Thematic Networks to Compile and Share Knowledge Ready for Practice

Deadline: 06-Oct-21

European Commission is calling for proposals for Thematic Networks to Compile and Share Knowledge Ready for Practice Programme.

Scope

Proposals should address the following activities:

• Summarise, share and present – in a language that is easy to understand and is targeted to farmers and foresters – the existing best practices and research findings that are ready to be put into practice, but not sufficiently known or used by practitioners. The specific themes of the networks can be chosen in a ‘bottom-up’ way on the condition that they tackle the most urgent farmers’ or foresters’ needs.
• Compile a comprehensive description of the state of current farming practices on the chosen theme to explain the added-value of the proposal and the relevance of the theme.
• Proposals shall focus on the cost/benefit aspects of the practices collected and summarised, and clarify how the project avoids duplication with ongoing or completed projects and networks.
• Deliver an extensive range of useful, applicable and appealing end-user material for farmers and foresters.
• This info should be easy to access and understand, making use of audio-visual material wherever possible, including also materials serving education and training;
• This range of material should feed into the existing dissemination channels most consulted by farmers and foresters in the countries.
• As many “practice abstracts” in the common European innovation partnership “Agricultural productivity and sustainability” (EIP-AGRI) format as possible, as well as other type of materials should be provided to the EIP-AGRI, as well as to national / regional / local AKIS channels and to the EU-wide interactive knowledge reservoir (HORIZON-CL6-2021-GOVERNANCE-01-22), all in the requested formats;
• Besides giving the details on the EIP-AGRI Operational Groups which are strongly recommended to be involved, wherever possible and relevant to the chosen theme, provide also details on how further synergies will be built with future EIP-AGRI Operational Groups and interactive innovation groups operating in the context of the EIP-AGRI.
• Proposals must implement the ‘multi-actor approach’, with a consortium based on a balanced mix of actors with complementary knowledge clearly activating farmers/foresters, farmers’ groups and advisors; and run for minimum 3 years.

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

Project results are expected to contribute to the following outcomes:

• The cross-cutting objective of modernising the sector by fostering and sharing of knowledge, innovation and digitalisation in agriculture and rural areas, and encouraging their uptake, as well as European Green Deal and Farm to Fork objectives;
• The collection and distribution of easily accessible practice-oriented knowledge on the thematic area chosen, in particular the existing best practices and research findings that are ready to be put into practice, but not sufficiently known or used by practitioners.
• Conserve practical knowledge for the long term – beyond the project period – in particular by using the main trusted dissemination channels that farmers/foresters consult most often.
• Increase the flow of practical information between farmers/foresters in the EU in a geographically balanced way, creating spill-overs and taking account of the differences between territories. In order to better reach and capture knowledge from the targeted farmers/foresters, the networks may organise ‘cross-fertilisation’ through sub-networks covering, for example, a region, a language or a production system;
• Achieve greater user acceptance of collected solutions and a more intensive dissemination of existing knowledge, by connecting actors, policies, projects and instruments to speed up innovation and promote the faster and wider co-creation and transposition of innovative solutions into practice.

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/3dKhL35