ExpectedOutcome:
Projects results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:
- Regions and communities have undertaken action transforming into tangible projects their roadmaps designed with the aim of fostering a systemic approach to climate resilience towards the different and multi-risks locally identified as relevant, with particular emphasis on the development of nature-based solutions, biodiversity and climate mitigation synergies, and ecosystem restoration.
- Regions and communities have taken the leadership and have been involved in development and testing of solutions that can transform the agriculture and the forestry sectors, making them more resilient to foreseen climate change, while making progress in the sustainable transformation required implementing the European Green Deal.
- Solutions contribute to the implementation at the local level of the Common Agriculture Policy and the related National Strategic Plans, and they are well in line with the foreseen measures for drought management and the river basin management plans where those are in place.
- Developed solutions are close to nature, are at least neutral or support biodiversity, improve or at least do not harm water quality and availability (retentiveness in the landscape), making the agriculture/forestry sector and nature at large more resilient to climate change and supporting implementation of the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030.
- Solutions making the agriculture and/or forestry business models more resilient to long term effects of climate change have been developed, tested and brought closer to the market.
- Potential economic, social and environmental losses caused by extreme weather events to the agricultural, forestry and other related sectors, are reduced, making them more resilient through better preparation.
- Accompanying measures for enabling conditions, that would boost the outcomes, such as support instruments for environmental services, the use of digital monitoring, access to relevant data and knowledge, facilitation of financing and mobilisation or resources, are piloted.
- Agriculture and other related businesses, in particular those affering to the food-water nexus, are better prepared to cope with the changing climate, also through climate adaptation targeted education, up- and re-skilling programmes.
- Available or emerging climate-resilient solutions particularly relevant for small farms, organic farms or farms in conversion or any type of farms looking for alternative to intensive agriculture are also made known and available to the regions and communities, contributing to the implementation of the Farm to Fork Strategy.
Scope:
This topic relates to the Mission’s objectives to mobilise at least 150 regions in testing the solutions locally most needed to build climate resilience and to deliver at least 75 deep demonstrations of systemic transformations to climate resilience.
The proposal should develop and test at least one innovative solution, combining technological, social and business innovation, leading to an increase of the resilience and adaptation capacity to climate change in the involved regions and communities of the agriculture sector and the related value chains. Nature based solutions[1] and the restoration of cropland and grassland should be explored as priority and at the very heart of the development whenever possible.
The proposed solution should address at least some of the following aspects:
- Improving resilience of the agriculture and /or forestry sector, improving the capacity of the sector to withstand dry periods and extreme droughts while protecting the ecological flows, preserving biodiversity in and around the catchment channels, preserving longitudinal connectivity of the flowing streams, slowing the falling level of the groundwater table and reversing the loss of biodiversity. This should include for example exploring value of culture rotation and other means to improve soil quality, improving soil structure by circular approaches, establishment and maintenance of landscape features (such as hedges reducing wind erosion), innovative silvo-pasture, management of genetic resources in an agro-ecological perspective and other agro-ecology approaches in farmland, in particular in relation to droughts and water multi-usage and management;
- Exploiting agro-ecology as an approach to enhance the climate resilience of the farming system, its functionality and sustainability, while bringing sustainable solutions and multiple benefits, such as more stable yields from adapted food crops, water efficiency, enhanced farmer livelihoods from income generation, increased biodiversity, improved water quality and water use efficiency, the ecological status of waters, improved soil structure and health, reduced erosion, and/or a higher level of carbon sequestration.
- Exploring integration of available smart farming approaches (and improvements of the same based on updated data) and the use of technologies such as the AI, remote sensing and the Internet of Things (IoT) to improve climate resilience through the modification and improvement of nutrient and crop protection processes, such as fertilization, pest control and irrigation, to ensure sufficient crop yields both in terms of quality and quantity, while also reducing emissions, water consumption and preserving biodiversity.
- Development of more natural ecosystems, generating combined benefits for climate mitigation, reduction of water flooding and soil erosion, (by increasing green infrastructures, tree planting, or increasing of permeable green surfaces) and maintaining or restoring rivers, peatland, wetland and natural floodplain.
- Further demonstrate and increase awareness of the value of maintaining and restoring existing natural systems, preservation of cultural landscapes and socio-ecological systems as providing a rich spectrum of climate services compared to other anthropogenic solutions, including integration of cultural heritage considerations as the legacy from the past, to be experienced in the present, and for transmitting to future generations. In line with the Mission Implementation Plan and the new EU Climate Adaptation Strategy, implementing nature-based solutions with adequate social and environmental standards on a larger scale would increase climate resilience. Blue-green (as opposed to grey) infrastructures represent multipurpose, “no regret” solutions, which simultaneously provide environmental, social and economic benefits and help build climate resilience, whose uptake can be facilitated by better quantification and communication of their benefits. Nature based Solutions (NBS) essential role for sustaining healthy water, oceans and soils was recognised, together with their potential to reduce costs, provide climate-resilient services, and improve compliance with Water Framework Directive requirement for good ecological status, if they were to play a bigger role in land-use management and infrastructure planning. The forthcoming Nature Restoration Law will also play an important role in requiring MS to plan restoration activities across a range of ecosystems.
