Deadline: 23-Sep-2025
The European Commission (EC) has launched the Nature Governance and Information Programme.
Objectives
- Under this topic, projects shall lead to a smart and outcome-based implementation of the EU nature and biodiversity legislation. Projects should cover one or more of the following general objectives:
- Behavioural change and awareness-raising initiatives
- Compliance assurance, as well as public participation and access to justice (Aarhus Convention)
- In particular, behavioural change and awareness-raising initiatives should:
- promote awareness raising on nature and biodiversity conservation matters, including generating public and stakeholder support of Union policy-making; and/or
- support communication, management, and dissemination of information in the field of the nature and biodiversity conservation, and to facilitate knowledge sharing on successful solutions and practice, including by developing cooperation platforms among stakeholders and training; and/or
- promote better environmental governance in the field of nature and biodiversity conservation by broadening stakeholder involvement, including NGOs, in consultation on and implementation of policy.
- Priority is given to proposals improving awareness of the benefits of nature conservation, and in particular on the Natura 2000 network of protected sites established under the EU Birds and Habitats Directives. Proposals that focus on compliance assurance, as well as public participation and access to justice (Aarhus Convention), must support the implementation of the governance aspects of the EU nature and biodiversity legislation by:
- promoting effective public participation and access to justice in nature and biodiversity policy and legislation-related matters amongst the public, NGOs, lawyers, the judiciary, public administrations; and/or
- establishing new or, where in place, enhancing existing cross-border, national or regional networks of compliance assurance practitioners or experts; and/or
- establishing or, where in place, improving professional qualifications and training to improve public participation, access to justice and compliance with binding EU legal instruments on nature and biodiversity, through promoting, checking and enforcing compliance; and/or
- developing and implementing strategies and policies and/or developing and using innovative tools and actions to promote, monitor and enforce compliance with binding EU instruments on nature and biodiversity, including use of administrative law, criminal law and environmental liability; and/or
- improving relevant information systems operated by public authorities; and/or
- engaging with citizens and others to promote and monitor compliance, and ensure application of environmental liability in relation to EU nature and biodiversity legislation.
Funding Information
- The estimated available call budget is EUR 156 500 000.
- Topic budget: EUR 3 500 000
- Indicative range of project budgets: EUR 1-2 Mln
Duration
- Project duration: between 36 and 84 months indicatively.
Scope — Activities that can be funded
- Promoting good practices, supporting implementation, organising trainings, educational, academic programmes, etc. to ensure effective compliance assurance, as well as public participation and access to justice in nature and biodiversity policy and legislation-related matters amongst the public (including youth and future professionals), NGOs, lawyers, the judiciary, public administrations or other stakeholders with a view to improving knowledge, understanding and application of effective means of public participation and/or access to justice, with a particular focus on protecting nature and biodiversity via the nature, biodiversity, water and environmental liability instruments.
- With regard to professional qualifications and training, projects should ensure academic credentials (or certificates) and maximise the potential of information technology through means such as webinars and massive open online courses (MOOCs) to allow distance learning to reach as many practitioners as cost-effectively as possible. Promotion systems and techniques could involve the use of guidance, advisory services, awareness-raising campaigns, partnership agreements, or self-monitoring systems that assist duty-holders to comply with environmental obligations.
- Environmental compliance assurance practitioners can include those working for authorities and bodies with compliance assurance responsibilities such as local, regional, police and customs authorities, agencies and inspectorates, supreme public audit bodies, public prosecutors’ offices and the judiciary. They can also include nongovernmental organisations, and academics and researchers specialised in one or more aspects of environmental compliance assurance.
Expected Impact
- All LIFE proposals will have to report on their expected outputs and impacts taking into account the LIFE Project indicators (LPIs). These LPIs will contribute to evaluating the impact of the LIFE proposal on an environmental but also socio-economic level (e.g. via actions impacting the local economy and population). All the indicators measured should be coherent with the conservation or biodiversity problem addressed and the type of activities planned.
- Applicants should review relevant indicators in Part C of the eGrant application and complete them with the estimated impact of the project. Part C data should be coherent with the description of impacts of section 2 of Part B of the Application Form.
- In case Part C does not include impact indicators that are important for the specific project, applicants should make use of the indicator “Other project specific KPIs” in Part C and provide a relevant description of such indicators in section 2 of Part B of the Application Form.
Eligibility Criteria
- In order to be eligible, the applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must:
- be legal entities (public or private bodies)
- be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e.:
- EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories (OCTs))
- non-EU countries:
- listed EEA countries and countries associated to the LIFE Programme
- the coordinator must be established in an eligible country
For more information, visit EC.