Filter Search for grants
Call Navigation
Call key data
Preparing farmers, their workforce and advisors to the future of agriculture by providing the relevant knowledge, skills and competences at the right time and place
Funding Program
Horizon Europe: Cluster 6 - Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment
Call number
HORIZON-CL6-2025-03-GOVERNANCE-14
deadlines
Opening
06.05.2025
Deadline
24.09.2025 17:00
Funding rate
100%
Call budget
€ 8,000,000.00
Estimated EU contribution per project
€ 8,000,000.00
Link to the call
Link to the submission
Call content
short description
Successful proposals will support the common agricultural policy (CAP), in particular its cross-cutting objective, and related climate, biodiversity and other environmental policies, by enhancing the relevant knowledge, skills and competences of farmers, their workforce and advisors that they need for the transition to more competitive, sustainable and resilient agriculture.
Call objectives
Knowledge, skills and competences are key enablers for more competitive, sustainable and resilient agriculture. However, there are growing concerns in many EU Member States over the shortages and mismatches of knowledge, skills and competences among the farming community working in the diverse and fast-changing contexts. To be prepared and benefit from the various climate, environmental, technological, socio-economic and other relevant drivers of change, the farming community, specifically farmers, their workforce, and advisors, should be able to learn and use in practice the relevant knowledge, skills, and competences, at the right time and place in a lifelong journey.
Expected effects and impacts
Proposals should:
- develop, improve and apply methodology to assess and foresee what knowledge, skills and competences farmers, their workforce and advisors currently have and need/will need in the future to improve competitiveness, sustainability and resilience of agriculture in light of the evolving context. This should enable the identification of potential gaps and opportunities for upskilling and reskilling, new LLL activities and methods, and serve as a baseline for future assessments of the actions aimed at enhancing the knowledge, skills and competences.
- map, assess and explore how farmers, their workforce and advisors are and should acquire knowledge, skills and competences (e.g., methods and tools, timing, frequency and place, incentives, etc.), as well as who is and who should be providing them in order for LLL to be practice-oriented, attractive, effective, timely and up-to-date; take into account also how the 27 Member States designed their CAP interventions related to LLL.
- investigate how to widely and effectively disseminate new practice-oriented knowledge and innovations, resulting from e.g. diverse research and innovation projects, among farmers, their workforce and advisors; in particular analyse what approaches/tools, communication materials and channels are preferred, trusted and used by farmers, their workforce and advisors; based on the analysis provide toolbox and guidelines;
- map, assess and compare agricultural LLL, including education and training systems, across the EU and beyond, explore and assess best practices on how to embed the knowledge collected within the Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS) structures to provide valuable input for LLL, including education and training systems, and provide recommendations for improving LLL, including educational and training systems, in view of making them more effective in supporting the transition to competitive, sustainable and resilient agriculture;
- co-create, pilot, test, and share new, interactive, effective approaches and tools (e.g., exploring the potential of generative AI and social innovation), to stimulate LLL, increase knowledge flows within AKIS and enable farmers, their workforce and advisors to quick, easy and affordable access to impartial and relevant knowledge, skills and competences supporting their decision-making;
- explore potential synergies between EU instruments and develop new practical approaches to better connect Horizon-funded projects, EIP-AGRI operational groups projects and Erasmus+ projects to LLL in agriculture, including education and training systems, to maximise the impact of these projects for LLL and promote a more coherent approach to knowledge, skills and competences development;
- develop and test a system(s) compatible with existing EU-wide initiatives that acknowledge(s) and reward(s) farmers, their workforce and advisors who engage in LLL. The system(s) should include different levels of recognition based on the extent and depth of LLL activity completed, as well as be visible, verifiable, and tied to tangible benefits, providing a strong incentive for continuous learning. The project should also assess how the system(s) can be of benefit for the knowledge, skills and competences development of the farming community.
Proposals should include a dedicated task and appropriate resources to cooperate with project that will be selected under the topic HORIZON-CL6-2025-03-GOVERNANCE-13, ensuring complementarities and avoiding duplication of efforts.
