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Horizon Europe: Cluster 6 - Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment
Parent program | Horizon Europe |
Link to the program | ec.europa.eu |
Content of program
short description | The goal of research, development and innovation in Cluster 6 is to expand knowledge, build capacity and develop innovative solutions in these relevant areas. This includes, above all, the transition to a sustainable circular economy and the use of natural resources, as well as food security for all. |
program objectives | This cluster aims at reducing environmental degradation, halting and reversing the decline of biodiversity on land, inland waters and sea and better managing natural resources through transformative changes of the economy and society in both urban and rural areas. It will ensure food and nutrition security for all within planetary boundaries through knowledge, innovation and digitalisation in agriculture, fisheries, aquaculture and food systems and steer and accelerate the transition to a low carbon, resource efficient circular economy and sustainable bioeconomy, including forestry. Areas of intervention
Destination 1: Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services R&I will support policy targets, develop nature-based solutions and holistic approaches to address the main causes of biodiversity loss, particularly in connection to production systems, bringing all sectors together to be integrated in ecosystem-based management. Investments in R&I will help to protect and restore the integrity of terrestrial, aquatic and marine ecosystems, currently under multiple pressures, and protect and restore their capacity to deliver a wide range of essential services. Destination 2: Fair, Healthy and Environmentally-friendly Food Systems from Primary Production to Consumption National, EU and global food systems are facing sustainability challenges, from primary production to consumption, that could jeopardise food and nutrition security. The farm to fork strategy aims to address these challenges and to deliver co-benefits for environment, health, society and the economy, ensuring that actions leading to recovery from the COVID-19 crisis also put us onto a sustainable path going forward. Research and innovation (R&I) are key drivers steering and accelerating the transition to sustainable, safe, healthy and inclusive food systems, from farm to fork, thereby ensuring food and nutrition security for all. Destination 3: Circular Economy and Bioeconomy Sectors This destination and its topics target climate-neutral circular and bioeconomy transitions, covering safe integrated circular solutions at territorial and sectoral levels, for important material flows and product value chains, such as the textile, electronics, plastics and construction sectors, as well as key bioeconomy sectors such as sustainable bio-based systems, sustainable forestry, small-scale rural bio-based solutions, and aquatic value chains. Destination 4: Clean Environment and Zero Pollution In line with the objectives of the European Green Deal and the 2030 Climate Target Plan, and other relevant EU legislation this destination seeks to halt and prevent pollution by focussing the work programme 2021-2022 on fresh and marine waters, soils, air, including from nitrogen and phosphorus emissions, as well as on the environmental performance and sustainability of processes in the bio-based systems. Destination 5: Land, ocean and water for climate action Assessing the impacts of climate change on our land and marine environments, natural resources, agriculture and food systems, and identifying mitigation options and adaptation pathways, requires interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research and investments across a broad range of activities. Research is needed to better understand who or what is exposed and sensitive to these changes, their underlying vulnerability, the associated costs and adaptive capacity. Research is also required to provide mitigation options that reduce the risk of long-term climate change. Destination 6: Resilient, Inclusive, Healthy and Green Rural, Coastal and Urban Communities Under this destination, transdisciplinary R&I with a strong social and behavioural sciences dimension, and attention to gender aspects, will foster a sustainable, balanced and inclusive development of rural, coastal and urban areas in three different ways. Firstly, it will aim to increase our understanding of the differential impacts of climate, environmental, socio-economic and demographic changes on rural, coastal and urban areas in order to identify ways to turn these changes into equal opportunities for people wherever they live, enhancing territorial cohesion and enabling a just transition. Secondly, it will explore innovative ways to tailor policy responses to the place-based challenges identified at various levels of governance. Thirdly, it will support bottom-up community-led innovation to empower communities to develop, test and upscale solutions that answer global challenges in locally adapted ways. Destination 7: Innovative Governance, Environmental Oberservations and Digital Solutions in Support of the Green Deal R&I activities under this destination aim at experimenting with new ways to govern the transition process and modernising the governance, in particular by making information and knowledge available and accessible. R&I for governance to support the Green Deal shall provide insights into institutional barriers such as lock-ins, path dependency, political and cultural inertia power imbalances and regulatory inconsistencies or weaknesses. read more |
