The European Commission launched a new call for proposals under the Horizon Europe programme. The call has a budget of € 4 million for a Coordination and Support Action that will support the implementation of the All-Atlantic Ocean Research and Innovation Alliance (AAORIA) and its political Declaration, signed on July 2022 in Washington DC.
The call is open for applications until 21 September 2023, at 17h00 CET time. More information and the application procedure can be found on the Funding and Tenders portal.
The All-Atlantic Ocean Research and Innovation Alliance is the result of science diplomacy efforts, aiming at enhancing marine research and innovation cooperation across Atlantic countries. Since 2013, the EU has been leading the efforts to develop this Alliance, in particular through the Galway and Belem Statements and its bilateral arrangements with Argentina, Cape Verde, and Morocco.
The EU, together with its partners, signed a milestone political declaration in Washington last July 2022, creating AAORIA and agreeing on a common path forward for ocean science cooperation to tackle the climate-food-ocean challenges, including extreme events and sea level rise, to inform the sustainable management of human activities, and to ensure a healthy ocean.
In line with the EU commitment, the Coordination and Support Action that will be selected from this call will support the coordination of marine and maritime research and innovation activities with Atlantic Ocean stakeholders, integrating the North and South Atlantic dimension, in alignment with the priorities identified in the All-Atlantic Declaration, signed on July 2022 in Washington DC. Next to this, the selected Coordination and Support Action will support the integration of new partners in the Alliance, the linkages with other relevant EU and international programmes and initiatives, such as the EU Mission “Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030”, and the communication of its results.
The Coordination and Support Action should include the consolidation and upscaling of long-term partnerships, building also on initiatives such as the All-Atlantic Ocean Youth Ambassadors, joint actions, working groups that have been developed during the years in the framework of AAORIA.
The call for proposals includes a compulsory international cooperation component, by encouraging the applicants to include in the consortium participants from countries endorsing the All-Atlantic Declaration. This is particularly relevant as the work of the Alliance contributes considerably to the UN Decade of Ocean Science, the EU Global Approach to Research and Innovation, and the EU Atlantic Strategy.
Source: European Commission | Research and Innovation (https://rb.gy/mypi8)