About

Horizon Europe: Creating knowledge to boost agricultural innovation

Horizon Europe supports farmers’ and foresters’ immediate needs with research and innovation, in particular through multi-actor projects and thematic networks.

What is Horizon Europe? 

Horizon Europe is the EU’s key funding programme for research and innovation with a budget of €95.5 billion. It tackles climate change, helps to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and boosts the EU’s competitiveness and growth.

Pillar II of Horizon Europe ‘Global Challenges and European industrial competitiveness’ is subdivided into six clusters and includes the EU Missions. Cluster 6 ‘Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and the Environment’, and the EU Mission: ‘A soil deal for Europe’ include many topics relevant for the EIP-AGRI network.

How will Horizon Europe help farmers and foresters? 

Horizon Europe aims to create solutions for problems which farmers and foresters currently face. Along with support to academic projects, it funds projects where researchers and practitioners build solutions together: these are called 'multi-actor projects'. Specific efforts are also made to share knowledge and results that are ready to be put into practice, in particular via 'thematic networks'.  

How is Horizon Europe funding made available? 

Horizon Europe works through annual work programmes which include concrete calls and topics for projects. These calls are clustered into ‘destinations’. For most of the topics, you will have to build consortia with at least three partners from three different countries. 

So far, the Horizon Europe Cluster 6 2021-2022 work programme (2021-2022) and the Soil Mission 2021 work programme (2021-2022) have been published. 

How do I apply? 

Work programmes present the specific research and innovation areas that will be funded. The upcoming Calls for Proposals will be accessible through the one-stop-shop Funding and Tenders Portal. 

In the published work programmes, each Call gives more precise information on the research and innovation issues that applicants should address in their proposals to receive funding. Special conditions for participation are also explained in the work programmes.

How do I get support to participate? 

Every year the EIP-AGRI publishes a brochure guiding EIP-AGRI network members through the calls (including through calls of potential interest outside cluster 6): see brochures on Horizon 2020 calls 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020. 

Next opportunities to apply to Horizon Europe will be under the calls 2023/24 and under the Soil Mission 2022 calls. 

What is the multi-actor approach? 

The multi-actor approach requires that end users and multipliers of research results such as farmers and farmers’ groups, advisors, enterprises and others, are closely involved throughout the whole research project period. This should lead to innovative solutions that are more likely to be applied in the field, because those who need the solutions will be involved right from the start: from defining the questions, to planning, to implementing research work, to experiments and right up to possible demonstrations and dissemination. Openness to involve relevant groups operating in the EIP context (such as Rural Development Operational Groups) has been strongly recommended in the Horizon 2020 bi-annual work programmes. 

Learn more about multi-actor projects

What are thematic networks? 

Thematic networks are multi-actor projects which specifically aim to:

  • collect existing knowledge and best practices on a given theme and facilitate their use;
  • develop easily understandable material for practice, such as infosheets in a common format and audio-visual material. The material should be available on a long-term basis and easily accessible to end users such as farmers, foresters, advisors etc.

Learn more about thematic networks

How to learn more about Horizon Europe?