The ERA-NET Cofund SUSFOOD2
The ERA-NET Cofund SUSFOOD2 - “SUStainable FOOD production and consumption” - started in January 2017 and is the continuation of the FP7 ERA-NET SUSFOOD (2011 - 2014). The ERA-NET Cofund instrument under Horizon 2020 is designed to support public-public partnerships between Member States (and associated countries) for the implementation and coordination of networking activities in different fields of research, including the realisation of at least one joint transnational call for research and innovation projects which benefits from a budget contribution by the European Commission. This additional co-funding of the EU aims at contributing to an ampler selection of projects irrespective of the financial contribution of individual countries by filling in financial short comings. SUSFOOD2 consists of a network of 26 partners from 15 countries (plus 2 associated partners from Belgium and New Zealand).
The objectives of the SUSFOOD2 network
The strategic goal of SUSFOOD2 complements the EU bioeconomy and food policies1 , and aims to reinforce cooperation in research, development and innovation between EU members and associated States in order to maximize the contribution of research to the development of more sustainable food systems from production to consumption. Global demand for food is expected to rise by at least 60% by 20502 . At the same time the food supply chain is under pressure due to limited resources, water scarcity, soil degradation, biodiversity loss and the impacts of climate change. More than one third of the food produced in the world today is lost or wasted3 . Our food system has experienced huge transformation during the last century with changes in dietary preferences impacting on consumer health and food availability (e.g. increasing non-communicable diseases and obesity). To meet these challenges we need to strengthen a sustainable4 food system providing opportunities for all stakeholders to develop a secure, resilient and competitive sector. The scope of SUSFOOD covers the entire food supply chain with the main focus on food chain sustainability beyond the farm5 gate. The farm level will be considered if it has direct impact on the sustainability of the other steps in the food chain.
SUSFOOD2 promotes a cross-sectoral and multi-disciplinary approach from biology to food engineering and social sciences. It addresses the following socio-economic and environmental goals:
- To develop sustainable food systems from production to consumption, to increase food production sustainably while reducing waste in food supply chain and limiting environmental impacts;
- To improve the quality of life by improving food quality in a sustainable way and to ensure the resilience of the food supply chain;
- To encourage sustainable consumer behaviours and food choices;
- To improve competitiveness and economic growth in the European food industry with special attention to SMEs. SUSFOOD2 starts its 5 year cooperation with the launch of a joint transnational call for Research / Research and Innovation collaborative proposals in the field of sustainable food production and consumption with an indicative budget of 14 M EURO including a co-funding by the EU of approximately 4 M EURO.
PARTICIPATION TO THE CALL AND FUNDING MODALITIES
The following partner countries will provide funds to the call: Belgium (Flanders), Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Norway, Romania, Spain, Sweden, The Netherlands, Turkey, and UK.
Project consortia will be able to submit “Research” or “Research and Innovation” proposals:
- “Research” Project consortia are expected to be formed only by research organizations
- “Research and Innovation” Project consortia are expected to be formed by research organizations and industry (enterprises)
The funding for transnational projects will be mainly based on a virtual common pot instrument. This means that applicants of projects that have been selected for funding will receive the grant directly from their national funding institution according to their terms and conditions. Applicants are therefore strongly advised to consider the National Regulations published in Annex 3 of this document. Applicants who cannot receive funding, e.g. from countries which are not funding partners in SUSFOOD2 or from countries which do not provide funding for a specific thematic area of the Call or where the funding parties support only certain types of organizations (industry or academia etc.), are welcome to participate in the Call. However, their costs need to be covered from their own resources or by other sources. They are not taken into account in the minimum requirement of eligible partners and countries in the SUSFOOD2 eligibility criteria and cannot apply as coordinators of the research proposal consortium.
CALL TOPICS
Research/Research and Innovation project consortia must apply to one of the four topics, which will be funded according to the budget table 1:
Topic 1: Innovation in food processing technologies and products
Topic 2: Providing added value, increased resource efficiency and reduction of waste in sustainable food systems
Topic 3: Understanding consumer behavior and food choices
Topic 4: Harmonisation of the methods and metrics for integrated assessment of sustainability of food products and food patterns
Please note that CORE Organic Cofund has launched a call in December 2016. SUSFOOD2 and CORE Organic Cofund will collaborate closely during the selection process to avoid overlap and double funding. For further questions, please contact the respective call offices.
TIMELINE
The call involves a 2-stage procedure with submission and selection of pre-proposals and, subsequently, invitation of shortlisted consortia to submit full proposals. The respective time schedule and activities required are listed in the table below.
APPLICATION - GENERAL ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
The application has to meet and consider the following general eligibility criteria:
• The transnational consortium must consist of at least three independent eligible legal entities from at least three SUSFOOD2 partner countries listed in Annex 3;
• The application must be written in English;
• Projects should have a maximum duration of 36 months;
• The requested total budget cannot exceed 1.5 M € per proposal (requested funding);
• Total eligible budget of a partner cannot exceed 70 % of the total eligible project budget in order to achieve balanced partnerships and ensure that responsibility and risks are shared;
• Registration to the Meta Knowledge Base (MKB) is compulsory
For more information please click "Further Official Information" below.
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http://susfood-db-era.net/drupal/content/call-documents