As climate impacts, adaptive capacities and disaster risk reduction capabilities differ greatly across regions, the proposed development and innovation should address specific needs identified at regional and local scale (both at the rural, urban-rural interface and eventually in urban context) with tailor-made responses and measures, fully acknowledging place-based governance, socio-economic and identity characteristics and other place-based data.
In line with the Mission objective to build systemic climate resilience, the proposal should address the multi-risks locally identified, design and implement a systemic solution to reduce the identified vulnerabilities of the agriculture and/or forestry sector to climate change and to mitigate its negative potential impacts.
Under the Mission approach, collaborations to develop and test effective solutions between regions/local authorities/communities facing similar challenges are highly encouraged. To this purpose, the proposals must include at least 4 demonstrations taking place in different regions/local authorities/ communities, which should collaborate in addressing the common climate change challenges identified and in testing the most suitable solutions. These at least 4 demonstrations must be located in at least 3 different EU Member States and/ or Horizon Europe associated countries. Involvement in the proposal of regions eligible for Cohesion funds[2] to conduct at least one of the proposed demonstrations shall be regarded as a positive element.
The proposals should clearly identify the biogeographical area, for which the proposed solution is relevant and to which the proposal is focussed. Moreover, the proposal should explore possible reapplication to other regions, starting from those located in the same biogeographical areas.
To support a large impact, the proposed solutions should be widely re-applicable. To this purpose, identification and inclusion of at least three “replicating” regions/local authorities/communities, interested in reapplying the lessons learnt (totally, partially or with the required adjustments) in their territories is strongly encouraged; this could take the form of inclusion in the consortium of one or more partners providing support for the technical exchanges and the knowledge uptake in the “replicating” regions.
In addition to the local/regional authorities owning the climate challenge, the consortium may include other type of partners, such as private or public research organisations, enterprises and NGOs, to ensure that all needed capabilities are available to develop and implement real life actions.
Proposals should build (when relevant) upon previous developed or existing knowledge and adaptation solutions, designed and developed from previous projects, including from beyond the EU, addressing climate change adaptation and funded by European and national programmes, in particular the European Union Framework programmes for Research and Innovation (such as Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe under their different pillars and clusters), as well as the LIFE programme. Moreover, proposals should look into opportunities to scale up the solutions demonstrated and to foster their broad deployment across in Europe in particular through the LIFE programme and its integrated projects, and through the European Regional Development Fund programmes.
The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) and its Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs), with their experience in delivering holistic, transformative, citizen-driven and systemic adaptation solutions and innovations to specific global challenges, should contribute to this topic and the proposal should build on the activities of the EIT Climate-KIC or EIT Food.
Proposals should include a mechanism and the resources to establish operational links with the Climate-ADAPT platform (run by the European Environment Agency (EEA) together with DG CLIMA) that will act as a central element for the monitoring, support and visualisation of the Mission progress in European Regions. To this purpose, projects will feed their results to the Climate-ADAPT and EEA assessments.
Projects funded under this topic are strongly encouraged to participate in the Mission Community of Practice that will be established amongst the Mission Charter signatories and and in networking and joint activities with other projects funded under other topics in the Mission Climate Adaptation as well as in other relevant Missions and partnerships, as appropriate. These networking and joint activities could, for example, involve the participation in joint workshops, the exchange of knowledge, the development and adoption of best practices, or joint communication activities. To this extent, proposals should provide for dedicated activities and earmark appropriate resources. Beyond the Mission, the projects funded under this topic are also encouraged to exchange and identify cooperation opportunities with other projects funded under Horizon Europe, in particular those funded under Cluster 6, the Mission A Soil Deal for Europe and the future partnership on agro-ecology living labs.
The European Commission intends to establish a network and coordination activities amongst all the projects funded for the implementation of the Climate adaptation Mission, under the Horizon 2020 European Green Deal call and under Horizon Europe, and that will be coordinated by the soon to be established Mission Implementation Platform. The projects under this topic will be requested to contribute to this effort. Applicants should acknowledge this request and already account for these obligations in their proposal, making adequate provisions in terms of resources and budget to engage and collaborate with the Mission governance.
To ensure a balanced portfolio covering the different climate risks as identified in the Mission Implementation Plan and to maximize the footprint across all the different biogeographical areas[3], the best ranked proposals for each biogeographical area will be selected.
Specific Topic Conditions:
Activities are expected to achieve TRL 6 to 8 by the end of the project – see General Annex B
[1]The EU Commission defines nature-based solutions as “Solutions that are inspired and supported by nature, which are cost-effective, simultaneously provide environmental, social and economic benefits and help build resilience. Such solutions bring more, and more diverse, nature and natural features and processes into cities, landscapes and seascapes, through locally adapted, resource-efficient and systemic interventions.” Nature-based solutions must therefore benefit biodiversity and support the delivery of a range of ecosystem services.
[2]Territories eligible for Cohesion funds are defined under the Cohesion policy: https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/graph/poster2021/eu27.pdf?
[3]As defined by the Habitat Directive Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 and the related Nature2000 legislation and as indicated by the EEA: Biogeographical regions — European Environment Agency (europa.eu): Alpine, Atlantic, Black Sea, Boreal, Continental, Macaronesian, Mediterranean, Pannonian, Steppic
