Boosting Sustainable Competitiveness In Rural Areas Through Innovation

The destination supports the European Green Deal and contributes to Europe’s competitiveness and sustainable prosperity by supporting the sustainable development and the just and fair transition of rural, coastal and urban communities.

This destination will support the EU Commission priorities ‘Sustaining our quality of life: food security, water and nature’ and ‘Supporting people, strengthening our societies and our social model’.

R&I will support knowledge needs stemming from the EU vision for agriculture and food, the Commission strategy for generational renewal in agriculture, and continue to support the implementation of common agricultural policy and the long-term vision for EU’s rural areas.

R&I activities in this destination will also contribute to achieving the objectives of the strategy for European life sciences, the EU start-up and scaleup strategy, the new EU bioeconomy strategy and the food 2030 initiative.

R&I will complement the new European Bauhaus (NEB) initiative by transformation of spaces and integrating the core NEB values.

Overall, R&I activities under this destination will contribute to supporting people and communities while strengthening our societies and our social model.

R&I will also support communities to work and prosper with nature, preserving biodiversity and ecosystem, and scaling-up the use of Nature-based Solutions, in line with the objectives of the EU climate adaptation strategy and the EU Nature Restoration Regulation.

R&I actions under this Destination will encourage international cooperation, in line with the global approach on R&I. The Destination supports unlocking the unique assets for research and innovation of the EU outermost regions, in line with the EU strategy for outermost regions^[1].

Expected Impact: Proposals for topics under this destination should set out credible paths to "sustainably developing rural, urban and coastal areas". More specifically, proposed topics should contribute to one or more of the following expected impacts:

• Communities are empowered to act for a transformative change to increase their sustainability and resilience, through better access to knowledge and tools (including digital ones), and are better prepared to adapt to climate change and to achieve climate neutrality as well as to address environmental issues, including biodiversity loss.
• Rural communities are prepared to anticipate and respond to social, economic and environmental shocks and are attractive for young innovators.
• Urban and peri-urban communities can access affordable, healthier, nutritious and environmental-friendly food, benefitting from empowered local food entrepreneurship and socially innovative approaches, increasing resilience and inclusiveness.

[1] COM(2022) Putting people first, securing sustainable and inclusive growth, unlocking the potential of the EU’s outermost regions.

Online Manual is your guide on the procedures from proposal submission to managing your grant.

Horizon Europe Programme Guide contains the detailed guidance to the structure, budget and political priorities of Horizon Europe.

Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ – find the answers to most frequently asked questions on submission of proposals, evaluation and grant management.

Research Enquiry Service – ask questions about any aspect of European research in general and the EU Research Framework Programmes in particular.

National Contact Points (NCPs) – get guidance, practical information and assistance on participation in Horizon Europe. There are also NCPs in many non-EU and non-associated countries (‘third-countries’).

Enterprise Europe Network – contact your EEN national contact for advice to businesses with special focus on SMEs. The support includes guidance on the EU research funding.

IT Helpdesk – contact the Funding & Tenders Portal IT helpdesk for questions such as forgotten passwords, access rights and roles, technical aspects of submission of proposals, etc.

European IPR Helpdesk assists you on intellectual property issues.

CEN-CENELEC Research Helpdesk and ETSI Research Helpdesk – the European Standards Organisations advise you how to tackle standardisation in your project proposal.

The European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for their recruitment – consult the general principles and requirements specifying the roles, responsibilities and entitlements of researchers, employers and funders of researchers.

Partner Search help you find a partner organisation for your proposal.