Call: Demonstration Projects - Climate Change Adaptation

The LIFE programme is the EU’s funding instrument for the environment and climate action. The general objective of LIFE is to contribute to the implementation, updating and development of EU environmental and climate policy and legislation by co-financing projects with European added value.

The LIFE Programme shall in particular have the following general objectives:

• to contribute to the shift towards a resource-efficient, lowcarbon and climate- resilient economy, to the protection and improvement of the quality of the environment and to halting and reversing biodiversity loss, including the support of the Natura 2000 network and tackling the degradation of ecosystems;
• to improve the development, implementation and enforcement of Union environmental and climate policy and legislation, and to act as a catalyst for, and promote, the integration and mainstreaming of environmental and climate objectives into other Union policies and public and private sector practice, including by increasing the public and private sector's capacity;
• to support better environmental and climate governance at all levels, including better involvement of civil society, NGOs and local actors;
• to support the implementation of the 7th Environment Action Programme.

• cross-border management of floods, fostering collaborative agreements based on the EU Floods Directive;
• trans-boundary coastal management, with emphasis on densely populated deltas and coastal cities;
• mainstreaming adaptation into urban land use planning, building layouts and natural resources management;
• mountain and island areas, with emphasis on sustainable and resilient agricultural, forestry and tourism sectors;
• sustainable management of water; combating desertification and forest fires in drought-prone areas;

"Demonstration projects" means projects that put into practice, test, evaluate and disseminate actions, methodologies or approaches that are new or unknown in the specific context of the project, such as the geographical, ecological, socio-economic context, and that could be applied elsewhere in similar circumstances. A successful demonstration project is available to all potential stakeholders and aims to encourage other stakeholders to use the techniques and methods demonstrated in the project. Demonstration projects may have a higher EU added value if they take place on a national or transnational level, rather than on a local scale.

Proposals may be submitted by legal persons (entities) registered in the EU. Applicants may fall into three types of beneficiaries: (1) public bodies, (2) private commercial organisations and (3) private non-commercial organisations (including NGOs).

Partners are not mandatory. However, transnational projects have priority.

There is no pre-defined project duration under the LIFE+ Programme. Usually projects last for 2 to 5 years.

EU co-financing rate: max. 55%
There is no fixed minimum size for project budgets. While large ambitious projects (i.e. over 5 million € total costs) have been financed several times in the past, small projects (i.e. below 500 000 € total costs) have seldom succeeded due to the limited output and consequently the low added value.

For detailed information on LIFE national contact points, please follow this link.