FUNDS FOR RESEARCH AND INNOVATION

Reducing impacts and costs of freight and service trips in urban areas
Deadline: 18th march 2014

Proposals should address one or several of the following aspects:

• Improving basic knowledge and understanding on freight distribution and service trips in urban areas. This could address research on indicators, measurement and data (e.g. delivery/service characteristics, operators, movements, and impacts); economic and behavioural modelling; impacts of urban planning; effects of logistics sprawl (e.g. impact of decentralisation of logistics facilities on transport movements); freight mitigation strategies; effectiveness of partnerships and stakeholder engagement; and comparative analyses and evaluation of policies and experiments.

• Assessing innovative policies and solutions to ensure a better use of infrastructure (e.g. delivery spaces, off peak deliveries, non-road modes, urban waterways) and vehicles (types, load factors); improve network management; address demand side measures, innovative use of transport modes, new ways of stakeholder collaboration; and provide policy frameworks that allow sustainable business models for urban logistics solutions.

• Assessing innovative policies and solutions on consolidation and distribution centres in urban areas, including design (e.g. cross-docking); business models for consolidation schemes (including fleet and freight sharing and pooling and adequate collaboration frameworks); integration of direct and reverse logistics; tools to identify and measure consolidation opportunities; and governance models.

Project Budget: between EUR 2 to 4 million each

Funding rate: 100%

Source: European Commission official website

URBACT Call for Proposals for the Creation of Pilot Networks

Deadline 04 November 2013

URBACT Call for proposals is now open for the creation of up to 4 Pilot Networks for the transfer of good practice in the field of integrated and sustainable urban development.

In URBACT II, the focus of exchange networks has been on fostering integrated and participative approaches to urban policies through sharing experience and practices, and improving local policies (production of Local Action Plans). The full chain of identification, transfer and validation of "good practices" in the field of urban policies has barely been explored. It is proposed to experiment this "capitalisation of good practices" process with small scale pilot projects under the current programme so as to explore tools and processes to be embedded in URBACT III. T

The pilot Transfer Networks shall aim to: 

1. Support the validation of good practices through the transfer (re-use) by cities in the framework of a transnational exchange and learning project. 

2. Identify key elements of success for the transfer of the selected practices 

 3. Explore how transnational cooperation can support the identification, validation, dissemination and active in-take of good practices in the field of integrated sustainable urban development (in the perspective of the URBACT III programme, with a focus on the EU2020 objectives).

More generally, these pilot Transfer networks shall allow the programme to explore how URBACT III could, building on transnational cooperation, foster and support the mapping, re-use and validation of good practices. 

The budget of the Pilot Transfer Networks will range from 250.000 to 400.000 EUR depending on the number of partners involved. Cities will need to consider their financial contribution to the project as co-financing is fixed at a maximum of 70% for competitiveness regions and 80% for convergences regions 

For further information please CONTACT US

FUNDINGS: ENVIRONMENT POLICY AND GOVERNANCE

EU Grant funds: environment policy and governance

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES:

Only innovative or demonstration projects are eligible.

• Climate change: to stabilise greenhouse gas concentration at a level that prevents global warming above 2 °C,

• Water: to contribute to enhanced water quality by developing cost-effective measures to achieve good ecological status in view of developing river basin management plans under Directive 2000/60/EC (Water Framework Directive),

• Air: to achieve levels of air quality that do not give rise to significant negative impacts on and risks to human health and the environment,

• Soil: to protect and ensure the sustainable use of soil by preserving soil functions, preventing threats to soil, mitigating their effects and restoring degraded soils,

• Urban environment: to contribute to improving the environmental performance of Europe's urban areas,

• Noise: to contribute to policy development and implementation on environmental noise,

• Chemicals: improve the protection of environment and health from risks posed by chemicals by 2020 by implementing chemicals legislation, in particular Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 (REACH) and the Thematic Strategy on the sustainable use of pesticides,

