I know I speak for all the team when thanking Alice for her work and dedication in relation to Horizon Europe, Horizon 2020, FP7 and European Partnerships over the years! We wish her well in her new role.

The Cluster 6 NCP team continue to offer a range of supports to the research and innovation communities looking to access European funding. We would encourage all interested parties to contact the team in relation to any of your Horizon Europe queries and we will endeavour to assist in whatever way we can and hopefully help you navigate the many challenges associated with the programme.

2021-22 Highlights

As we begin the next 2-year Horizon Work Programme Cycle we can look back on a very successful 2021 and 2022 for Irish participants in Cluster 6-related projects. There were more than 440 participations with Irish participants in main-listed proposals receiving approximately €53 million in funding. 

One of the highlights of the Programme so far is the success of Teagasc which is ranked in the top 10 participants in Europe in terms of funding. They are involved in over 20 projects and coordinate a number of projects including the SafeHabitus project (pictured below) launched last month which aims to advance safer practices on farms across the EU. The project kicked-off in January 2023 and will run for four years. It involves 20 leading academic and industry teams across 12 European countries and will provide funding to develop and test farm safety solutions.

Cluster 6 2023 call topics are now open!

The 2023-2024 Work Programme was published on the 8 December 2022. This WP represents an investment of just under €1.5billion. There is €890 million available in 2023 to fund research and innovation in seven specific focus areas or destinations.

Destination 1 - Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services

Destination 2 - Fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly food systems from primary production to consumption

Destination 3 - Circular Economy and the Bioeconomy

Destination 4 - Clean environment and zero pollution

Destination 5 - Lands, oceans and water for climate action

Destination 6 - Resilient inclusive and healthy and green rural coastal and urban communities

Destination 7 - Innovative governance, environmental observations and digital solutions in support of the Green Deal

There are more than 100 topics with deadlines for proposal submission on the 23, 28 March and 12 April.

The European Commission held a two-day information event presenting all the call topics in December. The programme also included an insight on the policy context of the Work Programme as well as a ‘key-to-success' session focused on guidance and tips for quality proposals. Interested applicants should access the recordings of the sessions, together with the related presentations. These are available on the event website.

Missions 2023 call topics 

Four out of the five EU Missions are closely related to Cluster 6. The EU Missions part of the main work programme 2023 under Horizon Europe contains new mission-specific calls and topics to support the full implementation of missions according to their implementation plans. Calls for proposals under the Soil, Oceans, Climate and Cities Missions opened in January. The Commission recently organised information days on the topics in the 2023 Missions Work Programme. Recordings of the event are available on the event website

We wish all applicants every success in their applications and please do not hesitate to contact the NCP team if we can assist in any way.

UPCOMING EVENTS

The event is an opportunity to gain insights into the upcoming CBE JU call 2023 and to have a better understanding of:

 - The submission & evaluation of proposals

 - Call management rules & conditions

 - How to write a good CBE JU proposal

Networking opportunities will enable you to engage with other CBE JU community members. The registration for the event will open in late February.

The Joint Programme Initiative "Connecting Climate Knowledge for Europe" (JPI Climate), together with the MAGICA project, supported by the European Commission, is organising this edition of ECCA. It will be an in-person event over two days for up to 500 people with live streaming of all plenary sessions and interactive hybrid formats.  https://www.ecca2023.eu/