Proposals must implement the 'multi-actor approach', with a consortium based on a balanced mix of relevant actors, including farmers, advisors, agricultural educators and trainers, and other relevant AKIS actors with relevant knowledge and information, and ensuring inclusive co-creation in order to better understand their current and future needs for knowledge, skills and competences, and co-develop the best approaches to effectively address these needs.
Proposals should consider in the research and innovation activities national/regional and context specificities, evolving farm structures and labour organisation, as well as social diversity in a comprehensive way. This topic should involve the effective contribution of social sciences and humanities (SSH) disciplines.
read more
Expected results
Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:
- lifelong learning (LLL), including various agricultural educational and training systems, are innovative, fit-for-purpose, more responsive to the diverse and fast-changing needs of the learners, and effective in preparing the current and future generations of farmers, agricultural workers and advisors to the future of farming;
- farmers, agricultural workforce and advisors have the relevant, comprehensive and up-to-date knowledge, skills and competences to cope with and benefit from the various drivers of change, and improve competitiveness, sustainability and resilience of their farms;
- introduction, spread and implementation by farmers in their practice of new knowledge and solutions are accelerated, leading to improved productivity and sustainability performance of farming systems in all three dimensions – economic, social and environmental.
Eligibility Criteria
Regions / countries for funding
Moldova (Moldova), Albania (Shqipëria), Armenia (Հայաստան), Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosna i Hercegovina / Босна и Херцеговина), Canada, Faeroes (Føroyar / Færøerne), Georgia (საქართველო), Iceland (Ísland), Israel (ישראל / إِسْرَائِيل), Kosovo (Kosova/Kosovë / Косово), Montenegro (Црна Гора), New Zealand (Aotearoa), North Macedonia (Северна Македонија), Norway (Norge), Serbia (Srbija/Сpбија), Tunisia (تونس /Tūnis), Türkiye, Ukraine (Україна), United Kingdom
eligible entities
EU Body, Education and training institution, Non-Profit Organisation (NPO) / Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Other, Private institution, incl. private company (private for profit), Public Body (national, regional and local; incl. EGTCs), Research Institution incl. University, Small and medium-sized enterprise (SME)
Mandatory partnership
Yes
Project Partnership
To be eligible for funding, applicants must be established in one of the following countries:
- the Member States of the European Union, including their outermost regions
- the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) linked to the Member States
- countries associated to Horizon Europe - see list of particpating countries
Only legal entities forming a consortium are eligible to participate in actions provided that the consortium includes, as beneficiaries, three legal entities independent from each other and each established in a different country as follows:
- at least one independent legal entity established in a Member State; and
- at least two other independent legal entities, each established in different Member States or Associated Countries.
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.
other eligibility criteria
Specific cases:
- Affiliated entities (i.e. entities with a legal or capital link to a beneficiary which participate in the action with similar rights and obligations to the beneficiaries, but which do not sign the grant agreement and therefore do not become beneficiaries themselves) are allowed, if they are eligible for participation and funding.
- Associated partners (i.e. entities which participate in the action without signing the grant agreement, and without the right to charge costs or claim contributions) are allowed, subject to any conditions regarding associated partners set out in the specific call conditions.
- Entities which do not have legal personality under their national law may exceptionally participate, provided that their representatives have the capacity to undertake legal obligations on their behalf, and offer guarantees to protect the EU’s financial interests equivalent to those offered by legal persons.
- Legal entities created under EU law (EU bodies) including decentralised agencies may be part of the consortium, unless provided for otherwise in their basic act.
- International European research organisations are eligible to receive funding. International organisations with headquarters in a Member State or Associated Country are eligible to receive funding for ‘Training and mobility’ actions or when provided for in the specific call/topic conditions. Other international organisations are not eligible to receive funding, unless provided for in the specific call/topic conditions, or if their participation is considered essential for implementing the action by the granting authority.
- Joint Research Centre (JRC)— Where provided for in the specific call conditions, applicants may include in their proposals the possible contribution of the JRC but the JRC will not participate in the preparation and submission of the proposal. Applicants will indicate the contribution that the JRC could bring to the project based on the scope of the topic text. After the evaluation process, the JRC and the consortium selected for funding may come to an agreement on the specific terms of the participation of the JRC. If an agreement is found, the JRC may accede to the grant agreement as beneficiary requesting zero funding or participate as an associated partner, and would accede to the consortium as a member.
