Agroforestry for soil health at landscape level

Scope: Agroecology practices and agroforestry (a land management practice that integrates trees and shrubs into agricultural landscapes [1] ) are known to improve soil health, conserve water, and provide economic and environmental benefits while promoting highly diverse landscape features, which provide ecosystem services and support farmland biodiversity [2] . The restoration of degraded landscapes using agroforestry can increase the resilience of communities to shocks, including drought and food shortages, and help mitigate climate change. Agroecology and agroforestry also improve farm profitability for farmers, combining economic benefits with environmental sustainability, in line with the Vision for Agriculture and Food. However, its adoption in the EU remains limited largely due to farmers' lack of expertise and financial concerns. Initial costs for establishing agroforestry systems can be high, and financial returns may take longer to realize compared to traditional agricultural practices. Existing business models and traditional farm financing is often not tailored to long-term, diversified systems. A landscape approach can significantly aid in overcoming the barriers to agroforestry adoption in the EU and Associated Countries by promoting integrated and sustainable land management practices across larger areas. Proposals should focus on landscape-scale implementation of agroforestry practices aiming at scaling up sustainable soil management practices in agroforestry systems across entire value chains and territorial contexts. Proposals should apply participatory, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches, involving actors along the value chain, thereby maximizing ecological and socio-economic impact. While normally projects run for four years, the duration of the projects should accommodate longer timescales required by agroforestry and for soils processes to take place. Proposals should: using an interdisciplinary , participatory and multi-actor approach, co-design, co-develop, and pilot locally adapted agroforestry farming systems with a landscape approach that demonstrate an enhancement in soil health in a variety of relevant pedo-climatic areas across the EU and Associated Countries; assess and monitor the impacts of agroforestry practices on soil health . For this, establish a baseline of the soil conditions in the areas where the project will be operating to allow for an accurate monitoring of changes in soil health over time and after the project ends under different agroforestry management practices. Activities should allow for a comparison of the impacts of conventional and organic farming; assess and demonstrate the technical, social, economic, cultural and environmental viability of the proposed agroforestry systems, as well as their potential scalability and transferability to diverse contexts; involve public and private actors to mobilise finance, including blended, and develop and test long-term, sustainable business models , that facilitate the transition to scalable agroforestry systems; produce recommendations on how policy and the macro-economic framework could support practically feasible implementation pathways and value chain networks for large scale agroforestry deployment; provide capacity building and training opportunities for all actors along the value chain—including farmers, advisors, businesses, consumers and policymakers—focused on practical skills and awareness of soil health improvement, efficient agroforestry management, supportive business models, and incentives to accelerate the transition . Proposals must implement the multi-actor approach to ensure that knowledge and needs from various sectors are brought together. The actors involved should include farmers, forest users, researchers, landowners or land managers – both from the farm and forestry sectors, industry (e.g., SMEs), public administrations (both in charge of farming and of forestry matters), representatives of civil society (e.g., consumers, environmental NGOs). To encourage and facilitate the involvement of different types of small actors, applicants may use financial support to third parties (FSTP), that can be provided through calls or, if duly justified, without a call for proposals. Applicants are advised to consult the standard conditions set out in Annex B of the General Annexes including those that apply to FSTP. Proposals should fill R&I gaps, demonstrating value added and complementarity with past/ongoing EU-funded R&I projects, including Mission Soil living labs. Proposals must include dedicated tasks and appropriate resources to coordinate with relevant ongoing and upcoming projects funded by the Horizon Europe Partnership Agroecology . Proposals must include coordination and cooperation mechanisms and activities, with the aim of exploiting synergies and complementarities that result in greater impact on soil health and accelerated adoption of agroforestry in the EU and Associated Countries. Capitalize, where appropriate, on the existence of relevant living labs set up under other EU-funded actions such as the Agroecology Partnership, to scale up practices beyond the farm to the landscape level. Proposals should demonstrate a route towards open access, longevity, sustainability and interoperability of knowledge and outputs through close collaboration with the European Union Soil Observatory (EUSO) and the project SoilWise . In particular, proposals should ensure that relevant data, maps and information can potentially be available publicly through the EUSO. Concrete efforts should be made to ensure that the data produced in the context of the funded project is FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Re-usable). This topic should involve the effective contribution of social sciences and humanities disciplines. This action supports the follow-up to the July 2023 Communication on EU Missions assessment . [1] Agroforestry | Forest Information System of Europe [2] Agroforestry for landscape restoration

Eligibility and submission conditions

"> General conditions 1. Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes. Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System. 2. Eligible Countries described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide . 3. Other Eligible Conditions Proposals must apply the multi-actor approach. See definition of the multi-actor approach in the introduction to this work programme part. described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. 4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes. 5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes. 5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual . 5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes. 6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants Beneficiaries may provide financial support to third parties to encourage and facilitate the involvement of different types of small actors, that can be provided through calls or, if duly justified, without a call for proposals. The maximum amount to be granted to each third party is EUR 60 000. 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 (2021-2025) [This [decision is available on the Funding and Tenders Portal, in the reference documents section for Horizon Europe, under ‘Simplified costs decisions’ or through this link: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/horizon/guidance/ls-decision_he_en.pdf ]]. described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes. Specific conditions described in the [specific topic of the Work Programme] Application and evaluation forms and model grant agreement (MGA): Application form templates — the application form specific to this call is available in the Submission System Standard application form (HE RIA, IA) Evaluation form templates — will be used with the necessary adaptations Standard evaluation form (HE RIA, IA)   Guidance HE Programme Guide   Model Grant Agreements (MGA) Lump Sum MGA   Call-specific instructions   Detailed budget table (HE LS)   Information on financial support to third parties (HE)   Guidance: "Lump sums - what do I need to know?" Additional documents: HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 1. General Introduction HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 12. Missions HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 15. General Annexes HE Programme Guide HE Framework Programme 2021/695 HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764 EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509 Decision authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual   Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions   Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement

Hivatkozott dokumentumok

Annex A Horizon Europe Programme Guide Online Manual [This [decision Standard application form (HE RIA, IA) Standard evaluation form (HE RIA, IA) Lump Sum MGA Detailed budget table (HE LS) Information on financial support to third parties (HE) Guidance: "Lump sums - what do I need to know?" HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 1. General Introduction HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 12. Missions Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions