Living labs co-creating solutions for the restoration of ecosystems addressing implementation bottlenecks and improving resilience to risks
European Commission · Horizon Europe Framework Programme (HORIZON)
Posted 13 Oct 2026 · About 4 months left
Summary
Expected Outcome:
Proposals are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:
stakeholders are empowered to co-create, deploy and replicate viable ecosystem restoration measures leading to their wider uptake, with solutions to address implementation bottlenecks and financing issues;
competent authorities in charge of implementing the EU Nature Restoration Regulation (NRR) can design and reuse effective deployment frameworks, informed by evidence and lessons generated through living labs across different contexts;
social, economic and environmental co-benefits, risks and trade-offs of nature restoration activities are demonstrated, addressed and made explicit to support informed decision-making and scaling, including, where appropriate, potential One Health aspects.
Scope:
The NRR requires Member States to put in place area-based restoration measures, including Nature-based solutions, as highlighted and recommended in both the EU Climate adaptation strategy and in the European Water Resilience Strategy. Notably measures to implement the NRR article 9 on free-flowing rivers support the objectives of the European Water Resilience Strategy to restore and protect…
Excerpt from the donor's page. The full text, annexes and forms are on the original call.
Eligibility and conditions
Show the eligibility text from the source
">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 Eligibility Conditions
The following additional eligibility criteria apply: The proposals must apply the multi-actor approach. See definition of the multi-actor approach in 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
To ensure a balanced portfolio, grants will be awarded to applications not only in order of ranking but at least also to two proposals highest ranked within the research field A, and two proposals highest ranked within the research field B, provided that the applications attain all thresholds.
described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes.
5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes
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. The support to third parties can only be provided in the form of grants. 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
Please use the application form that you will find in the Submission System. You can find examples of standard application forms in the Reference Documents page.
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 – 14. Horizontal Activities
HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 15. General Annexes
HE Framework Programme and Rules for Participation Regulation 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…
Themes
- agroecology partnership
- biodiversity loss
- biodiversity strategy
- biodiversity strategy for 2030
- carbon farming
- citizen science
- forest fire
- lighthouse
- living lab
- nature credit
- nature restoration regulation
- regenerative agriculture
- soil mission
- Agriculture
- Agrobiodiversity
- Agroecology
- Biodiversity conservation
- Biodiversity status and trends
- Bioeconomy
- Biological sciences