Deadline: 06-Oct-21
European Commission is calling for proposals for Assessing and Consolidating Recent Scientific Advances on Freshwater Ecosystem Restoration.
Scope
- Freshwater ecosystems are degraded due to barriers and other morphological changes, loss of wetlands and floodplains, over abstraction of surface and ground waters, land management that reduces infiltration and generates pollution in land and seas.
- In responding to the climate and biodiversity crises and acknowledging that healthy water ecosystems are essential for climate adaptation there is an opportunity to determine how to prioritise and deliver aquatic and terrestrial ecosystem restoration at scale throughout Europe, both in rural and urban areas.
- There is a need to build on recent research from disparate research communities and approaches like the mapping and assessment of ecosystem services to identify how restoration can deliver on multiple objectives (ecosystem services, biodiversity protection, sediment management, climate adaptation, mitigation) and deliver value for citizens.
- The objective of this topic is to determine how to implement the restoration of freshwater ecosystems and remove hydromorphological barriers to ensure sustainable environmental flows and to support achievement of good status in surface and ground waters, long-term water resource management, biodiversity and climate resilience.
Funding Information
Grant amount is equal to or greater than EUR 500 000 except for:
- public bodies (entities established as a public body under national law, including local, regional or national authorities) or international organisations; and
- cases where the individual requested grant amount is not more than EUR 60 000 (lowvalue grant).
Expected Outcomes
- In support of the implementation of the Green Deal and the biodiversity strategy, a successful proposal will improve the knowledge to restore ecosystems and halt biodiversity loss, in particular Destination ‘Biodiversity and ecosystem services’ impact “Biodiversity in Europe is back on a path of recovery by 2030; ecosystems and their services are preserved and sustainably restored on land, in inland water and at sea through improved knowledge and innovation
- The project will contribute to all of the following expected outcomes
- Support public authorities and other organisations engaged in ecosystem restoration to implement and prioritise innovative restoration approaches.
- Increase evidence of the potential of innovative restoration approaches to halt biodiversity loss and contribute to carbon storage in sediments and soils.
- Build the foundations for large scale restoration projects and related investments.
Eligibility Criteria
- Any legal entity, regardless of its place of establishment, including legal entities from non-associated third countries or international organisations (including international European research organisations) is eligible to participate (whether it is eligible for funding or not), provided that the conditions laid down in the Horizon Europe Regulation have been met, along with any other conditions laid down in the specific call topic.
- A ‘legal entity’ means any natural or legal person created and recognised as such under national law, EU law or international law, which has legal personality and which may, acting in its own name, exercise rights and be subject to obligations, or an entity without legal personality.
- To be eligible for funding, applicants must be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e:
- the Member States of the European Union, including their outermost regions;
- the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) linked to the Member States;
- eligible non-EU countries:
- countries associated to Horizon Europe
- low- and middle-income countries
For more information, visit https://bit.ly/3AIx1aG