calls.

Proposals should include a dedicated task and appropriate resources to collaborate with other Living Lab projects funded under this topic as well as with projects funded under other Work Programme topics of the Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’ which are relevant to the chosen soil health challenge(s). In addition, proposals should seek for synergies with projects PREPSOIL[8], NATI00NS[9] and NBSSOIL[10]. Additionally, projects should cooperate and benefit from the services of a dedicated ‘Living Lab Support Structure’ to be established by the Specific Grant Agreement under this Work Programme [11].

Cooperation with relevant networks active at local level, such as EIP-AGRI operational groups, is encouraged in order to promote the involvement of key local stakeholders in living labs activities or in the dissemination of solutions. The projects should also build on other existing activities and ensure cooperation with relevant projects and partnerships, such as EIT Knowledge and Innovation Communities (EIT KICs) or the ‘European partnership on accelerating farming systems transition: Agroecology living labs and research infrastructures’, which will also support living labs.

Proposals should demonstrate a route towards open access, longevity, sustainability and interoperability of knowledge and outputs through close collaboration with the European Union Soil Observatory (EUSO).

[1] EU Mission Soil Deal for Europe Implementation Plan | European Commission (europa.eu)

[2] https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/new-push-european-democracy/long-term-vision-rural-areas_en

[3] International Agroecosystem Living Laboratories Working Group. Agroecosystem Living Laboratories: Executive Report. G20 – Meeting of Agricultural Chief Scientists (G20-MACS). 2019. Available online:

https://www.macs-g20.org/fileadmin/macs/Annual_Meetings/2019_Japan/ALL_Executive_Report.pdf (accessed on 30 June 2022)

[4] For the purpose of the topic the regional/sub regional level will not be defined in administrative terms (e.g. NUTS 2 or 3). Instead, applicants should describe the local context and the area in which the work of the living lab will be carried out.

[5] Reduce land degradation relating to desertification; no net soil sealing and increase the reuse of urban soils; reduce soil pollution and enhance restoration; prevent erosion; improve soil structure to enhance habitat quality for soil biota and crops; reduce the EU global footprint on soils; increase soil literacy in society.

[6] See topic HORIZON-MISS-2023-SOIL-01-09: Carbon farming in living labs

[7] To explore the full range of options including what type of costs and activities are eligible to be funded under Horizon Europe, applicants should refer to the AGA – Annotated Model Grant Agreement https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/common/guidance/aga_en.pdf

[8] https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/how-to-participate/org-details/999999999/project/101070045/program/43108390/details

[9] Funding & tenders (europa.eu)

[10] Funding & tenders (europa.eu)

[11] Other Actions not subject to calls for proposals: SGA: Specific Grant Agreement for a Living Lab Support Structure

Mission: Soil health and food (2023/24)
Life on earth depends on healthy soils. Healthy soils provide food, clean water, habitats for biodiversity and other important services while contributing to climate resilience[[ In line with the Mission’s implementation plan, soil health is defined as “the continued capacity of soils to support ecosystem services”.]]. We take these services for granted, but in fact, soils are a scarce and a threatened resource, all over Europe and beyond. It is estimated that 60-70% of soils in the EU are unhealthy, mainly because of unsustainable management practices. The effects of climate change are putting further pressure on this key resource. The Mission will support Europe’s path to sustainable soil management as part of the wider green transition, in urban as well as rural areas. The Mission’s goal is to establish 100 living labs and lighthouses to lead the transition towards healthy soils by 2030 for the benefit of food, people, nature and climate.

To reach its goal and objectives, the Mission foresees actions across territories and sectors. It aims at having wide-reaching impact on practices in agriculture, forestry, the food sector and other industries (e.g. biobased and waste) as well as on land use planning in rural and urban areas. The Mission will also tap into the expertise from international partners and contribute to soil health globally.

To be successful, the Mission requires that stakeholders along the whole agri-food chain, including farmers, other land managers, industries, consumers, public authorities, research and civil society at large, acknowledge the value of soils and actively contribute to soil-friendly practices, including through consumer choices.

