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Empowering Community-Led Action in the Atlantic & Arctic

Project description

Empowering communities to restore Atlantic and Arctic waters

The Atlantic and Arctic regions face significant environmental challenges due to pollution and climate change, which threaten substantial biodiversity loss. The EU-funded BlueActionAA project will engage local communities in the restoration and protection of marine and freshwater ecosystems. By promoting community-led initiatives, it seeks to advance the goals of the EU Mission Restore Our Ocean and Waters by 2030. The project will offer local stakeholders financial support through cascading grants, technical assistance, and capacity-building resources to ensure effective ecosystem restoration. It will assist EU Member States in implementing relevant legislation and enhance community readiness to adopt innovative restoration solutions, contributing to the European Green Deal’s targets.

Objective

Empowering Community Led Action in the Atlantic & Arctic (ACT-AA) aims to mobilise and engage communities across the Atlantic and Arctic regions in ambitious efforts to restore and protect marine and freshwater ecosystems. By fostering community-led initiatives, the project seeks to make significant progress toward the objectives of the EU Mission “Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030.” ACT-AA will provide comprehensive support to local stakeholders, including financial aid through cascading grants, technical assistance, and capacity-building resources to ensure effective and sustainable ecosystem restoration actions.

ACT-AA’s key components include:

1. Cascading Grants for Community-Led Pilot Actions: Awarding at least 5 grants ranging from EUR 200,000 to EUR 2 million each to innovative projects addressing local ecological and socio-economic challenges.
2. Support for Transition Agendas: Funding at least 20 strategic roadmaps, each up to EUR 100,000, to guide communities in achieving the Mission’s objectives and ensuring long-term sustainability.
3. Technical Assistance: Providing tailored support, including business plan development, impact assessments, and capacity-building programs, to enhance local stakeholders’ ability to implement and scale innovative solutions.

Expected outcomes include:

1. Demonstrable, measurable progress towards the Mission’s objectives through well-managed, community-led actions.
2. Support for EU member states and stakeholders in implementing marine and freshwater ecosystem related
legislation.
3. Increased engagement and resource mobilization from communities to restore oceans, seas, and waters.
4. Enhanced readiness at the local level to deploy innovative restoration solutions.

ACT-AA will ensure broad participation, leveraging local knowledge and fostering long-term commitment to ecosystem protection, thus contributing significantly to the European Green Deal’s biodiversity, pollution, and climate targets.

Keywords

Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)

Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

HORIZON-RIA - HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions

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Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) HORIZON-MISS-2024-OCEAN-02

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Coordinator

MARINE INSTITUTE
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 1 199 617,50
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 1 199 617,50

Participants (7)

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