• Environment and health: to develop the information base for policy on the environment and health (the Environment and Health Action Plan),

• Natural resources and waste: to develop and implement policies designed to ensure sustainable management of natural resources and wastes, and to improve the environmental performances of products, sustainable production and consumption patterns, waste prevention, recovery and recycling; to contribute to the effective implementation of the Thematic Strategy on the prevention and recycling of waste,

• Forests: to provide, especially through an EU coordination network, a concise and comprehensive basis for policy relevant information on forests in relation to climate change (impact on forest ecosystems, mitigation, substitution effects), biodiversity (baseline information and protected forest areas), forest fires, forest conditions and the protective functions of forests (water, soil and infra­ structure) as well as contributing to the protection of forests against fires,

• Innovation: to contribute to developing and demonstrating innovative policy approaches, technologies, methods and instruments to assist in the implementation of the Environmental Technologies Action Plan (ETAP),

• Strategic approaches: to promote effective implementation and enforcement of Union environmental legislation and improve the knowledge base for environmental policy; to improve the environmental performance of SMEs

BENEFICIARIES:

Proposals must be presented by entities registered in the Member States of the European Union being public and/or private bodies, actors and institutions

DEADLINE: July 18^Th, 2011.

GRANT FUNDS - NATURE, LIFE, BIODIVERSITY

EU Fundings: NATURE- CLIMATE CHANGE-BIODIVERSITY

OBJECTIVE

To disseminate information and raise awareness on environmental issues, including forest fire prevention; and to provide support for accompanying measures, such as information, communication actions and campaigns, conferences and training, including training on forest fire prevention.

BIODIVERSITY

• Halting the loss of biodiversity
• Launching national campaigns to promote Natura 2000

• Awareness raising campaigns on biodiversity aimed at explaining to the general public what biodiversity is and why it is important

• Promoting the integration of biodiversity concerns in territorial planning procedures

• The promotion of connectivity between natural areas (green infrastructure by explaining it better to citizens

• The implementation of art. 6 of the Habitats Directive

• Integrating the concept of ecosystem services in private company management or in public spending in particular in connection to Green Public Procurement

• Skills development for Natura 2000 site managers

RESOURCE EFFICIENCY

• Sustainable consumption and production
• Natural resources and waste, to develop and implement policies designated to ensure sustainable management and use of natural resources and waste

• Water scarcity/efficiency awareness raising campaign focused on water-stressed Member States

CLIMATE CHANGE

• Raising public awareness of climate change and its impact, particularly in EU12 countries

• Forest and climate change

OTHER

• Compilation and active transfer to relevant stakeholders that could usefully implement them of the techniques used and results and lessons learnt from a significant number of previous LIJE project for a specific theme/habitat/species (e.g. rivers, bogs, bats)

• Project related to the protection of marine environment on issues targeted by the Marine Strategy Framework Directive

• Increasing the awareness and knowledge about the importance of soil and soil biodiversity and its main ecological functions, and sustainable land use

• Awareness raising and education on citizens’ exposure to air pollutants though the comparative assessment of air pollution levels in various larger cities of the EU

• Environmental noise

• The broad and targeted dissemination on best practices

DEADLINE: July 18^Th, 2011.

BENEFICIARIES:

Proposals must be presented by entities registered in the Member States of the European Union being public and/or private bodies, actors and institutions

EMBEDDED SYSTEMS

DEADLINE for pre-proposal:  31^st march 2011

BENEFICIARIES:

There must be at least three "legal entities" established in at least three of the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, United Kingdom.

MAIN AREAS OF INTERVENTION:

• Methods and processes for safety-relevant embedded systems
• Embedded Systems for Healthcare systems
• Embedded systems in Smart environments
• Manufacturing and production automation
• Computing platforms for embedded systems
• Embedded Systems for Security and Critical Infrastructures Protection
• Embedded technology for sustainable urban life
• Human-centred design of embedded systems

If you want more detailed information on one of sub-mentioned subject please leave a comment below or contact us.