Many of the actions to address soil health have a direct impact on some of the goals of the other Missions: carbon sequestration and storage in soils supports climate change mitigation and adaptation and soil structure influences water-retention capacity (Climate Adaptation Mission); targeted nutrient management will lead to improvements in water quality (Ocean and Waters Mission); soils are the foundation of green urban infrastructure and nature-based solutions, e.g. for urban flood protection (Climate-neutral Cities Mission); a reduction in soil pollution reduces the risk of cancer (Cancer Mission).

The Mission implementation plan specifies the goal and objectives as well as the mode for implementation of the Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe: 100 living labs and lighthouses to lead the transition towards healthy soils by 2030’[[ https://ec.europa.eu/info/publications/implementation-plans-eu-missions_en%5D%5D. Proposals for topics under Work Programme 2023 of this Mission will be part of a wider portfolio of Mission activities. They will contribute to the Mission’s goal and objectives, and more specifically to several of the following impacts:

Increased knowledge on soils and the underlying soil processes is widely available to a range of stakeholders and the wider public, and is used to further inform science, practices and policies to reduce pressures on soils.
Land managers[[ The term “land manager” includes farmers, foresters, urban and spatial planners and other decision-makers in the public or private domain with regard to land use and rural areas.]], industries, consumers and society at large work together, in particular through Living Labs, to take effective action on soil health across sectors and land uses.
A wide range of innovations – adapted to local conditions – are in place to address the manifold pressures on soils and improve soil conditions, thus contributing to the specific objectives of the Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’.
“Soil literacy”, awareness and societal engagement, and appreciation of the vital functions of soils is increased, including awareness on the links between healthy soils, nutritious and safe food and a healthy environment.
More sustainable methods for soil management are applied and contribute to healthy oceans and climate adaptation on land.
The successful implementation of the Mission supports several EU policy and international commitments ranging from land degradation neutrality, food and nutrition security to biodiversity (e.g. Sustainable Development Goals, United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, United Nations Convention on Biodiversity, European Green Deal including the New Soil Strategy or the Long-term Vision for the EU’s rural areas and the Common Agricultural Policy).
Under the envisioned 2024 call of the Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’, the Commission at this stage, plans to fund amongst others (on a provisional basis and subject to all relevant input and discretion) actions in the areas of: soil decontamination, biodiversity, citizen engagement, citizen science and the promotion of skills for sustainable land and soil management.

Projects under the 2023 call are expected to liaise closely with the Mission Secretariat and actively contribute to the development of the European Soil Observatory (EUSO), hosted by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC). To this end, several topics provide the opportunity to establish formal collaborations with the JRC. Proposals are also encouraged to build on existing research results and best practices (for instance from the EJP Soil projects).

Specific requirements for multi-actor projects:

Proposals submitted for topics requesting to follow the multi-actor approach should meet all requirements listed below.

The multi-actor approach described here, which is a form of responsible research and innovation, aims to make the research and innovation process and its outcomes more reliable, demand-driven, shared and relevant to society. A multi-actor project ensures the genuine and sufficient involvement of a targeted array of actors, which serves the objectives of the topic. For instance, actors could include but not be limited to: researchers, farmers, foresters and representatives of their professional associations, advisors, land managers and owners, spatial planners, food and bioeconomy businesses, consumer associations, local communities, educators, cultural and creative industries, citizens, civil society organisations including NGOs, and government representatives. The choice of the key actors participating in projects will depend on the objectives of the call topic and the proposals. The actors are essentially the (end-) users[[ An“(end-) user” of project result is a person who is him/herself putting the project results into practice.]] of the project results backed up by any other useful intermediaries and actors who can contribute with further expertise and innovative ideas relevant to the topic’s objectives and support communication and dissemination. The genuine and sufficient involvement of different actors should take place over the whole course of the project: from participation in development, planning and experiments to implementation, dissemination of results and a possible demonstration phase. Building blocks for the project proposal are expected to come from science as well as from practice: it is a ‘co-creation’ process. (End-) users and practitioners are to be involved, not as a study-object, but to use their practical and local knowledge and/or entrepreneurial skills to develop solutions and create ‘co-ownership’ of results for (end-) users and practitioners. This will contribute and speed up the acceptance and up-take of new ideas, approaches, and solutions developed in the project. Therefore, a multi-actor project proposal must describe:

