• Posted 18-Oct-2021

591 proposals submitted for the 2021 calls on food, bioeconomy, natural resources, agriculture and environment

Applicants to the seven calls have requested over three times more the total budget available. Evaluations already started and the successful projects will be communicated before March 2022.

In response to the seven HORIZON-CL6-2021calls for proposals, applicants submitted 591 proposals by the call deadline of 6 October. The available indicative budget for the seven calls is €959 million.

These are the submission figures per call:

Biodiversity and ecosystem services	€ 194 million	€ 443,4 million	71
Fair, healthy and environmentally friendly food systems, from primary production to consumption	€ 186 million	€ 1.052,8 million	167
Circular economy and bio-economy sectors	€ 126,5 million	€ 664,5 million	99
Clean environment and zero pollution	€ 65 million	€ 252,8 million	64
Land, ocean and water for climate action	€ 108 million	€321,6 million	54
Resilient, inclusive, healthy and green rural, coastal and urban communities	€ 53 million	€ 255,9 million	44
Innovative governance, environmental observations and digital solutions in support of the Green Deal	€ 223 million	€ 390,1 million	92
TOTAL	€ 959 million	€ 3.38 billion	591

*Round figures

Applicants come from 27 EU countries and from 74 third countries.

They were asked to explain how their research could contribute to tackling the big EU challenges in the domains of healthy food, biodiversity restoration, forest protection, water management and clean environment, to name just a few.

The funded research projects should foster a just and sustainable societal transition by providing concrete innovative solutions for a greener Europe and a healthier planet for all.

Organic farming, circular economy and earth observation are some of the areas the EU wish to strengthen with this funded research.

Next steps

The evaluation of the eligible proposals starts on the 20th of October with the support of external independent evaluators drawn from the European Commission database of experts.

REA expects to inform applicants of the results of their application before March 2022. The funded projects should start their research as of July 2022.

Horizon Europe’s Cluster 6: Food, bioeconomy, natural resources, agriculture and environment

Until 2027, and with a total budget of €7.4 billion, the European Commission will launch yearly calls to fund research and innovation projects in the areas covered by Cluster 6 Food, bioeconomy, natural resources, agriculture and environment.

The funded projects should help the EU deliver on its climate action goals set out under the European Green Deal.

The next calls for proposal opens on 28 October. Info Dayswill take place on 25-27 October. Applicants will learn how to prepare a quality project proposal to apply for EU funding. Registration is now open.

Source: European Commission I European Research Executive Agency (https://bit.ly/3vuOOQs)