Deadline: 15-Mar-22
The Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Areas (PRIMA) has announced an open call for the 2022 Farming systems Programme to develop integrated soil data for the Mediterranean Region: a gateway for sustainable soil management.
The main objective of this call is to derive a set of soil quality indicators (chemical, physical and biological), methods, measurements that need to be validated and harmonised to enhance the quantity, quality and availability of soil data and information in the Mediterranean for the sustainable management and protection of soil resources.
This general goal should consider the specificities of Mediterranean environmental conditions where the limited rainfall regime and low green ground cover result in a high risk for soil degradation, salinization and desertification.
When relevant, applicants should take advantage of the methodologies and tools developed by other EU H2020 Projects. The outcomes from the projects selected out of this call will contribute to and will contribute to the JRC Atlas Soil Atlas of the Mediterranean Region.
To enhance the activities, it is still needed to identify national and, in particular non-EU research infrastructures, potential and existing certified living labs in each country to better engage with the soil end-users and citizens as a whole. Attention should be paid to the sustainability of the action in the long term, mainly referring to the availability of soil data.
Funding Information
Totoal indicative amount allocated to this call: EUR 8.2 million
Expected Impacts
In the long term:
- Assessing the potential positive effects on the agro-ecosystem water, carbon and nutrients cycle of appropriate soil management practices through a validated and harmonised set of indicators (biological, chemical, physical).
- Enabling Improved predictions for the potential role of Mediterranean soils for soil carbon sequestration and how external disturbances can affect this potential.
- Enabling the assessment of the potential positive effects on the agro-ecosystem water, carbon and nutrients cycle of appropriate soil management practices;
- Mitigating the advance in desertification through improved soil information systems able to alert on the current risks for soil degradation.
Eligibility Criteria
- Legal entities established in the following countries and territories are eligible to receive funding through PRIMA grants:
- The PRIMA Participating States: The following Member States (MS) of the European Union (EU): Croatia, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Spain, Slovenia. It includes the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT) linked to these Member States: The following Third Countries associated to Horizon 2020 (AC): Israel, Tunisia, and Turkey.
- The following Third Countries not associated with Horizon 2020 (TC), having concluded international agreements for scientific and technological cooperation setting out the terms and conditions of their participation in PRIMA: Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Morocco.
- These Associated Countries (AC) and Third Countries (TC) are the Mediterranean Partner Countries (MPC).
- In addition, the following entities are eligible to receive funding through PRIMA grants:
- Any legal entity created under the European Union law.
- Any international European interest organisation. For these two types of entities, their place of establishment is not relevant for eligibility for funding.
- Any international organisation (IO) OR any legal entity established in countries as PS may be eligible for funding provided that at least one of the following conditions is fulfilled:
- participation is deemed to be essential for carrying out the action;
- such funding is provided under a bilateral scientific and technological agreement or any other arrangement between the Union and the international organisation or, for entities established in a country which is not a Participating State, the country in which the legal entity is established.
For more information, visit https://prima-med.org/submit-your-project/thematic-area-2-farming-systems-2022/