Science - Policy - Society Interface (SPSI) capacity development initiatives

Science - Policy - Society Interface (SPSI) capacity development initiatives

Type of grant: Cascade funding

Opening date: 26 November 2024

Deadline model: single-stage

Deadline date: 27 January 2025 21:00 (Brussels time)

Status: Forthcoming

Expected duration of participation: Maximum duration 20 months starting earliest in May 2025

Total funding available: €350,000.00

Project acronym: BioAgora

Full name of the EU funded project: Bio Knowledge Agora: Developing the Science Service for European Research and Biodiversity Policymaking

Grant agreement number: 101059438

Topic: HORIZON-CL6-2021-BIODIV-01-19 - A mechanism for science to inform implementation, monitoring, review and ratcheting up of the new EU biodiversity strategy for 2030 ('Science Service').

Submission & evaluation process

Submission of proposals are proceeded through EC portal

1. To be able to apply for funding, the main applicant must first register for an EU login account. See instructions for creating a login account here: EU Login - Online Manual - Funding Tenders Opportunities
2. Grant application shall only to be submitted by the main applicant (coordinator as applicable) in the EC portal: EU Funding & Tenders Portal.
3. Instructions on how to find the call: Find a call - IT How To - Funding Tenders Opportunities

How to Apply

Applicants need to use a two templates Part A (administrative information and declarations) and Part B (technical description), and strictly follow the guidelines for applications. All submitted applications need to fill eligibility criteria to be reviewed by experts.

Documents for applications:

1. Submission guidelines
2. Part A
3. Part B
4. Power of Attorney

Link to BioAgora website with all documents: Financial support for third parties - BioAgora

Eligibility criteria for projects and partners

Applications can be submitted by one legal entity or a consortium of legal entities. Applicants must meet the following criteria to be eligible for the grant:

1. The main applicant is a legal entity (legal person). The application may be submitted by a consortium (grouping of legal persons represented by a coordinator), and the criterion of being a legal entity applies to all consortium participants.
2. The applicant is eligible for funding under the EU Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Programme. If the application is submitted by a consortium, this criterion applies to all the consortium participants.

Applications not fulfilling the above-stated eligibility criteria will be rejected.

Furthermore, the following legal entities (legal persons) will not be eligible for funding:

1. Entities subject to EU restrictive measures.
2. Restrictive measures imposed by the EU may target governments of third countries, or non-state entities (e.g. companies) and individuals (such as terrorist groups and terrorists). For overview see more at European Union sanctions | EEAS (europa.eu)
3. Organizations which are consortium members of BioAgora cannot submit grant applications nor can they be a partner in the grant applications. Check partners in the BioAgora website.

Assessment process and criteria

Applications will be evaluated by an evaluation team. Each application is evaluated by three reviewers and applications will receive a score of 0-5 for each of the criteria. The final scores of each criteria are average scores of three evaluations. Applications must receive a score of at least 3 points in each of the categories described in the submission guidelines, with an overall minimum score of 12 points, to be considered for award of a grant.

Further information

BioAgora is launching a new funding call for capacity development initiatives aimed at capacity building across the science-policy-society interface. This call invites proposals for a wide range of capacity development activities which enhance skills and capacities of scientists, policymakers and other actors to collaborate at the science-policy-society interface.

BioAgora is a collaborative European project funded by the Horizon Europe programme. It aims to connect research results on biodiversity to the needs of decision-making in a targeted dialogue between scientists, other knowledge holders and policy actors. Its main outcome will be the development of a fair and functional Science Service for Biodiversity, that will orchestrate processes and initiatives at the Science-Policy Interface at the European level.

BioAgora will develop a Science Service for Biodiversity (SSBD) that fully supports the ecological transition required by the European Green Deal and the European Union’s Biodiversity Strategy for 2030. It will provide the scientific pillar of the EU’s Knowledge Centre for Biodiversity (KCBD).

The Science Service for Biodiversity will respond to this current gap in Science-Policy-Society Interfaces but will also foresee future needs. This entails the orchestration of science-policy-society interactions (SPSI) within the EU, which link scientific and non-scientific knowledge more efficiently with policymaking and implementation. By bridging the gap between scientific knowledge and policymaking, BioAgora seeks to create an inclusive platform where diverse actors can contribute to biodiversity conservation efforts. To achieve this aim, it is crucial to identify relevant actors and help them participate in science-policy-society interactions in a meaningful way.

Task description

BioAgora has identified eighteen major capacity development needs varying from communication, time management, inclusion, diverse values and worldviews, and bringing people together (D1.1. Typology of Challenges). To bridge these gaps, the proposed activities need to broaden the capacities towards transdisciplinary collaboration. Because of the mismatch between the demand and supply side of capacity development initiatives the proposed activities need to highlight which target group is included and which capacities (skills or competencies) are in the focus. Suggestions of issues which may be covered in the proposed activities:

1. Systemic and policy-side challenges in the implementation of the actions of the EU Biodiversity Strategy
2. Contribution to targeted capacity development initiatives
3. Inclusion of different actors across sectors and disciplines to collaborate in the SPSI

Capacity development activities funded by the cascade funding should contribute to bridging the gap between science and policy with active participation of both the science community and the policy side including a co-learning working mode.

Capacity development activities may include:

1. General training on SPSI skills and competences
2. Topical capacity development to enhance the implementation of the BDS2030 by forging collaborations with relevant actors and knowledge holders
3. Training boundary spanners to cross boundaries of the scientific and the policy actors to enable knowledge exchange, exchange of practices, and building shared values on an active and functional SPSI.

Because the work in BioAgora aims to empower transformative change for biodiversity, the third option will be prioritized (i.e. away from the usual collaboration and towards challenge and disruption).

The capacity development activities should be open for participants from different countries of Europe. We welcome applications that consider socio-cultural differences across Europe and tailor their planned activities to diverse contexts. By transdisciplinary we aim at including social and environmental disciplines and a diversity of stakeholders and/or knowledge holders.

Applicants should refer to earlier experience from SPSI activities, and activities may also be cofinanced with own or other sources (co-funding means financial supplement targeted to this activity, e.g. through new projects, training activities. It cannot be part of already ongoing projects, or financing already ongoing activities).