- Associations and interest groupings — Entities composed of members (e.g. European research infrastructure consortia (ERICs)) may participate as ‘sole beneficiaries’ or ‘beneficiaries without legal personality’. However, if the action is in practice implemented by the individual members, those members should also participate (either as beneficiaries or as affiliated entities, otherwise their costs will NOT be eligible.
- EU restrictive measures — Entities subject to EU restrictive measures under Article 29 of the Treaty on the European Union (TEU) and Article 215 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU) as well as Article 75 TFEU, are not eligible to participate in any capacity, including as beneficiaries, affiliated entities, associated partners, third parties giving in-kind contributions, subcontractors or recipients of financial support to third parties (if any).
- Legal entities established in Russia, Belarus, or in non-government controlled territories of Ukraine — Given the illegal invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the involvement of Belarus, there is currently no appropriate context allowing the implementation of the actions foreseen in this programme with legal entities established in Russia, Belarus, or in non-government controlled territories of Ukraine. Therefore, even where such entities are not subject to EU restrictive measures, such legal entities are not eligible to participate in any capacity. This includes participation as beneficiaries, affiliated entities, associated partners, third parties giving in-kind contributions, subcontractors or recipients of financial support to third parties (if any). Exceptions may be granted on a case-by-case basis for justified reasons.
With specific regard to measures addressed to Russia, following the adoption of the Council Regulation (EU) 2024/1745 of 24 June 2024 (amending Council Regulation (EU) No 833/2014 of 31 July 2014) concerning restrictive measures in view of Russia’s actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine, legal entities established outside Russia but whose proprietary rights are directly or indirectly owned for more than 50% by a legal person, entity or body established in Russia are also not eligible to participate in any capacity. - Measures for the protection of the Union budget against breaches of the principles of the rule of law in Hungary — Following the Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/2506, as of 16 December 2022, no legal commitments can be entered into with Hungarian public interest trusts established under the Hungarian Act IX of 2021 or any entity they maintain. Affected entities may continue to apply to calls for proposals and can participate without receiving EU funding, as associated partners, if allowed by the call conditions. However, as long as the Council measures are not lifted, such entities are not eligible to participate in any funded role (beneficiaries, affiliated entities, subcontractors, recipients of financial support to third parties, etc.).In case of multi-beneficiary grant calls, applicants will be invited to remove or replace that entity in any funded role and/or to change its status into associated partner. Tasks and budget may be redistributed accordingly.
Additional information
Topics
Relevance for EU Macro-Region
EUSAIR - EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region, EUSALP - EU Strategy for the Alpine Space, EUSBSR - EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, EUSDR - EU Strategy for the Danube Region
UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs)
Additional Information
Applications must be submitted electronically via the Funders & Tenders Portal electronic submission system (accessible via the topic page in the Search Funding & Tenders section). Paper submissions are NOT possible.
Applications must be submitted using the forms provided inside the electronic submission system (not the templates available on the topic page, which are only for information). The structure and presentation must correspond to the instructions given in the forms.
Applications must be complete and contain all parts and mandatory annexes and supporting documents.
The application form will have two parts:
- Part A (to be filled in directly online) contains administrative information about the applicant organisations (future coordinator and beneficiaries and affiliated entities), the summarised budget for the proposal and call-specific questions;
- Part B (to be downloaded from the Portal submission system, completed and then assembled and re-uploaded as a PDF in the system) contains the technical description of the project.
Annexes and supporting documents will be directly available in the submission system and must be uploaded as PDF files (or other formats allowed by the system).
The limit for a full application (Part B) is 50 pages.
Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2021-2027) – and in actions under the Research and Training Programme of the European Atomic Energy Community (
Call documents
Horizon Europe Work Programme 2025 Cluster 6 - Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and EnvironmentHorizon Europe Work Programme 2025 Cluster 6 - Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment(kB)
Contact
To see more information about this call, you can register for free here
or log in with an existing account.
Log in
Register now