Core Objective: To explore and develop innovative options and tools to resolve land and sea use competition, focusing on sustainable biomass management within planetary and social boundaries, in line with the European Green Deal.
Target Recipient Type and Size: Primarily research institutions, universities, public bodies, and companies (including SMEs), typically participating in consortia. The Joint Research Centre (JRC) is encouraged to participate.
Designation: SECTOR-SPECIFIC (Bioeconomy, Agriculture, Environment, Land Use, Marine, Governance).
Geographic Scope and Location Requirements: Legal entities established in EU Member States and Horizon Europe Associated Countries.
Key Filtering Criteria: Focus on developing integrated assessment and deliberation tools for regional and national policy-making regarding land/sea and biomass uses, particularly those that build upon existing JRC tools and align with broader European Green Deal objectives.
Grant Frequency and Program Context: This is a single-stage call within the Horizon Europe Framework Programme, contributing to its 'Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness' pillar.
Financial Structure
FINANCIAL STRUCTURE
Funding Mechanism: The grant will take the form of a 'Lump Sum Grant' (HORIZON-AG-LS).
Grant Amount per Project: Each selected project will receive a maximum contribution of EUR 4,500,000.
Total Budget for Topic: The total indicative budget for this topic is EUR 9,000,000, with 2 grants expected to be awarded.
Eligible Costs (for lump sum calculation): The lump sum is determined based on estimated direct and indirect project costs, which typically include:
Personnel costs (employees, direct contract, seconded, SME owners).
Subcontracting costs.
Purchase costs (travel, subsistence, equipment, other goods/services).
Other cost categories (financial support to third parties, internally invoiced goods/services, research infrastructure access, etc.).
Indirect Costs: Indirect costs are calculated as a 25% flat rate of the eligible direct costs and are integrated into the overall lump sum.
Co-financing: Applicants must demonstrate that the total estimated costs of the action are greater than the estimated Union contributions, ensuring adherence to the co-financing principle.
Payment Schedule: Payments are released upon the successful completion of predefined work packages, as described in the grant agreement's Annex 1. Payments do not depend on the actual costs incurred, but on the proper implementation of the work packages.
Financial Guarantees: A contribution of between 5% and 8% of the total lump sum is retained for the Mutual Insurance Mechanism.
Financial Reporting: Lump sum grants simplify financial reporting as they do not require detailed cost reporting for reimbursement. Checks and audits focus on the technical implementation and achievement of work package conditions rather than detailed financial records.
Eligibility Requirements
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
Organization Types
Any legal entity, regardless of its place of establishment, is eligible to participate.
This includes, but is not limited to, universities, research organizations, public bodies, and companies (e.g., SMEs, large enterprises).
The Joint Research Centre (JRC) is specifically encouraged to participate as a member of the selected consortium.
Consortium Requirements
For Research and Innovation Actions (RIAs), the consortium must include:
At least one independent legal entity established in an EU Member State.
At least two other independent legal entities, each established in different EU Member States or Associated Countries.
Geographic Location
Organizations must be established in one of the EU Member States or Associated Countries to Horizon Europe.
EU Member States include: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden.
Associated Countries are defined in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes and may change.
Financial and Operational Capacity
Applicants must demonstrate sufficient financial and operational capacity to carry out the proposed activities. (Details in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes).
Legal and Ethical Compliance
Proposals must comply with all ethical principles and relevant Union, national, and international law.
Activities that are prohibited in any involved Member State will not be funded.
Excluded research fields include: human cloning for reproductive purposes; activities intended to modify the genetic heritage of human beings which could make such modifications heritable; activities intended to create human embryos solely for research or for stem cell procurement.
Projects must comply with applicable security rules, especially concerning classified information.
Application Process
APPLICATION PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Application Process
Submission is done electronically via the Funding & Tenders Portal's Electronic Submission Service.
The process is a single-stage submission.
Applicants will be able to create draft proposals from the submission session opening date.
Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement is described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes (not provided here).
Required Documentation and Materials
Proposals must follow specific page limits and layout as described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes, and Part B of the Application Form.
A specific application form for this call will be available in the Submission System.
Proposals should include an ethics self-assessment and, where appropriate, a security self-assessment.
Information for legal entity validation, LEAR (Legal Entity Appointed Representative) appointment, and financial capacity assessment is required.
Applicants will need to use specific templates for their detailed budget for lump sum calculations.
Supporting Materials and Guidance
Comprehensive guidance is available through:
The Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual (for submission and grant management).
The Horizon Europe Programme Guide (for overall programme details).
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) on the Funding & Tenders Portal.
The Research Enquiry Service for general questions about European research.
National Contact Points (NCPs) for practical information and assistance.
The Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) for business advice, especially for SMEs.
The IT Helpdesk for technical support with the portal.
The European IPR Helpdesk for intellectual property issues.
CEN-CENELEC Research Helpdesk and ETSI Research Helpdesk for standardisation guidance.
The European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for their recruitment.
A partner search tool on the portal to help find consortium members.
Evaluation Criteria
EVALUATION CRITERIA
General Award Criteria
Proposals will be evaluated based on the standard Horizon Europe criteria, which include:
Excellence: Assessing the quality of the proposed research, methodology, scientific approach, and interdisciplinary aspects.
