Deadline: 23-Nov-22
The European Commission (EC) is pleased to announce a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) to expand the knowledge on Nature-based Solutions (NBS) and their ability to enhance infrastructure resilience in cities and urban areas against natural and man-made hazards. Thus complementing other traditional security measures.
NBS can offer the tools to address the potential to improve risk management and resilience using approaches that can provide greater benefit than conventional tools at the same time, like for example heat waves and wildfires, or storms and floods. The detailed understanding of ecosystems and how nature responds to different external shocks can help to strengthen existing strategies for urban resilience and deliver new approaches in protection, for example by integrating natural components in the different infrastructure assets.
Proposals should include a strong involvement of citizens/civil society, together with academia/research, industry/SMEs and government/public authorities. The testing and/or piloting of the tools and solutions developed in a real setting with one or more local authorities and/or other relevant authorities is an asset; regardless, actions should foresee how they will facilitate the uptake, replication across setting and up-scaling of the capabilities – i.e. solutions, tools, processes et al. – to be developed by the project.
Funding Information
The check will normally be done for the coordinator if the requested 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
Projects are expected to contribute to some or all of the following expected outcomes:
- Integrated Nature-based solutions (NBS) into overall concepts for the protection of infrastructures and existing integrated risk management plans for cities and urban areas with a view of complementing existing methods for protection and resilience
- Adaptation and mitigation strategies for infrastructure protection applied by local authorities and operators, including lessons learned from studying reactions of natural eco-systems to different external shocks
- Resilience of local infrastructures enhanced by integrating local knowledge from population and historical documents, as well as natural components in their physical assets preventing potential damages from different types of hazards, including storms, floods and heatwaves.
- Novel construction materials and solutions resulting in more durable and damage resistant infrastructure
- Full potential of Nature-based Solutions exploited by local authorities and operators to mitigate the risks related to multiple hazards manifesting at the same time, while also taking into account social empowerment and environmental co-benefits like leisure, clean air, and immunity and response to cyberattacks etc.
Eligibility Criteria
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;
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eligible non-EU countries:
- countries associated to Horizon Europe;
- low- and middle-income countries.
For more information, visit European Commission.
For more information, visit https://bit.ly/3y4IRvc