How the proposed objectives and planning are targeting the needs/problems/challenges and opportunities of the (end-)users of the project results.
How the description of the project concept and in particular the composition of the consortium reflects a balanced choice of relevant key actors who have complementary types of knowledge (scientific, practical etc.), and will ensure a broad implementation of project results which should be ready for practice.
How the project intends to include existing practices and tacit knowledge. This should be illustrated in the proposals with a sufficient number of high-quality knowledge exchange activities indicating the precise and active roles of the different non-scientific actors in the work. The cross-fertilisation of skills, competencies and ideas between actors should generate innovative findings and solutions that are more likely to be applied on a broad scale.
How the project will facilitate the multi-actor engagement process by making use of the most appropriate methods and expertise.
How the project will result in practical and ready to use knowledge, approaches, tools or products, that are easily understandable and freely accessible.
How outputs ready for practice will feed into the existing dissemination channels most consulted by the (end-) users of the project results in the countries and regions.
In addition, to ensure EU-wide communication in all areas related to the European Innovation Partnership ‘Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability’ (EIP-AGRI)[[ see https://ec.europa.eu/eip/agriculture/en%5D%5D and the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) specific objectives[[ For areas covered by the CAP specific objectives see Article 6 of the Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 2 December 2021 establishing rules on support for strategic plans to be drawn up by Member States under the common agricultural policy (CAP Strategic Plans) and financed by the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and repealing Regulations (EU) No 1305/2013 and (EU) No 1307/2013: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=uriserv:OJ.L_.2021.435.01.0001.01.ENG%5D%5D, in particular agriculture, forestry and rural development, this knowledge must also be summarised in an appropriate number of ‘practice abstracts’[[ see https://ec.europa.eu/eip/agriculture/en/eip-agri-common-format%5D%5D in the common EIP-AGRI format[[ The EIP common format for “practice abstracts” is available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eip/agriculture/en/eip-agri-common-format%5D%5D.

For areas falling outside the EIP-AGRI[[ see https://ec.europa.eu/eip/agriculture/en%5D%5D and CAP specific objectives remit, other similarly effective solutions ensuring dissemination at EU level should be sought.

Where applicable, involvement of interactive innovation groups, such as EIP-AGRI Operational Groups funded under Rural Development Programmes[[ see https://ec.europa.eu/eip/agriculture/en/about/operational-groups%5D%5D, is strongly recommended.

Topic conditions and documents
General conditions
1. Admissibility conditions: described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes

Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System

2. Eligible countries: described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes

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. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.

3. Other eligibility conditions: described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes

The following additional eligibility criteria apply: Proposals must apply the multi-actor approach. See definition of the multi-actor approach in the introduction to this Mission.

4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion: described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes

5. Evaluation and award:

Award criteria, scoring and thresholds are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes

Submission and evaluation processes are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual

Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement: described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes

6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants: described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes

Beneficiaries may provide financial support to third parties. The support to third parties can only be provided in the form of grants (further to calls or, if duly justified, without a call for proposals). The maximum amount to be granted to each third party is EUR 200 000, to allow for the active participation of appropriate stakeholders, including farmers, businesses or civil society in living labs and achieve the objectives of the actions described under the scope.

Specific conditions
7. Specific conditions: described in the specific topic of the Work Programme

Documents
Call documents:

Standard application form — call-specific application form is available in the Submission System

Standard application form (HE RIA, IA)

Standard evaluation form — will be used with the necessary adaptations

Standard evaluation form (HE RIA, IA)

MGA

HE General MGA v1.0

Call-specific instructions

Information on financial support to third parties (HE)

Additional documents:
HE Main Work Programme 2023–2024 – 1. General Introduction

HE Main Work Programme 2023–2024 – 12. Missions

HE Main Work Programme 2023–2024 – 13. General Annexes

HE Programme Guide

HE Framework Programme and Rules for Participation Regulation 2021/695

HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764

EU Financial Regulation

Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment

EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement

Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual

Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions

Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement

– Funding call web: http://alturl.com/mh2gr
– Standard application form: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/horizon/temp-form/af/af_he-ria-ia_en.pdf
– Evaluation form: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/horizon/temp-form/ef/ef_he-ria-ia_en.pdf
– General Model Grant Agreement EIC Accelerator Contract: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/common/agr-contr/general-mga_horizon-euratom_en.pdf