Enhancing sustainability and resilience of agriculture, forestry and rural development through digital twins

The EU funding opportunity titled "Enhancing sustainability and resilience of agriculture, forestry and rural development through digital twins" is part of the Horizon Europe Programme, specifically under Cluster 6. This initiative focuses on leveraging digital twins to advance sustainability within rural ecosystems. The call, designated as HORIZON-CL6-2025-03-GOVERNANCE-11, primarily seeks proposals that utilize digital technologies to enhance the capacities of rural communities, aligning with the European Green Deal and the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

Eligible applicants include startups, SMEs, academic researchers, rural businesses, farmers, and foresters. The project requires a consortium approach, involving multiple actors from various EU member states or Horizon Europe-associated countries, fostering a collaborative environment crucial for success. The funding type is primarily a HORIZON Lump Sum Grant, indicating that financial support will be distributed as lump sums, with a maximum allocation of up to 30% of funds to be directed towards third parties.

Geographically, the funding scopes EU member states and associated countries, expecting projects to cover diverse biogeographical regions representative of different climatic zones. The core sectors targeted are agriculture, forestry, rural development, and digital technologies, with a significant emphasis on smart governance solutions.

The funding amount remains variable, but indicative ranges suggest grants from EUR 3,000,000 to EUR 16,000,000, with up to EUR 60,000 available for each third party. Applications will follow a single-stage submission process, with a deadline set for September 24, 2025.

The initiative seeks outcomes that empower rural communities to effectively use digital twins for sustainability and climate adaptation, enhance the rural economy and resilience, and achieve better data-driven decision-making. Projects should include activities such as designing and testing digital twins, developing comprehensive 3D maps of villages, creating immersive web platforms, and providing policy and business recommendations.

Additionally, projects should involve gender considerations, co-create solutions with rural actors, and ensure they are complemented by other EU-funded initiatives. Successful projects are expected to contribute significantly to the rural innovation ecosystem, improving the overall quality of life in rural areas through enhanced digital and data technologies.

Overall, this opportunity promotes a wide-range, interdisciplinary approach to rural development, ensuring that solutions are inclusive, impactful, and sustainable, ultimately fostering a stronger and more resilient rural landscape across Europe.

This EU funding opportunity, under the Horizon Europe Programme, Cluster 6, aims to enhance the sustainability and resilience of agriculture, forestry, and rural development through the use of digital twins. The call, HORIZON-CL6-2025-03-GOVERNANCE-11, specifically targets Research and Innovation Actions (RIA) and offers a Horizon Lump Sum Grant. The submission process is single-stage, with the opening date set for May 6, 2025, and a deadline of September 24, 2025, at 17:00 Brussels time. The indicative budget for this topic is 12,000,000 EUR, with an expected two grants to be awarded.

The core objective is to support rural communities in leveraging digital twins to improve their capacities for deploying innovative solutions, aligning with the European Green Deal, the long-term vision for rural areas, and the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

Expected outcomes of successful projects include:

Rural communities, including farmers and foresters, effectively utilizing digital twins to meet sustainability and climate adaptation goals, thereby enhancing rural economy and resilience.
Empowering rural communities with digital and data technologies to explore pathways that make villages attractive places to live, achieved through improved data-driven decision-making, monitoring, and foresight.
Establishing a stronger digital rural innovation ecosystem that unites public and private stakeholders, increasing the attractiveness of rural areas.
Fostering collaboration among diverse rural actors through innovative smart governance solutions that enable data and evidence-based policy making.

The scope of the projects should include:

Designing, prototyping, and testing digital twins to enhance the sustainability and resilience of rural areas and key sectors like agriculture and forestry. Innovations should be co-created with rural actors to address their specific needs and tested for feasibility in the context of territorial development opportunities and challenges.
Developing detailed, three-dimensional maps of villages using digital and data technologies. These maps should be freely accessible to local authorities, researchers, private companies, and other relevant actors for monitoring key parameters, testing ideas, and exploring smarter, more competitive, sustainable, and resilient forms of village development. Emphasis should be placed on planning, monitoring, and managing green areas and natural elements to improve climate change resilience.
Creating a public web-based platform that allows users to remotely visit 3D models of village twins, including through immersive technologies like Virtual Reality. This platform should integrate various technologies to provide access to information on cultural, historical, and natural heritage, promoting the village and establishing a feedback mechanism for residents regarding development initiatives.
Assessing the potential of digital technologies in promoting collaborative, open, and citizen-centric governance.
Measuring and assessing the costs and benefits of implementing digital twins in rural areas and sectors, including enablers and barriers to uptake, the availability of public/private funding, incentives, and new business models for sustainable development.
Providing research, business, and policy recommendations to support the successful deployment of digital twins in rural areas and key sectors.
Supporting training and capacity building for local administrations and rural actors to share best practices, develop skills, and maintain a rural innovation ecosystem that benefits from digital innovations.

