20 May LIFE PROGRAMME TURNS 30!.CALL FOR ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE ACTION PROJECTS 2022

The Programme for Environment and Climate Action (LIFE) is the EU’s main funding instrument for the environment and climate action, as its name suggests, and a cooperative catalyst for  the Green Deal.

In the  2022 edition, the LIFE programme turns 30.During these last 3 decades, LIFE has co-financed with 3.4 billion € more than 5500 projects providing green solutions to current and future climate and environmental crises.

The new LIFE Programme will invest€5.4 billion between 2021 and 2027 in four main areas:

• Nature and biodiversity, aiming at the protection and restoration of Europe’s nature, halting and reversing biodiversity loss. Standard and Strategic Nature Projects (SAP and SNAP grants) will continue to fund nature conservation projects in the areas of biodiversity, habitats and species, supporting the objectives of the EU’s biodiversity strategy for 2030 and contributing to the implementation of the EU Birds & Habitats directives, including the development or management of the Natura 2000 network.
• Circular economy and quality of life: Standard and Strategic Integrated Projects (SAP and SIP grants) that aim at facilitating the transition toward a sustainable, circular, toxic-free, energy-efficient & climate-resilient economy and at protecting, restoring and improving the quality of the environment, and will fund projects in the areas of circular economy, including recovery of resources from waste, water, air, noise, soil and chemical management as well as environmental governance. 
• Climate change mitigation and adaptation: grants supporting the shift towards a sustainable, energy-efficient, renewable energy-based, climate-neutral and resilient economy, thereby contributing to sustainable development and is divided in three sub-areas:
  • Climate change mitigation, which supports projects in the areas of farming, land use, peatland management, renewable energies and energy efficiency, co-funding pilot, demonstration and best practice projects at regional or national level that contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, the implementation and development of EU policy and legislation, and the development of climate change mitigation strategies, action plans and solutions.
  • Climate change adaptation, which co-funds projects in the areas of resilience of the agricultural, forestry and tourism sectors, urban adaptation and land-use planning, resilience of infrastructure, sustainable management of water in drought-prone areas, flood and coastal management, and/or support to the EU’s outermost regions: preparedness for extreme weather events, notably in coastal areas. It covers best practice, pilot and demonstration projects that increase resilience to climate change.
  • Climate governance and information, which will co-finance projects for information, awareness and dissemination on climate matters, including sustainable finance activities, awareness raising and communication, training and capacity building, knowledge development and stakeholder participation in climate change mitigation and adaptation areas, supporting the European Climate Pact.
• Clean energy transition, aimed at facilitating the transition towards an energy-efficient, renewable energy-based, climate-neutral and -resilient economy by funding coordination and support actions (Other Action Grants) across Europe, including high EU added-value actions to break market barriers, hamper the socio-economic transition to sustainable energy, and engage multiple small and medium-sized stakeholders, multiple actors (such as local and regional public authorities and non-profit organisations), and consumers.

WHAT ARE THE DEADLINES FOR THE LIFE CALLS 2022?

In its 30^th Edition, the six LIFE grant modalities have the following deadlines for 2022:

• Standard Action Projects (SAPs) for nature and biodiversity, circular economy and quality of life, climate change mitigation and adaptation sub-programmes, with deadline on 4^th Oct 2022.
• Strategic Nature Projects (SNAPs) support the achievement of EU’s Nature and Biodiversity objectives, with 1^st-stage proposals deadline on 8^th Sept 2022 (full-projects by 7^th March 2023).
• Strategic Integrated Projects (SIPs) implement environmental/climate strategies developed by Member States’ authorities as required by environmental, climate or energy legislation or policy on a regional/multi-regional/national scale, with deadlines as SNAPs.
• Technical Assistance (TA) as preparation for SIPs and SNAPs, with deadline on 8^th Sept 2022.
• Other Action Grants (OAG), including coordination and support actions aimed at capacity-building, dissemination of information and of knowledge, and awareness-raising to support the Clean energy transition sub-programme, with deadline on 16^th November 2022.
• Operating Grants (OG) for non-profit entities involved in the development, implementation and enforcement of EU legislation and policy, with deadline on 21^st September 2022.

CONTACTICA: EXPERIENCE GAINED ON THE BASIS OF GOOD RESULTS

CONTACTICA has extensive experience in the submission of European consortium proposals. With over 10 years of experience in diverse Research and Development (R&D) fields, including environment and eco-innovation, energy, materials, biotechnology, agri-food, and health, CONTACTICA has already obtained funding for more than 30 projects (check the full list here).

Some of our latest awarded projects in 2021, including a LIFE project, are:

• LIFE CARBON2MINE, a 4.6 million € LIFE project for the “Carbon sequestration through sustainable forest and grassland management for climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation in mining areas”.
• NeoGiANT, a 9.3 million € H2020 project for the “Development of Grape-based products to prevent the antibiotics use in farm animals”.
• MAST3RBOOST, a 5.9 million € project, awarded in the first edition of Horizon Europe calls (HE2021) for the “Maturing the production standards of ultraporous structures for high density hydrogen storage bank operating on swinging temperatures and low compression”.
• CALIMERO, a 3.5 million € project also funded in the first edition of Horizon Europe calls (HE2021) for the “Industry case studies analysis to improve environmental performance and sustainability of bio-based industrial processes”.

CONTACTICA provides a wide range of services for Research and Development projects. We accompany you throughout the entire proposal submission process, from the concept validation of the project, to the proposal writing and support in the submission process.  

In addition, CONTACTICA offers project management, communication and dissemination and sustainability servicefor R&D projects, optimizing the project impact.