Deadline: 06-Oct-21
Applications are now open for the Revitalization of European Local Communities with Innovative Bio-based Business Models and Social Innovation.
Scope
- The action advances the role and impact of bio-based innovation to accelerate the transition from a linear fossil-based economy, which leads to overuse and depletion of natural resources, into a resource-efficient and circular bio-based systems operating safely within planetary boundaries.
- Improved and informed governance and especially social innovation contributes to reducing resource consumption and results in an increased innovation capacity of all actors, while reducing the risk of leaving anyone behind, particularly in the areas and communities in need of revitalisation. This also helps to advance innovation at local scale and engage all actors (especially the ‘social enterprise’ model relevant for vulnerable populations).
- Proposals should benefit from social creativity and opportunities at regional scale unleashed for bio-based systems, ensuring their low environmental footprint, in terms of feedstock, resources, processes, materials and products.
- Impacts and trade-offs, such as the carbon footprint and environmental footprint of the whole value chains should be part of the assessment of the bio-based systems.
- The proposals should seek complementarities with related actions, under rural development programs on the governance of bio-based innovation and ensure inclusiveness and engagement of all actors.
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
Projects results are expected to contribute to all following expected outcomes:
- Higher awareness of stakeholders (e.g. by development of a programme that focuses on helping local stakeholders, including primary biomass producers, civil society organisations including NGOs and SMEs to be integrated in and benefit from bio-based value chains) – identifying local actors and improve communication between them, showing opportunities for collaboration along the bio-based value chain.
- Increased opportunities to develop skilled jobs and small-scale establishments in the bioeconomy, thus helping to revitalise local communities (by supporting the local and regional rural development, economic and implementing authorities, to raise awareness of bio-based options)
- Advancement of the role of ‘social enterprise’ model for local communities, including the low-income populations, benefiting from creativity linked to bio-based solutions and promoting inclusiveness and cooperation at all levels.
- Increased opportunities created by the local bio-based economy within broader bioeconomy transition, e.g. by linking valorisation of ecosystem/nature services’ (e.g. recreation) with sustainable biomass production, processing, product design and manufacture, circular use and upcycling to new applications.
- Supporting the development of for small businesses and for business-to-consumers communication of innovation, climate-neutrality and low environmental footprint/benefits/trade-offs and performances of bio-based products and services (e.g. by development of best practice guidelines);
- Supporting novel business models and related social measures to enable consumers, industry and public bodies to switch to socially and environmentally responsible behaviour within their choices (e.g. guidelines on regulatory measures, corporate responsibility initiatives, education); ensuring synergies, transparency and inclusiveness of all actors)
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/2Upw4U2