Additional requirements include:

Application of developed technologies should support the smart villages concept, targeting underdeveloped and remote rural areas.
Implementation of the multi-actor approach, with a consortium comprising relevant actors with complementary knowledge, including rural actors, universities, and research organizations.
Integration of the gender dimension in project activities, addressing gender-specific needs in technology design, data analysis, and communication.
Ensuring complementarities with other Horizon 2020/Europe initiatives and projects, such as EU Missions and the European Partnership of Agriculture of Data.
Potential financial support to third parties, with a maximum of 30% of EU funding allocated for this purpose, and grants limited to EUR 60,000 per third party.
Effective contribution of social sciences and humanities (SSH) disciplines, integrating relevant expertise to enhance the societal impact of research activities.
Coverage of various biogeographical regions with balanced representation of pedo-climatic zones and different types of villages and farming systems.
Development of diverse, practice-oriented dissemination materials, such as audiovisual content and brochures, tailored to potential end-users.

General conditions for participation include:

Admissibility conditions related to proposal page limits and layout as described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes and Part B of the Application Form.
Eligibility of countries as described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes, with specific provisions for non-EU/non-Associated Countries.
The Joint Research Centre (JRC) may participate as a consortium member.
Projects using satellite-based earth observation data must utilize Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS.
Proposals must adhere to the multi-actor approach.
Financial and operational capacity and exclusion criteria as described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Evaluation and award criteria, submission and evaluation processes, and indicative timelines as detailed in Annex D and Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual.
Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum, as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021.
Beneficiaries may provide financial support to third parties, with grants up to EUR 60,000 per third party, as described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes.

Applicants are directed to specific documents and resources for guidance, including the Horizon Europe Programme Guide, Model Grant Agreements, call-specific instructions, and the Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual. Partner search tools and helpdesks are also available to assist in proposal preparation.

In summary, this funding opportunity aims to foster the development and implementation of digital twins in rural areas to enhance sustainability, resilience, and the overall quality of life for rural communities. It encourages collaborative, multi-disciplinary projects that involve a wide range of stakeholders and contribute to the digital transformation of agriculture, forestry, and other key rural sectors. The call emphasizes the importance of co-creation with rural actors, gender equality, and the integration of social sciences and humanities to ensure that the developed solutions are effective, inclusive, and have a lasting positive impact on rural communities across Europe.

Eligible Applicant Types: Eligible applicants include relevant rural actors (in particular end-users of the digital twins), universities, research and technology organisations, farmers, foresters and other rural businesses, academic researchers, hi-tech start-ups, and SMEs. The Joint Research Centre (JRC) may also participate as a member of the consortium.

Funding Type: The funding type is primarily a grant, specifically a HORIZON Lump Sum Grant, under the Horizon Europe Programme. Beneficiaries may also provide financial support to third parties in the form of grants.

Consortium Requirement: A consortium is required, implementing the 'multi-actor approach' with a balanced mix of relevant actors with complementary knowledge.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility includes EU member states and associated countries, with specific provisions for non-EU/non-associated countries that have made funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. Proposals should cover various biogeographical regions with a balanced coverage reflecting the various pedo-climatic zones in Europe.

Target Sector: The program targets the agriculture, forestry, rural development, ICT, digital technologies, climate adaptation, sustainability, innovation, smart governance, social sciences and humanities (SSH), and virtual reality sectors. It focuses on enhancing the sustainability and resilience of agriculture, forestry, and rural development through the use of digital twins.

Mentioned Countries: A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries are mentioned as being potentially eligible for funding, provided they have made specific provisions for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. The text also specifies that proposals should cover various biogeographical regions within Europe.

Project Stage: The expected maturity of the project is from design and prototyping to testing and demonstration, with an emphasis on further exploration, innovation, testing, and demonstration to fully exploit the potential of digital twins.

Funding Amount: The funding amounts vary depending on the specific action type (RIA, IA, CSA) and range from EUR 3,000,000 to EUR 16,000,000. The indicative funding per grant ranges from around EUR 3,000,000 to EUR 8,000,000. A maximum of EUR 60,000 can be granted to each third party, and a maximum of 30% of the EU funding should be allocated to financial support to third parties.

Application Type: The application type is an open call with a single-stage submission process.

Nature of Support: Beneficiaries will receive money in the form of a lump sum grant. They may also provide financial support to third parties in the form of grants.

Application Stages: The application process is a single-stage process.

Success Rates: The success rates are not explicitly mentioned, but the indicative number of grants is provided for each topic, allowing for an estimation of the competition level.

Co-funding Requirement: Co-funding requirements are not explicitly mentioned, but eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme.

Summary:

This Horizon Europe call aims to enhance the sustainability and resilience of agriculture, forestry, and rural development by promoting the use of digital twins in rural communities. The call encourages projects that design, prototype, and test digital twins to address challenges in agriculture, forestry, and other relevant sectors, supporting the implementation of the smart villages concept. It seeks to empower rural communities by providing them with digital and data technologies for informed decision-making, monitoring, and foresight.

The call requires a multi-actor approach, with consortia consisting of rural actors, universities, research organizations, and other relevant stakeholders. Projects should integrate a gender dimension and ensure complementarity with other EU-funded initiatives. Funding is provided as a lump sum grant, with the possibility of providing financial support to third parties. The call emphasizes the effective contribution of social sciences and humanities disciplines and encourages proposals to cover various biogeographical regions within Europe.

The projects should develop detailed 3D maps of villages, create public web-based platforms with immersive technologies, assess the potential of digital technologies in promoting collaborative governance, measure the costs and benefits of implementing digital twins, provide policy recommendations, and support training and capacity building for local administrations and rural actors. The overall goal is to foster a stronger rural innovation ecosystem, improve the attractiveness of rural areas, and enable data and evidence-based policy making.