Expected effects and impacts | Destination 1: Proposals for topics under this destination should set out a credible pathway contributing to Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, and more specifically to one or more of the following impacts:
Destination 2: Proposals for topics under this destination should set out credible pathways to fair, healthy, safe, climate- and environment‑friendly, resilient food systems from primary production to consumption, ensuring food and nutrition security for all within planetary boundaries in the EU and globally. More specifically, proposals should contribute to one or more of the following impacts:
Destination 3: Proposals for topics under this destination should set out a credible pathway to developing circular economy and bioeconomy sectors, achieving sustainable and circular management and use of natural resources, as well as prevention and removal of pollution, unlocking the full potential and benefits of the circular economy and the bioeconomy, ensuring competitiveness and guaranteeing healthy soil, air, fresh and marine water for all, through better understanding of planetary boundaries and wide deployment and market uptake of innovative technologies and other solutions, notably in primary production (forestry) and bio-based systems. Specifically, the topics will target one or several of the following impacts, for circular economy, bio-based sectors, forestry and aquatic value chains:
Destination 4: Pollution must be halted and eliminated to guarantee clean and healthy soils, air, fresh and marine water for all. To reach this objective, it will be paramount to advance the knowledge of pollution sources and pathways to enable preventive measures, improve monitoring and control, apply planetary boundaries in practice and introduce effective remediation methods. Proposals for topics under this destination should set out a credible pathway to contribute to the aforementioned goal to achieve a clean environment and zero pollution, and more specifically to one or several of the following impacts:
Destination 5:
Proposals for topics under this destination should set out a credible pathway to contributing to climate action on land, oceans and water and more specifically to one or several of the following impacts:
Destination 6: Proposals for topics under this destination should set out a credible pathway to contributing to resilient, inclusive, healthy and green rural, coastal and urban communities and more specifically one or several of the following expected impacts:
Destination 7: Proposals for topics under this destination should set out a credible pathway to contributing to innovative governance and sound decision making in policy for the green transition, and more specifically to one or several of the following impacts:
read more |
Eligibility criteria
Regions / countries for funding | EU Member States, Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT) 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 Partners |
Public Body (national, regional and local; incl. EGTCs), Education and training institution, Private institution, incl. private company (private for profit), Non-Profit Organisation (NPO) / Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Small and medium-sized enterprise (SME), Other, Research Institution incl. University, EU Body |
Mandatory partnership | Yes |
Project Partnership | To be eligible for funding, applicants must be established in one of the following 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:
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:
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Additional information
Topics | Administration & Governance, Institutional Capacity & Cooperation, Agriculture & Forestry, Fishery, Food, Soil quality, Air Quality, Biodiversity & Environment, Climate & Climate Change, Water quality & management, Arts & Culture, Cultural Heritage, Tourism, Circular Economy, Natural Resources, Digitalisation, Digital Society, ICT, Disaster Prevention, Resilience, Risk Management, Health, Social Services, Sports, Rural & Urban Development/Planning |
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) |
