Living labs driving transformative change via knowledge integration and inclusive governance

Type of action: HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions This destination will mostly support the EU Commission priority ‘Sustaining our quality of life: food security, water and nature’. The implementation of the EU Green Deal[1] will continue to guide R&I in this destination. R&I will develop knowledge and tools to support the implementation of the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030[2] and notably the EU Nature Restoration Regulation[3], including with the development of nature credits as proposed in the Nature Credits Roadmap[4]. This destination will also address the EU proposal for a Directive on soil monitoring and resilience[5], the EU proposal for a Regulation on a forest monitoring framework[6] and will inform deliberations on EU biodiversity policy after 2030, thus protecting our natural world. Nature-based Solutions are deep-rooted in this destination, which will support the EU climate adaptation strategy[7] and the EU climate mitigation targets by maintaining or improving natural carbon sinks, since natural ecosystems store large amounts of carbon globally and ecosystems’ carbon sequestration potential is tightly linked to their biological diversity. R&I should particularly assess the ecosystems ongoing ability to sequester carbon and, if necessary, focus more on ecosystems that reliably do so while also providing benefits to biodiversity. Actions will contribute to the European Ocean Pact[8], to the European Water Resilience Strategy[9] and to the EU legislative proposal on pollutants in EU waters[10] (update of chemical substances listed for control). R&I activities for sustainable farming, fishing and aquaculture will be supported in alignment with the Vision for Agriculture and Food[11], the Vision for Fisheries and Aquaculture towards 2040[12], as well as with the environmental objectives of the Common Agricultural Policy[13] and the EU Action Plan for the Development of Organic Production[14]. These efforts will enhance biodiversity and climate-resilient farming practices, ensuring the long-term competitiveness of these sectors within ecological boundaries, and foster innovation to drive sustainable food production. R&I actions under this destination will encourage international cooperation in line with the global approach on R&I, contributing to EU international biodiversity commitments, notably those taken under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF)[15], which defines targets for the medium term (2030) and goals for the long term (2050). This destination will also support the Paris Agreement[16], the Sustainable Development Goals[17] and the United Nations agreement on biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement)[18]. Support to processes of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)[19] will be continued. Complementarities and synergies will be ensured with the activities supported by the co-funded partnerships Biodiversa+[20], Water4All[21] and the co-funded partnership on Agroecology[22], and LIFE[23] projects, particularly on nature restoration and protection. The destination supports unlocking the unique assets for research and innovation of the EU outermost regions, in line with the EU strategy for outermost regions[24]. Expected impact: Proposals for topics under this destination should set out a credible pathway contributing to “putting biodiversity on a path to recovery, and protecting and restoring ecosystems and their services”, and more specifically to one or more of the following expected impacts: Knowledge on biodiversity status and trends and drivers of biodiversity loss is improved; Innovations, methods, pathways, models and tools are available and used to protect healthy and resilient ecosystems and to restore degraded ones, ensuring the continuous provision of ecosystem services, including for adaptation and/or mitigation to climate change; The ongoing biodiversity crisis and its consequences, notably on ecosystem functioning and their services, and the need to monitor, protect, restore and sustainably use biodiversity are better understood to better benefit the whole society in an inclusive way; Policymakers and stakeholders, all relevant economic sectors and society are aware and well informed of relevant challenges and opportunities of biodiversity protection, restoration and sustainable use, leading to better implementation of the biodiversity legislation and better valuation of ecosystem services, leading to transformative change towards a nature positive economy; Farmers, foresters, land and sea managers, fishers and aquaculture producers have access to key information, and test and implement biodiversity-friendly management practices, while safeguarding food and water security and fostering competitiveness, demonstrating the long-term sustainability of these sectors; Progress towards international commitments worldwide on biodiversity is made. [1] The European Green Deal - European Commission [2] Biodiversity strategy for 2030 - European Commission [3] Regulation - EU - 2024/1991 - EN - EUR-Lex [4] EUR-Lex - 52025DC0374 - EN - EUR-Lex [5] EUR-Lex - 52023PC0416 - EN - EUR-Lex [6] Proposal for a Regulation on a Forest Monitoring Framework - European Commission [7] EU Adaptation Strategy - European Commission [8] The European Ocean Pact - European Commission [9] Water resilience strategy - European Commission [10] EUR-Lex - 52022PC0540 - EN - EUR-Lex [11] Vision for Agriculture and Food - European Commission [12] EUR-Lex - 52025DC0075 - EN - EUR-Lex [13] Key policy objectives of the CAP 2023-27 - European Commission [14] Organic action plan - European Commission [15] Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework [16] The Paris Agreement | UNFCCC [17] THE 17 GOALS | Sustainable Development [18] BBNJ Agreement | Agreement on Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction [19] IPBES Home page | IPBES secretariat [20] Biodiversa + [21] Water Security for the Planet [22] Agroecology Partnership [23] LIFE - European Commission [24] COM(2022) Putting people first, securing sustainable and inclusive growth, unlocking the potential of the EU’s outermost regions ">General conditions 1. Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout 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 Eligible Conditions The following additional eligibility criteria apply: The proposals must apply the multi-actor approach. See definition of the multi-actor approach in this work programme part. described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. 4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes. 5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds To ensure a balanced portfolio, grants will be awarded to proposals not only in order of ranking but at least also to one proposal within the area A that is the highest ranked, and one proposal highest ranked within the area B, provided that the applications attain all thresholds. Proposals shall clearly indicate the area they are applying to. are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes. 5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual. 5c. Evaluation and award: 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 Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2021-2027) – and in actions under the Research and Training Programme of the European Atomic Energy Community (2021-2025) [[This decision is available on the Funding and Tenders Portal, in the reference documents section for Horizon Europe, under ‘Simplified costs decisions’ or through this link: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/horizon/guidance/ls-decision_he_en.pdf]]. described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes. Specific conditions described in the [specific topic of the Work Programme] Application and evaluation forms and model grant agreement (MGA): Application form templates — the application form specific to this call is available in the Submission System Standard application form (HE RIA, IA) Evaluation form templates — will be used with the necessary adaptations Standard evaluation form (HE RIA, IA)  Guidance HE Programme Guide  Model Grant Agreements (MGA) Lump Sum MGA  Call-specific instructions  Detailed budget table (HE LS)  Guidance: "Lump sums - what do I need to know?" Additional documents: HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 1. General Introduction HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 9. Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 15. General Annexes HE Programme Guide HE Framework Programme 2021/695 HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764 EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509 Decision authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme 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