Horizon Europe 2025 work programme Cluster 6: Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment

Unless otherwise provided for in the specific call/topic conditions, only legal entities forming a consortium are eligible to participate in actions provided that the consortium includes, as beneficiaries, three legal entities independent from each other and each established in a different country as follows:

• 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 (this includes the UK).

Our European team can help you find eligible partners to form a consortium.

There may be further eligibility conditions for specific topics. Please check the Work Programme and talk to our team to ensure your eligibility before applying.

Join the Horizon Europe Cluster 6 Information Days to learn more about the topics of the forthcoming Work Programme 2025; these will take place on 20 May (8am-3.30pm CEST, 7am-2.30pm GMT) and 21 May (8am-5PM CEST, 7am-4pm GMT).

The event will cover:

• Insights into the policy context
• A ‘key-to-success’ session focused on guidance and tips for quality proposals
• Pitches for each of the topics from the Work Programme 2025
• A session on COFUND partnerships’ topics

The Info Day will be streamed online: click here to learn more and access the livestream.

As a complement to the Info Days, the CARE4BIO project, gathering Cluster 6 National Contact Points (NCPs), will organise two additional events in Warsaw (Poland) for potential applicants:

• 27 May 2025: Brokerage event (on-site) It will offer networking and matchmaking opportunities for prospective applicants. Registration for 27 May
• 28 May 2025: Interactive training for applicants (on-site) Registration for 28 May (Limited number of participants)

Potential applicants may also wish to sign up for the EU Missions Info Days on 22-23 May (with topics including Adaptation to Climate Change, 100 Climate-Neutral and Smart cities by 2030, Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030, and A Soil Deal for Europe) and the related Brokerage Events on 26-27 May.

Topics available:

Single-stage calls closing on 17 Sep 2025:

• Additional activities for the European Biodiversity Partnership: Biodiversa+ (total funding of €60m over 3 years for a single project)
• Strengthening the capacity of citizen science in biodiversity observation – funding of c.€4m for a single project
• Strengthening taxonomic approaches for biodiversity – total funding €24m, c.€12m per project
• Large-scale in situ biodiversity observations for better understanding of biodiversity state, drivers of its decline and impacts of policies – total funding €22m, c.€11m per project
• Assessing and modelling ecosystems’ dynamic processes to guide restoration activities and to improve models used for climate – total funding €18m, c.€6m per project
• Assessing and modelling socio-economic impacts of nature restoration – total funding €16m, c.€5-6m per project
• Integrated and coordinated approaches for coral reefs and associated ecosystems (mangroves and seagrass beds) conservation, restoration, and climate mitigation and adaptation – total funding €12m, c.€6m per project
• Strengthening pathways to alternative socio-economic models for continuous improvement of biodiversity – total funding €14m, c.€7m per project
• Understanding the perceptions of and improving communication on the biodiversity crisis and nature restoration benefits to sustain citizen engagement and democratic governance – total funding €6m, c.€3m per project
• Supporting the implementation of nature restoration measures for sustainable farming systems – total funding €11m, c.€5-6m per project

Two-stage calls with stage 1 closing date 4 Sep 2025 and stage 2 closing date 18 Feb 2026:

• Living labs co-creating innovative solutions for forests and freshwater ecosystems restoration – total funding €14m, c.€7m per project
• Breeding for resilience: enhancing multi-stress tolerance in crops – total funding €14m, c.€7m per project

Topics available:

Single-stage calls closing on 16 Sep 2025:

• Additional activities for the European partnership on accelerating farming systems transition – agroecology living labs and research infrastructures – €90m over 3 years for a single project
• Additional activities for the European partnership on animal health and welfare – €120m over 3 years for a single project
• Overcoming the barriers for scaling up circular water management in agriculture – total funding €12m, c.€6m per project
• Enhancing plant protein production to bolster the resilience of agricultural systems and EU self-sufficiency in plant protein used as feed – total funding €11m, c.€5.5m per project
• Developing innovative phytosanitary measures for plant health – focus on systems approach for pest risk management – total funding €12m, c.€6m per project
• Improving grassland management in European livestock farming systems – total funding €16m, c.€8m per project
• Fostering animal breeding and genetics for climate change adaptation and mitigation, improved robustness and resilience – total funding €12m, c.€6m per project
• Exploring the potential of controlled environment agriculture (CEA) – c.€6m for a single project
• Strengthening the EU crop breeding research and innovation ecosystem for competitive, resilient, and sustainable agriculture – c.€3m for a single project
• Diversifying aquaculture production with emphasis on low-trophic species – total funding €12m, c.€6m per project
• Towards modern, integrated, and effective fisheries monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) systems – total funding €12m, c.€6m per project
• Nutrition and Mental Health – total funding €10m, c.€5m per project
• Raising citizen awareness on alternative proteins derived from biotechnology – c.€2m for a single project
• Nutrients produced by microorganisms utilising primarily CO2 from the air, with the support of biotechnology – total funding €12m, c.€6m per project
• Additional activities of the European partnership on sustainable food systems for people, planet and climate – c.€130m over 3 years for a single project
• Developing a joint AU-EU Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System (AKIS) supporting the Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture (FNSSA) partnership – c.€6m for a single project
• Nutrition in emergency situations – Ready-to-use Supplementary Food (RUSF) and Ready-to-use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) – total funding €8m, c.€4m per project

Two-stage calls with stage 1 closing date 4 Sep 2025 and stage 2 closing date 18 Feb 2026:

• Emerging and future risks to plant health – total funding €12m, c.€6m per project
• Open topic: Innovating for on-farm post-harvest operations, storage and transformation of crops into food and non-food products – total funding €12m, c.€6m per project
• Making food systems more resilient to food safety risks through the deployment of technological solutions – total funding €12m, c.€6m per project
• Research and innovation for food waste prevention and reduction at household level through measurement, monitoring and new technologies – total funding €8m, c.€4m per project
• Developing agroecology living labs and lighthouses for climate action under the Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture (FNSSA) partnership – total funding €12m, c.€6m per project

Topics available:

Single-stage calls closing on 17 Sep 2025:

• Novel circular business models to enable the just transition to a sustainable and circular economy – total funding €10m, c.€5m per project
• Improving ecodesign of products and development of testing methods for products prioritised under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation – total funding €8m, c.€4m per project
• Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) of policy and market-relevant product groups – total funding €8m, c.€4m per project
• Development and testing of Extended Producer Responsibility schemes (EPR) within the priority Circular Economy Action Plan value chains – total funding €10m, c.€5m per project
• Consumption patterns and environmental awareness as enablers of transition to circular economy – total funding €12m, c.€6m per project
• Indicators for the transition to sustainable and circular economy – total funding €8m, c.€4m per project
• Demonstration, deployment and upscaling of circular systemic solutions in cities and regions (Circular Cities and Regions Initiative) – total funding €18m, c.€9m per project
• Bioprospecting and optimized production of the terrestrial natural products: new opportunities for biobased sectors – total funding €11m, c.€5.5m per project
• Unleashing the potential and advancing the impact of the digitalization/Artificial Intelligence of the climate-neutral bio-based value chains – total funding €10m, c.€5m per project
• Support to the EU Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Initiative: scoping action – €2m for a single project
• Demonstration of reduced energy use and optimised flexible energy supply for industrial bio-based systems – total funding €11m, c.€5.5m per project
• Harmonizing and optimising composting plants performances in Europe – €2m for a single project
• Reconstructing areas affected by conflicts: the role of the bio-based solutions – total funding €8m, c.€4m per project
• Bioprospecting and optimised production of marine/aquatic natural products in the omics & artificial intelligence era – total funding €12m, c.€6m per project
• European partnership: Forests and Forestry for a Sustainable Future – €70m over 3 years for a single project

Two-stage calls with stage 1 closing date 4 Sep 2025 and stage 2 closing date 18 Feb 2026:

• Open Topic: Innovative solutions for the sustainable and circular transformation of SMEs – total funding €10m, c.€5m per project

Topics available:

Single-stage calls closing on 17 Sep 2025:

• Innovative and advanced monitoring and modelling systems for revised air quality policies – €10m for a single project
• Environmental impacts from the production of agricultural crops for bio-based industrial systems – €2m for a single project
• Environmental biotechnology applications in service of remediation of polluted ecosystems – total funding €8m, c.€4m per project
• Towards a comprehensive European strategy to assess and monitor aquatic litter including plastic and microplastic pollution – €6m for a single project
• EU-India cooperation on cumulative impacts of marine pollution on marine organisms and ecosystems – total funding €12m, c.€6m per project
• Provide digital solutions tailored to small and medium-sized farms to monitor and sustainably manage agricultural inputs and natural resources – €8m for a single project
• Reducing pollution from the food and drink industries – total funding €12m, c.€6m per project

Two-stage call with stage 1 closing date 4 Sep 2025 and stage 2 closing date 18 Feb 2026:

• Substances of concern and emerging pollutants from biobased industries and products: mapping and replacement – total funding €10m, c.€5m per project

Topics available:

Single-stage calls closing on 16 Sep 2025:

• The ocean-climate-biodiversity nexus and marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) – total funding €12m, c.€6m per project
• The ocean-climate-biodiversity-people nexus: uncovering safe operating space for safeguarding the integrity and health of the global ocean – total funding €19.5m, c.€6.5m per project
• Understanding and managing medium and longer-term challenges and opportunities for agriculture stemming from shifting climatic zones and changing agroecological environments – total funding €10m, c.€5m per project
• Monitoring, reporting, verification and mitigation of non-CO2 greenhouse gas emissions and related air pollutants from agriculture – total funding €12m, c.€6m per project
• Additional activities for the European Partnership Water Security for the Planet (Water4All) – €70m over 3 years for a single project

Two-stage call with stage 1 closing date 4 Sep 2025 and stage 2 closing date 18 Feb 2026:

• Strengthening the resilience of water systems and water sector to climate and global socio-economic change impacts – total funding €18m, c.€6m per project

Topics available (all topics in this destination are single-stage calls closing on 16 Sep 2025):

• Adapting to and mitigating demographic trends in rural areas through evidence-based planning and innovative solutions – total funding €13m, c.€6.5m per project
• Exploring and improving access to housing in rural areas and developing the houses and villages of the future – €6m for a single project
• Innovative solutions for resilient and climate-adapted coastal communities in the Atlantic – €6m for a single project
• Creating urban co-creation spaces for driving sustainable food system transformation – total funding €12m, c.€6m per project

Topics available (all topics in this destination are single-stage calls closing on 24 Sep 2025):

• Improving analytical capacity and understanding of the bargaining power and interactions of farmers with the operators of the value chains – €6m for a single project
• Upscaling innovative payments to support farmers in the delivery of agri-environment-climate public goods – total funding €12m, c.€6m per project
• Boosting the attractiveness of agriculture and the connection between the farming community and society – total funding €12m, c.€6m per project
• Operationalisation of bioeconomy sustainability principles – total funding €8m, c.€4m per project
• Exploring options to resolve land and sea use competition – total funding €9m, c.€4.5m per project
• Strengthening and connecting bioeconomy networks – c.€4.4m for a single project
• Strengthening the European Research Area by enhancing the bioeconomy research and innovation ecosystem in BIOEAST countries (Central and Eastern Europe) – c.€4m for a single project
• Effective environmental observing systems and associated governance – total funding €10m, c.€5m per project
• Delivering Earth Intelligence to accelerate the green and digital transition – total funding €15m, c.€7.5m per project
• Improving and integrating polar observation systems in response to user requirements at local, regional, and international level – total funding €16m, c.€8m per project
• Enhancing sustainability and resilience of agriculture, forestry and rural development through digital twins – total funding €12m, c.€6m per project
• Increasing knowledge flows to practice within Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS) via thematic networks – c.€3m for a single project
• Strengthening knowledge and skills of advisors and integrating them within Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS) via an EU advisory network – c.€10m for a single project
• Preparing farmers, their workforce and advisors to the future of agriculture by providing the relevant knowledge, skills and competences at the right time and place – c.€8m for a single project