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Program documents | Horizon Europe Work Programme 2025 Cluster 6 - Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment (kB) |
Contact | National Contact Points for Horizon Europe Website |
Open calls
06.05.2025 - 16.09.2025
Assessing and modelling ecosystems’ dynamic processes to guide restoration activities and to improve models used for climate
06.05.2025 - 17.09.2025
Assessing and modelling socio-economic impacts of nature restoration
06.05.2025 - 17.09.2025
Bioprospecting and optimised production of marine/aquatic natural products in the omics & artificial intelligence era
06.05.2025 - 17.09.2025
Bioprospecting and optimized production of the terrestrial natural products: new opportunities for bio-based sectors
06.05.2025 - 17.09.2025
Boosting the attractiveness of agriculture and the connection between the farming community and society
06.05.2025 - 24.09.2025
Breeding for resilience: enhancing multi-stress tolerance in crops
06.05.2025 - 04.09.2025
Consumption patterns and environmental awareness as enablers of transition to circular economy
06.05.2025 - 17.09.2025
Creating urban co-creation spaces for driving sustainable food system transformation
06.05.2025 - 16.09.2025
Delivering Earth Intelligence to accelerate the green and digital transition
06.05.2025 - 24.09.2025
Demonstration of reduced energy use and optimised flexible energy supply for industrial bio-based systems
06.05.2025 - 17.09.2025
Demonstration, deployment and upscaling of circular systemic solutions in cities and regions (Circular Cities and Regions Initiative)
06.05.2025 - 17.09.2025
Developing a joint AU-EU Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System (AKIS) supporting the Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture (FNSSA) partnership
06.05.2025 - 16.09.2025
Developing agroecology living labs and lighthouses for climate action under the Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture (FNSSA) partnership
06.05.2025 - 04.09.2025
Developing innovative phytosanitary measures for plant health - focus on systems approach for pest risk management
06.05.2025 - 16.09.2025
Development and testing of Extended Producer Responsibility schemes (EPR) within the priority Circular Economy Action Plan value chains
06.05.2025 - 17.09.2025
Diversifying aquaculture production with emphasis on low-trophic species
06.05.2025 - 16.09.2025
EU-India cooperation on cumulative impacts of marine pollution on marine organisms and ecosystems
06.05.2025 - 17.09.2025
Effective environmental observing systems and associated governance
06.05.2025 - 24.09.2025
Emerging and future risks to plant health
06.05.2025 - 04.09.2025
Enhancing plant protein production to bolster the resilience of agricultural systems and EU self-sufficiency in plant protein used as feed
06.05.2025 - 16.09.2025
Enhancing sustainability and resilience of agriculture, forestry and rural development through digital twins
06.05.2025 - 24.09.2025
Environmental biotechnology applications in service of remediation of polluted ecosystems
06.05.2025 - 17.09.2025
Environmental impacts from the production of agricultural crops for bio-based industrial systems
06.05.2025 - 17.09.2025
European partnership: Forests and Forestry for a Sustainable Future
06.05.2025 - 17.09.2025
Exploring and improving access to housing in rural areas and developing the houses and villages of the future
06.05.2025 - 16.09.2025
Exploring options to resolve land and sea use competition
06.05.2025 - 24.09.2025
Exploring the potential of controlled environment agriculture (CEA)
06.05.2025 - 16.09.2025
Fostering animal breeding and genetics for climate change adaptation and mitigation, improved robustness and resilience
06.05.2025 - 16.09.2025
Harmonizing and optimising composting plants performances in Europe
06.05.2025 - 17.09.2025
Improving analytical capacity and understanding of the bargaining power and interactions of farmers with the operators of the value chains
06.05.2025 - 24.09.2025
Improving and integrating polar observation systems in response to user requirements at local, regional, and international level
06.05.2025 - 24.09.2025
Improving ecodesign of products and development of testing methods for products prioritised under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation
06.05.2025 - 17.09.2025
Improving grassland management in European livestock farming systems
06.05.2025 - 16.09.2025
Increasing knowledge flows to practice within Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS) via thematic networks
06.05.2025 - 24.09.2025
Indicators for the transition to sustainable and circular economy
06.05.2025 - 17.09.2025
Innovative and advanced monitoring and modelling systems for revised air quality policies
06.05.2025 - 17.09.2025
Innovative solutions for resilient and climate-adapted coastal communities in the Atlantic
06.05.2025 - 16.09.2025
Integrated and coordinated approaches for coral reefs and associated ecosystems (mangroves and seagrass beds) conservation, restoration, and climate mitigation and adaptation
