Restore4Life call for Associated Regions
The Call for Associated Regions is here!
We are pleased to announce the Call for Associated Regions to participate in the Restore4Life project is now open!
We are looking for at least 5 Associated Regions1 that we can provide with technical assistance to use the outcomes and knowledge of Restore4Life to prepare roadmaps, plans, and projects to restore wetland ecosystems in their region.
The aim is to share the results and knowledge of the project on an ongoing basis with the selected ‘associated regions’ and to provide them with scientific and technical support for the implementation of wetland restoration solutions in their territory. This will involve the twinning of each Associated Region with a similar demonstration site and the provision of technical advisory services necessary to prepare roadmaps, plans and projects to restore ecosystems in the associated regions addressing possible barriers and showing the feasibility of implementing innovative solutions.
To achieve this, we will implement special formats, interactive workshops and a platform for twinning activities to continuously share Restore4Life outcomes and knowledge. All developed tools and restoration measures will be fully open, usable, and made applicable to the Associated Regions.
By joining us as an Associated Region, you will have the opportunity to access our expertise, knowledge, and tools to develop your own roadmap, plan, or project to restore wetland ecosystems in your region.
1 Associated regions are understood as “areas with similar ecosystems (e.g., neighbouring regions and/or regions in a different river basin and/or less-developed regions, to build capacity to implement the innovative solutions) and abiotic, biotic and socio-economic conditions to at least one demonstrator site of Restore4Life.”
Eligibility criteria:
- Local and/or regional authorities from EU Member States2 and associated countries to the Horizon Europe Programme3
- Applicants should have a good command of English
- Applicants must be eligible for participation in the EC Horizon Europe Framework Programme and must ensure the following obligations of the Grant Agreement, namely Articles 12 (conflict of interest), 13 (confidentiality and security), 14 (ethics), 17.2 (visibility), 18 (specific rules for carrying out action), 19 (information) and 20 (record-keeping).
Important:
Countries that are part of the Restore4Life consortium can not participate: Austria, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain
Sounds interesting?
Assessment process:
The assessment panel will rate all of the eligible proposals for good practices against a scorecard linked to the following criteria:
1.Excellence:
- Objectives fitting to the principles of Restore4Life
- Similarity to at least one of the four Implementation Sites
2. Impact:
- Estimated impact for Restore4Life
- Expected benefit for the EU MISSION “RESTORE OUR OCEAN AND WATERS”
3.Implementation
- Feasibility of planned activities/plan for co-creation, monitoring and restoration
- Existing knowledge, ambition, resources and/or local and regional network
The selection of associated regions will be made by an evaluation board consisting of the Steering Committee, and an external Advisory Committee. The outcome of the evaluation will be a ranked list of all proposals, based on the scores obtained by each proposal. In case multiple proposals are ranked with the same score, a consensus meeting will be convened in order to select the ones for funding. After the evaluation of the proposals, proposals proposed for funding will be contacted.
Please note:
- Partners from the Associated Regions have to organise workshops held with local stakeholders
- In all cases, partners will need to stay within the €100,000 allocated
FAQ
The Application process starts at the 1st of February. All relevant documents will be uploaded to this website soon!
No, the application must be submitted via local authorities. In case of a consortium, all applying beneficiaries should be local/regional authorities, too. But it is possible that the authorities decide to subcontract the work (e.g. to an NGO).
No, any kind of governmental authorities (also small public administrations) are eligible.
You can find the map for eligible countries here on our webpage. All countries listed there are eligible to apply. For France and Portugal this also includes the Outermost regions like the Azores!
Unfortunately, the Restore4Life Open Call is restricted to EU member states and countries (already) associated to Horizon Europe. Third countries are not eligible. But other Open Calls within Horizon Europe may be suitable for you.
At the moment, there are no restrictions from the EU, so both countries are allowed to apply!
Co-financing is not an obligation, but the beneficiaries may decide on using additional funds (own or from another entity). This is up to you.
We still need to clarify this with our PO, but it doesn’t seem that indirect costs will be a separate category. It’s more a kind of buffer.
No, the roadmap we will set up together means to have a plan for the restoration; if you get all permissions in time, implementation of the restoration activities is possible within the project duration, but this is not an obligation.
No, there are no requirements belonging the size and other features of the wetlands you will applicate with. Just the country it is situated in and the planned restoration measures need to be eligible and it should show some similarities to one of our Implementation sites.
Privacy:
Contact:
For more information, please contact: info@restore4life.eu
