FUTURALAppel Ouvert
To fuel the growth trajectory of digital solutions for rural area empowerment and boost the overall project impact, FUTURAL will launch a single Open Call (OC) to fund at least ten (10) additional projects that will develop their own SS (different from the eight smart solutions developed by the FUTURAL partners), based on the five FUTURAL SS domains, to be applied in other rural areas (in at least ten European rural areas other than the areas covered by the six MAP areas) and be available on the project’s Metasearch Platform, providing Financial Support to Third Parties (FSTP) as a mechanism to increase the number of SS available to rural communities and accelerate network expansion.
The FUTURAL Open Call will provide a significant opportunity to encourage SMEs and other interested parties (e.g., start-ups, research organisations and rural communities) to develop and apply their own Smart Solutions within the 5 FUTURAL domains, therefore increasing the number of Smart Solutions available to rural communities.
The Open Call aims to:
Address a wider range of societal and environmental challenges related to the 5 FUTURAL domains.
Harness the potential of using data from multiple sources and make users themselves part of the solution.
Enable the transferability and accelerate the uptake and upscale of the digital smart solutions at a pan-European level towards sustainable and resilient rural areas.
Enhance the FUTURAL meta-search platform by adding at least ten (10) SS co-created within rural communities across Europe.
FUTURAL will accept applications from small consortia consisting of two (2) to four (4) parties, involving ≥1 (at least one) technical party (e.g., SMEs, startups, research organisations) and ≥1 (at least one) rural community (e.g., Municipalities, Regional authorities, Development agencies, NGOs etc) and proposed solutions must fall within one of the 5 following domains:
- Circular bioeconomy, biodiversity and ecosystem management
- Resilience to shocks
- Engagement citoyen et qualité de vie :
- Lifelong Education and Training
- Climate Adaptation and Mitigation
Applicants must develop a) a digital solution that can seamlessly be incorporated into FUTURAL and contribute to its growth and expansion and b) an inclusive and collaborative business model aiming to increase the uptake of the SS. Proposed solutions must demonstrate their innovative character at a high level of scientific and technological excellence. OC Smart Solutions are expected to start at TRL4 and reach TRL7 by the end of the project, while business models are expected to start at BRL4 and reach BRL7.
Selected projects will have an implementation timeframe of 12 months and will be divided into 3 phases:
Design
Phase 1
(Duration: June 2025 - September 2025)
[Deliverable: Activity plan]
Development
Phase 2
(Duration: October 2025 - February 2026)
[Deliverable: Digital smart solution demonstration]
Validation
Phase 3
(Duration: March 2026 - May 2026)
[Deliverable: Report on market or community associated activities]
Key numbers and
date of the Open Call:
Total Open Call budget: €1.2 million
Budget per sub-project: €60,000 – €120,000
Budget per partner of the consortium: €30,000 – €60,000
Submission procedure
Proposals will be submitted digitally through the Open Call Hub
Proposals must be delivered before the defined deadline
(September 30th, 2024, at 17:00 CET)
By applying to FUTURAL Open Call, consortia automatically accept the terms and conditions of the Open Call as described in the Open Call Kit:
- FUTURAL Open Call text (Fiche)
- FUTURAL Open Call Hand out Summary
- FUTURAL Open Call Applicants’ Guide
- FUTURAL Open Call Consortium Declaration
- FUTURAL Open Call Declaration of Honour (DoH)
- FUTURAL Open Call Declaration of Conducting Business
- NEW! FUTURAL Open Call Proposal template (Updated 06/09/2024)
- NEW! FUTURAL Open Call Budget Template (Updated 04/09/2024)
- FUTURAL Open Call Bank account information
- FUTURAL Open Call Model sub-grant agreement
- NEW! FUTURAL Open Call Frequently Asked Questions (Final set of FAQs updated 29/09/2024)
FUTURAL is looking for evaluators!
Evaluators
profile
We are looking for independent evaluators, who are able to assess the quality of applications received within the FUTURAL Open Call, shortly after its closure.
Evaluators must be:
- European – EU nationals Member States (MS) of the European Union (EU), including their outermost regions, as well as Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT) linked to an EU Member as well as nationals of Horizon Europe associated countries (full list here).
- Experienced in technical and/or business expertise related to the topics of the call and knowledge surrounding Circular Bioeconomy, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Management, Resilience to Shocks, Citizen Engagement and Quality of Life, Lifelong Education and Training, and Climate Adaptation and Mitigation.
- Experienced in evaluating EC proposals or similar experience.
An evaluator should not work for an organisation that aims to apply for the FUTURAL Open Call, nor for an organisation participating in the FUTURAL consortium.
All evaluators must declare beforehand any known conflicts of interest and must immediately inform the FUTURAL Consortium staff if they detect a conflict of interest during the evaluation. The evaluator’s contract also requires evaluators to maintain strict confidentiality with respect to the whole evaluation process.
They must follow any instruction given by the FUTURAL Consortium to ensure this. Under no circumstance may an evaluator attempt to contact an applicant on his/her own account, during the evaluation process. Confidentiality rules must be adhered to at all times before, during and after the evaluation. All external evaluators will sign a confidentiality declaration.
All evaluators must adhere to the guiding principles for independent experts set out by the EC including independence, impartiality, objectivity, accuracy and consistency.
The evaluators will be in charge of providing a neutral yet technical/scientific review of the received applications on the following aspects:
- Concept and feasibility
- Technology readiness and innovation development
- Impact & Exploitation
- Organisational capacity and sufficiency in the team’s background.
The full evaluation criteria of the Open Call are specified in the respective Open Call kit documents. In addition, the kit will be part of the evaluators’ manual.
You can check the full specifications in the “Call for evaluators” document!
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