European Green Deal call managed by REA receives 433 project proposals for around €3 billion

By the call deadline on 27 January, the Research Executive Agency (REA) had received 433 proposals, amounting to a budget of around €3 billion, for the four topics of the European Green Deal call the Agency manages. The requested budget is 29 times higher than the available funding for REA’s topics (€104 million), and is triple the total budget for the entire Green Deal call, the last and largest of Horizon 2020.

REA’s topics aim to fund projects on Supporting of the Farm-to-Fork Strategy, Ocean Observation, Citizen Participation, and Behavioural, Social and Cultural Change to move to a greener Europe.

The topic ‘Testing and demonstrating systemic innovations in support of the Farm-to-Fork Strategy’ attracted 260 project proposals requesting €2.3 billion, while the budget available for this topic is €74 million. 

Considering that the topic encompasses six sub-topics, the highest interest in number of proposals received went to the sub-topic aiming to “reduce the dependence on hazardous pesticides in agriculture”; while the lowest was in the sub-topic aiming to “reduce the dependence on antimicrobials in animal production and in aquaculture”.

Four project proposals for over €43 million were submitted under the topic ‘Transparent & Accessible Seas and Oceans: Towards a Digital Twin of the Ocean’. The main objective should be to better predict and protect our seas and oceans. The budget available for this topic is €12 million. 

Some 52 proposals for a total amount of over €236 million were submitted under the topic ‘European capacities for citizen deliberation and participation for the Green Deal’ aimed at promoting ownership and engagement from people across Europe. The budget available for this topic is €10 million.

The topic of ‘Behavioural, social and cultural change for the Green Deal’ attracted 117 proposals for over €655 million. The budget available for this topic is €10 million.

Proposals are now being screened for admissibility and eligibility and only later evaluated by panels of independent experts. The evaluation results are expected to be communicated by the end of May 2021. Projects should start as from October 2021. 

The four topics, managed by REA, are part of the European Green Deal call with a total budget of €1 billion. The full European Green Deal call, with eight thematic areas and three horizontal areas, has received 1 550 project proposals.

The European Green Deal call is the first tangible contribution of research and innovation to the European Green Deal. It aims to mobilise research and innovation to foster a just and sustainable societal transition by providing concrete solutions for the Green Deal’s main priorities. The call contains eight thematic areas and three horizontal areas.
 

Number of proposals and requested budget for the topics managed by REA:

*Round numbers

More info: 

European Green deal call 

European Green Deal

Farm to Fork strategy 

Number of proposals to the entire Green Deal Call