Deadline: 06-Oct-21
The European Commission (EC) is pleased to announce a call for proposals for the International Research Consortium on (agricultural) soil carbon to pool resources and scale up efforts for monitoring soil carbon stock changes, remote sensing and modelling.
Activities should include:
- building a formal research cooperation between EU and international partners on soil carbon. While initially focusing on carbon in agricultural soils, the partnership should progressively expand during the lifetime of the project to address also other land uses (e.g. forests, pastures, public areas for recreation including in urban settings);
- an analysis of results of on-going R&I and knowledge sharing through a single online knowledge platform with access to information and data from different existing repositories;
- building a roadmap for R&I priorities at international level based on identified knowledge gaps as well as identifying and developing joint flagship initiatives;
- establishing the methodological basis for a harmonised monitoring and verification of soil organic carbon balance.
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
Activities should contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:
- establishment of an International Research Consortium (IRC) on soil carbon and related issues;
- creation of a knowledge platform for sharing information on relevant research activities and results concerning methodologies for soil carbon balance monitoring, and practices for increasing soil carbon (e.g. carbon farming);
- better coordination of research activities and of methods for monitoring soil carbon stock changes at global level, thereby maximising complementarities and avoiding duplication of efforts;
- validated methods to support national greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories;
- increased transparency with regard to progress towards commitments on soil carbon under the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
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;
- eligible non-EU countries:
- countries associated to Horizon Europe;
- low- and middle-income countries.
Legal entities which are established in countries not listed above will be eligible for funding if provided for in the specific call conditions, or if their participation is considered essential for implementing the action by the granting authority.
For more information, visit https://bit.ly/3hetDfY