The call is relevant for regions that are willing to develop circular systemic solutions (CSS) for their agricultural and rural areas in the field of bioeconomy, particularly with agricultural and forestry residues that can be collected without affecting agricultural production and/or soil quality. Bioeconomy solutions can be developed to improve the economics of rural areas and therefore the economics of the regions.

Applications are open to any legal entity based in EU Member States and associated countries. Applicants are required to cooperate with at least three parties from three different countries, including 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. Participation of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and industry is encouraged.

This topic addresses innovative business models and technology options in primary production sectors to unlock the potential of the bioeconomy in rural areas and to efficiently use underutilised biomass (in particular side streams from agriculture and forestry), for high value applications in small-scale, bio-based demonstration pilots.

The total indicative budget for the topic is EUR 15.00 million (indicative number of grants: three).

1. EC publishes calls for proposals on the funding and tenders portal.
 

2. The call for applicants to submit their proposals is open for the usual period of five months.
 

3. The application processes for proposals can have one or two stages:
 

• A single-stage application process requires applicants to complete a structured proposal that is a maximum of 45 pages long and includes: the objectives and innovation approach (excellence); tangible impacts that can be achieved through the project (impact); and the project planning and tasks (quality).
• For a two-stage application process, the first stage of the application is a simplified proposal, which can be a maximum of 10 pages. The second is the same as the single-stage application process; it requires applicants to complete a structured proposal including the excellence, impact and quality sections, which can be a maximum of 45 pages. These documents must be uploaded to the portal in a PDF file format. The administrative information of the beneficiaries, affiliated entities or others must also be submitted in the portal. All participants of a project must have a Participant Identification Code (i.e. PIC number, a nine-digit number registered on ECAS).

For more information, please see the work programme and the call documents.
 

4. Proposals submitted within the deadline will be evaluated by experts against the evaluation criteria.
 

5. Winning proposals will be invited to sign a grant agreement with the EC.

Planned opening date: 17 October 2023

Deadlines: 22 February 2024 (first stage), 17 Sep 2024 (second stage)