06.05.2025 - 17.09.2025
Large-scale in situ biodiversity observations for better understanding of biodiversity state, drivers of its decline and impacts of policies
06.05.2025 - 17.09.2025
Living labs co-creating innovative solutions for forests and freshwater ecosystems restoration
06.05.2025 - 04.09.2025
Making food systems more resilient to food safety risks through the deployment of technological solutions
06.05.2025 - 04.09.2025
Monitoring, reporting, verification and mitigation of non-CO2 greenhouse gas emissions and related air pollutants from agriculture
06.05.2025 - 16.09.2025
Novel circular business models to enable the just transition to a sustainable and circular economy
06.05.2025 - 17.09.2025
Nutrients produced by microorganisms utilising primarily CO2 from the air, with the support of biotechnology
06.05.2025 - 16.09.2025
Nutrition and Mental Health
06.05.2025 - 16.09.2025
Nutrition in emergency situations - Ready-to-use Supplementary Food (RUSF) and Ready-to-use Therapeutic Food (RUTF)
06.05.2025 - 16.09.2025
Open Topic: Innovative solutions for the sustainable and circular transformation of SMEs
06.05.2025 - 04.09.2025
Open topic: Innovating for on-farm post-harvest operations, storage and transformation of crops into food and non-food products
06.05.2025 - 04.09.2025
Operationalisation of bioeconomy sustainability principles
06.05.2025 - 24.09.2025
Overcoming the barriers for scaling up circular water management in agriculture
06.05.2025 - 16.09.2025
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
06.05.2025 - 24.09.2025
Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) of policy and market-relevant product groups
06.05.2025 - 17.09.2025
Provide digital solutions tailored to small and medium-sized farms to monitor and sustainably manage agricultural inputs and natural resources
06.05.2025 - 17.09.2025
Raising citizen awareness on alternative proteins derived from biotechnology
06.05.2025 - 16.09.2025
Reconstructing areas affected by conflicts: the role of the bio-based solutions
06.05.2025 - 17.09.2025
Reducing pollution from the food and drink industries
06.05.2025 - 17.09.2025
Research and innovation for food waste prevention and reduction at household level through measurement, monitoring and new technologies
06.05.2025 - 04.09.2025
Strengthening and connecting bioeconomy networks
06.05.2025 - 24.09.2025
Strengthening knowledge and skills of advisors and integrating them within Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS) via an EU advisory network
06.05.2025 - 24.09.2025
Strengthening pathways to alternative socio-economic models for continuous improvement of biodiversity
06.05.2025 - 17.09.2025
Strengthening taxonomic approaches for biodiversity
06.05.2025 - 17.09.2025
Strengthening the EU crop breeding research and innovation ecosystem for competitive, resilient, and sustainable agriculture
06.05.2025 - 16.09.2025
Strengthening the European Research Area by enhancing the bioeconomy research and innovation ecosystem in BIOEAST countries
06.05.2025 - 24.09.2025
Strengthening the capacity of citizen science in biodiversity observation
06.05.2025 - 17.09.2025
Strengthening the resilience of water systems and water sector to climate and global socio-economic change impacts
06.05.2025 - 04.09.2025
Substances of concern and emerging pollutants from bio-based industries and products: mapping and replacement
06.05.2025 - 04.09.2025
Support to the EU Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Initiative: scoping action
06.05.2025 - 17.09.2025
Supporting the implementation of nature restoration measures for sustainable farming systems
06.05.2025 - 17.09.2025
The ocean-climate-biodiversity nexus and marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR)
06.05.2025 - 16.09.2025
The ocean-climate-biodiversity-people nexus: uncovering safe operating space for safeguarding the integrity and health of the global ocean
06.05.2025 - 16.09.2025
Towards a comprehensive European strategy to assess and monitor aquatic litter including plastic and microplastic pollution
06.05.2025 - 17.09.2025
Towards modern, integrated, and effective fisheries monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) systems
06.05.2025 - 16.09.2025
Understanding and managing medium and longer-term challenges and opportunities for agriculture stemming from shifting climatic zones and changing agroecological environments
06.05.2025 - 16.09.2025
Understanding the perceptions of and improving communication on the biodiversity crisis and nature restoration benefits to sustain citizen engagement and democratic governance
06.05.2025 - 17.09.2025
Unleashing the potential and advancing the impact of the digitalization/Artificial Intelligence of the climate-neutral bio-based value chains
06.05.2025 - 17.09.2025
Upscaling innovative payments to support farmers in the delivery of agri-environment-climate public goods
06.05.2025 - 24.09.2025