Additional activities for the European partnership on accelerating farming systems transition - agroecology living labs and research infrastructures

Expected Outcome:

The successful proposal is expected to further contribute to the expected outcomes specified in topic HORIZON-CL6-2023-FARM2FORK-01-1: European partnership for accelerating farming systems transition - agroecology living labs and research infrastructures, for continuation of the activities in line with already agreed outcomes.

Scope:

The objective of this action is to continue to provide support to the European partnership for accelerating farming systems transition - agroecology living labs and research infrastructures identified in the Horizon Europe Strategic Plan 2021-2024 and first implemented under the topic HORIZON-CL6-2023-FARM2FORK-01-1: European partnership for accelerating farming systems transition - agroecology living labs and research infrastructures, and in particular to fund additional activities (which may also be undertaken by additional partners) in view of its intended scope and duration, and in accordance with Article 24(2) of the Horizon Europe Regulation.

The consortium which applied to and received funding under HORIZON-CL6-2023-FARM2FORK-01-1: European partnership for accelerating farming systems transition - agroecology living labs and research infrastructures, is uniquely placed to submit a proposal to continue the partnership. Not only did this consortium submit the proposal leading to the identification of the partnership in the Horizon Europe strategic planning 2021-2024, it has also been implementing the partnership through two co-funded calls launched in year 2024 and several internal activities based on this planning and further to topic HORIZON-CL6-2023-FARM2FORK-01-1. In this context, the current consortium has particular expertise in relation to the objectives of the partnership, the activities to be implemented in particular financial support to third parties and internal activities clearly required/envisioned pursuant to initial proposal/partnership. In practice, another consortium could not continue the activities of the partnership underway without significant disruption to the ongoing activities, if at all.

The proposal submitted to this call should align with the partnership’s co-created strategic research and innovation agenda. Activities should reflect a balanced proportion of financial support to third parties and of internal activities, including calls for research projects, setting-up an EU-wide network of agroecology living labs and research infrastructures, development of indicators, metrics, and tools to monitor the agroecology transition and sustainability performance, and supporting evidence-based policy-making at EU, national and regional level. Through its activities, the partnership should deliver and support the upscaling of concrete, ready-to-use tools, solutions and innovations for farmers in different pedo-climatic conditions and contexts, and ensure a wide-spread uptake of partnership’s results by farmers and by all relevant stakeholders. These aspects should be reflected in the successive updates of the partnership’s strategic research and innovation agenda.

The partnership should pool the necessary financial resources from the participating national (or regional) research programmes with a view to organising and implementing joint calls for transnational proposals resulting in grants to third parties, for which it should factor ample time to run the co-funded projects.

The partnership should seek to include additional partners, including from Member States and Associated countries not yet in the consortium funded under HORIZON-CL6-2023-FARM2FORK-01-1. Through its activities, and by remaining open to accepting new partners, the partnership should devote efforts to promote agroecological farming also in countries where there is still limited understanding and uptake of the concept. Likewise, in setting up and building an EU-wide network of agroecology living labs, the partnership should ensure a balanced representation of pedo-climatic conditions and bio-geographical regions, with a view to cover a wide range of farming systems that are representative of the European agricultural sector. The partnership should cover issues pertaining to the agroecology transition in all agricultural production systems and approaches, including but not limited to conventional and organic farming. This will among others contribute to supporting the development of the organic farming sector and increasing its sustainability, as well as to ensuring a widespread adoption of agroecological practices across sectors across Europe.

Specific activities to strengthen the complementarities of the European partnership for accelerating farming systems transition - agroecology living labs and research infrastructures, with the related Horizon Europe Missions and Partnerships, identified in the proposal submitted by the coordinator of the consortium funded under HORIZON-CL6-2023-FARM2FORK-01-1, as well as activities to enhance the partnership’s collaborations at international level, should also be described.

While the award of a grant to continue the partnership in accordance with this call should be based on a proposal submitted by the coordinator of the consortium funded under HORIZON-CL6-2023-FARM2FORK-01-1 and the additional activities (which may include additional partners) to be funded by the grant should be subject to an evaluation, this evaluation should take into account the existing context and the scope of the initial evaluation as relevant, and related obligations enshrined in the grant agreement.

Taking into account that the present action is a continuation of topic HORIZON-CL6-2023-FARM2FORK-01-1 and foresees an amendment to an existing grant agreement, the proposal should also present in a separate document the additional activities and any additional partners, to be covered by the award in terms of how they would be reflected in the grant agreement.