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Pact for Skills
  • Call for proposals
  • Closed

Addressing biodiversity decline and promoting Nature-based Solutions in higher education

Proposals should contribute to tackle societal challenge deriving from biodiversity loss by raising awareness on Nature-based Solutions (NBS)  in the higher education sector.

Details

Status
Closed
Publication date
22 December 2022
Opening date
Deadline model
Single-stage
Deadline date
28 March 2023, 17:00 (CEST)
Level of funding
  • EU level

Description

Overview

Objectives

This topic aims to contribute to education, skills development and awareness raising about biodiversity loss, and how this can be addressed, notably with Nature-based Solutions (NBS), in the higher education sector.

Activities/actions supported

This call supports many activities related to up- and re-skilling, among which those which:

  • Develop networking and collaboration schemes on higher education curricula and programmes on NBS, as well as researcher mobility initiatives;
  • Support and promote the teaching of NBS co-design and co-creation as part of high education degrees and further education qualifications;
  • Explore innovative ways of involving higher education institutions, their students and J5staff in tackling the biodiversity crisis, together with the climate crisis;
  • In view of a just ecological transition, provide specific NBS vocational training and skills development programmes for the youth, long term unemployed or other social groups in need;
  • Develop collaboration, guidance, benchmarking and exchange of best practices on how the higher education sector can address its impacts on biodiversity when addressing climate change, including through NBS;
  • Develop NBS capacity building and skills development programmes, in different EU official languages and knowledge transfer mechanisms.

Anticipated outcomes

Projects should contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

  • Improved and more coordinated education programmes and increased awareness about biodiversity loss and how this can be addressed together with climate change notably through NBS, in universities and technical schools.
  • increased awareness and development of skills among young people, teachers, professional organisations, on biodiversity, climate change and NBS.
  • A transdisciplinary dialogue on inclusive NBS contributing to nature-based thinking and A nature-positive economy, drawing on inclusiveness, the pluralities of values and of knowledge.
  • A sustainable recovery of society and the necessary transformative change through biodiversity-friendly actions, professional, collective and personal attitudes.

Institution providing the funding

European Research Council

Size of funding

EUR 3,000,000

 

Conditions

Overview of eligibility criteria

Any legal entity, regardless of its place of establishment, including legal entities from nonassociated third countries or international organisations is eligible to participate.
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
  • A list of low and middle-income countries (list available in Work Programme the General Annexes)

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.

Overview of award criteria

Project proposals will be assessed taking into account the following 3 criteria, for a maximum of 15 points:

  • - Excellence (5points);
  • - Impact (5 points);
  • - Quality and efficiency of the implementation (5 points).

The threshold for individual criteria will be 3. The overall threshold, applying to the sum of the three individual scores, will be 10.

Procedures

Application procedures

In order to be considered, proposals must:

  • Be submitted electronically via the Funding & Tenders Portal using the forms provided in the link to the call (see below). 
  • Proposals must be complete and contain all parts and mandatory annexes and supporting documents.

More information is available in the text of the call.

Application support available

For any questions related to any aspect of European research in general and the EU Research Framework Programmes in particular, please reach out to the Research Enquiry Service at this link: https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/contact-us/research-enquiry-service_en

 

Link to funding opportunity

Link to the programme for more info