Impact: Evaluating the potential for significant scientific, technological, societal, and economic impact, alignment with EU policies (e.g., Green Deal, SDGs), and effectiveness of dissemination and exploitation plans.
Quality and Efficiency of Implementation: Examining the soundness of the work plan, appropriateness of resources, project management structure, and capacity of the consortium.
Specific Outcome Expectations (Contributing to Impact)
Projects are expected to contribute to all of the following outcomes:
Identification of direct and indirect implications of current and future regional, national, and EU policies on land and sea use, and biomass use, relevant in more than one regional context.
Advancement of knowledge regarding existing and emerging trade-offs across environmental objectives (e.g., climate mitigation/adaptation, biodiversity protection/restoration) and between social and economic objectives in diverse regional ecological, economic, and societal contexts.
Further development of deliberation tools (e.g., software) to support better-informed policy- and decision-making processes at national and regional levels, comprehensively assessing European Green Deal related policy domains.
Project Scope and Activities (Key Scoring Factors)
Proposals should demonstrate capability to:
Develop tools (including methodologies and processes) for national and regional policy-makers for integrated bioeconomy land and sea assessments, focusing on minimizing 'land/sea footprint' and providing diverse biomass use solutions (considering feasibility, viability, and societal desirability).
Assess and develop integrated and coherent policy objectives for land and sea biomass use in national and regional contexts, incorporating inclusive approaches and diverse policy narratives.
Quantitatively represent different configurations of land and sea and biomass use within the deliberation tool (e.g., dietary needs, energy uses, bio-based products, carbon farming).
Demonstrate how the deliberation tool could be implemented across a network of regions with varying socio-economic and climate/ecological conditions in EU and associated countries, improving just and sustainable land/sea management, food security, and circular biomass uses.
Cross-Cutting Themes and Strategic Alignment
Proposals are encouraged to:
Integrate Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) disciplines.
Include dedicated tasks and resources for collaboration with other projects funded under this topic and relevant Horizon Europe initiatives (e.g., Mission 'A Soil Deal for Europe').
Seek synergies with other EU programmes and funding instruments.
Build on findings from the 'Global Resources Outlook 2024' by the International Resource Panel.
Consider the services offered by European research infrastructures.
Compliance & Special Requirements
COMPLIANCE AND SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS
Regulatory Compliance
Projects must adhere to all applicable EU, national, and international laws and regulations.
This includes compliance with financial and operational capacity requirements (as detailed in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes) and the legal and financial set-up of grants (Annex G).
Ethical and Security Standards
Strict compliance with ethical principles is mandatory; all proposals are screened for potential ethical issues and may undergo an ethics assessment.
Projects must adhere to security rules, particularly regarding the handling and protection of classified information, with security scrutiny procedures in place for relevant proposals.
Applicants must obtain all necessary approvals and authorizations from national/local ethics committees and data protection authorities before commencing relevant activities.
Data Protection and Intellectual Property
Requirements for data protection and privacy are in place.
Projects are expected to practice 'open science,' including providing open access to scientific publications and research data (following the 'as open as possible, as closed as necessary' principle).
Research data management should align with FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable).
Beneficiaries are required to protect, exploit, disseminate, and provide access to project results (including intellectual property rights) as appropriate.
Risk Management and Oversight
Financial interests of the Union are protected through measures against irregularities and fraud.
Audits and checks will primarily focus on the technical implementation of the action and the fulfillment of conditions for lump sum payments, rather than detailed financial cost reporting.
Unique Aspects and Strategic Alignment
Projects are strongly encouraged to collaborate with the Joint Research Centre (JRC) and build upon its existing tools, specifically the 'Integrated Bioeconomy Land Use Assessment' (IBLUA).
Proposals should include plans and resources for collaboration with other projects funded under this topic and other relevant Horizon Europe initiatives (e.g., Mission 'A Soil Deal for Europe').
Seeking synergies with other EU programmes and funding instruments is expected.
Projects should build on findings from the 'Global Resources Outlook 2024' by the International Resource Panel.
Consideration of the services offered by European research infrastructures is encouraged.
The grant employs a lump sum funding model, meaning payments are linked to the successful completion of work packages rather than detailed cost reporting.
Grant Details
bioeconomy
biomass
land use
sea use
competition
governance
policy tools
decision-making
regional context
environmental management
sustainability
circular bioeconomy
agriculture
forestry
marine biomass
ecosystem services
biodiversity
climate action
social impact
economic impact
research and innovation
software development
modelling
european green deal
horizon europe
lump sum
consortium
public policy
data management
sme
university
research organization
jrc
sdg13
sdg15
sdg14
sdg2
sdg7
sdg9
sdg11
sdg12
sdg17
Exploring options to resolve land and sea use competition
HORIZON-CL6-2025-03-GOVERNANCE-05
Horizon Europe
UNIVERSITY
NGO
PUBLIC
SME
ENTERPRISE
OTHER
AT
BE
BG
HR
CY
CZ
DK
EE
FI
FR
DE
GR
HU
IE
IT
LV
LT
LU
MT
NL
PL
PT
RO
SK
SI
ES
SE
Grants8