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HORIZON EUROPE TOPIC · Cluster 6 · Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment

Improve the capacity to monitor and reduce air pollution from agriculture

HORIZON-CL6-2027-01-ZEROPOLLUTION-03 — the expected outcomes as checkable statements, what evaluators look for in this topic, and the conditions that shape the proposal.

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ForthcomingRIA · lump sumDeadline 22 September 2027around EUR 6 million per project

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TopicHORIZON-CL6-2027-01-ZEROPOLLUTION-03
StatusForthcoming
CallHORIZON-CL6-2027-01 — Call 01 - single stage (2027)
DestinationClean environment and zero pollution (2026-27)
Type of actionResearch and Innovation Actions · lump sum
Opening20 April 2027
Deadline22 September 2027
Budgetaround EUR 6 million per project · 2 projects expected · EUR 12 million in total
TRL at the endTRL 4–5
Part B page limit45 pages (standard application form; check your call)
TemplateWork Programme 2026–2027 application form

Expected outcomes

Projects should contribute to all of the expected outcomes. The topic says: “Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:”

  1. EO1 monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) of air pollutants at farm level is improved.
  2. EO2 human health and environment (including biodiversity) benefit from reduced impacts of air pollution from agriculture.
  3. EO3 EU policies preventing and reducing air pollution are supported with more comprehensive, harmonised and accurate scientific evidence, tools and methods to estimate the emissions.
  4. EO4 farmers, advisors and other stakeholders acquire new and better knowledge, technologies and practices to reduce certain air pollutants from agriculture.

Expected impacts named in the destination

The wider, long-term effects the destination seeks. Your outcomes feed them; they are not project deliverables.

  1. EI1 Advancing scientific understanding and innovative solutions for identifying, preventing and mitigating pollution aim to effectively protect human health and safeguard the environment, preserving cleaner water and seas, healthier air and soil, and resilient forests.
  2. EI2 Innovative circular bio-based systems and biotechnologies are developed and made available to all stakeholders to progress towards the clean environment and zero-pollution ambition.
  3. EI3 Farmers and other actors in the food chain are empowered to make informed decisions and to apply novel strategies to prevent, reduce and remediate pollution from agriculture and the food system, contributing to the zero-pollution ambition.
  4. EI4 Effective solutions to remediate and decontaminate aquatic pollution are developed, made available and implemented contributing to reducing pollution to levels no longer considered harmful to the environment.

What evaluators will look for in this topic

Expected outcomes

  • Projects should contribute to all of the expected outcomes.
  • For each outcome (EO1 to EO4), name who will use or adopt your results (a specific group, not “industry” or “society”), how they get them, and the indicator that shows the change, with baseline, target and date.
  • Use the topic's own words for each outcome, so the evaluator can tick it off.

What the scope asks for

Evaluators check the proposal against these sentences of the scope. Answer each one visibly, in the call's own words.

  • “Proposals should:. assess and improve the accuracy, cost, efficiency and user-friendliness of MRV methodologies and tools (including AI, IoT, etc.) for air pollutants (other than greenhouse gases) in agriculture at farm level through analysis, field experiments, and demonstration activities, reducing uncertainties and enabling use of higher tiers for the estimation of emissions and for reporting;. consolidate, extend and improve knowledge on…”
  • “Proposals must implement the multi-actor approach, with a consortium based on a balanced mix of actors with complementary knowledge, including farmers, researchers, advisors and businesses.”
  • “Concrete efforts should be made to ensure that the data and methodologies produced in the context of the funded projects follow the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Re-usable).”
  • “Proposals should include a dedicated task and resources for cooperation with the other project(s) funded under this topic and with other relevant ongoing and forthcoming Horizon Europe project(s), including topic HORIZON-CL6-2025-02-CLIMATE-04: Monitoring, reporting, verification and mitigation of non-CO 2 greenhouse gas emissions and related air pollutants from agriculture, especially to understand the combined effects of air pollutants.”

Conditions that shape the proposal

  • Part B, sections 1–3: 45 pages (standard application form). Text beyond the limit is not read; tables and figures count.
  • Lump sum: the budget is fixed per work package and paid when each work package is completed. Every work package needs activities and deliverables an evaluator can verify, and the effort must match the money.
  • TRL: the topic expects TRL 4–5 by the end of the project. State where you start and the evidence for it.
  • Other Eligible Conditions: “The Joint Research Centre (JRC) may participate as member of the consortium selected for funding as a beneficiary with zero funding, or as an associated partner. The JRC will not participate in the preparation and submission of the proposal - see General Annex B.”
  • Other Eligible Conditions: “Due to the scope of this topic, relevant international organisations with headquarters in a Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country are exceptionally eligible for funding.”
  • Other Eligible Conditions: “The following additional eligibility criteria apply: The proposals must apply the multi-actor approach. See definition of the multi-actor approach in this work programme part.”

Impact pathway and traps

  • The scope expects pilots or demonstration. Name the sites, the partners who run them and what is measured there.
  • The Joint Research Centre may take part. Decide whether its involvement helps, and say so if you include it.
  • Open science or data practices are named. Make the data management plan concrete: which data, which repository, when.
  • Keep outputs, outcomes and impacts apart: what you deliver, what changes when others use it, and the long-term effect.
  • For each destination impact you claim, show which of your outcomes feeds it. Destination impacts are long-term effects, not project deliverables.
  • Name the barriers outside the project (regulation, markets, user behaviour) that could block uptake, and what you will do if they do.
  • Section 2.3 (the summary canvas) is optional on this call; the old split into scientific, economic and societal impact is no longer required.
The scope, as published

EU agriculture contributes substantially to air pollution through various emissions. Additional efforts are needed in the sector to help reducing the impact on human health and the environment, including biodiversity. To promote the uptake of measures at farm level, better data on their impact and effectiveness are needed. There is also a need for new practical solutions to help farmers monitor and reduce air pollution. Proposals should: assess and improve the accuracy, cost, efficiency and user-friendliness of MRV methodologies and tools (including AI, IoT, etc.) for air pollutants (other than greenhouse gases) in agriculture at farm level through analysis, field experiments, and demonstration activities, reducing uncertainties and enabling use of higher tiers for the estimation of emissions and for reporting; consolidate, extend and improve knowledge on emission factors and mitigation potential of practices and activities at farm level, contributing to the further development of the EMEP/EEA air pollutant emission inventory guidebook 2023; develop farming practices and technologies in manure management and application, livestock feeding and grazing, use of fertilisers and pesticides in all relevant types of farming systems, including cattle, poultry and pigs, to reduce air pollutants other than GHG and evaluate their reduction potential in line with relevant UNECE Guidance documents; through dedicated training and outreach activities, build capacity among farmers, advisors and other relevant actors for widespread utilisation of improved MRV tools and air pollution reduction measures addressing, among other impacts, biodiversity loss. Proposals must implement the multi-actor approach, with a consortium based on a balanced mix of actors with complementary knowledge, including farmers, researchers, advisors and businesses. Concrete efforts should be made to ensure that the data and methodologies produced in the context of the funded projects follow the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Re-usable). Proposals should include a dedicated task and resources for cooperation with the other project(s) funded under this topic and with other relevant ongoing and forthcoming Horizon Europe project(s), including topic HORIZON-CL6-2025-02-CLIMATE-04: Monitoring, reporting, verification and mitigation of non-CO 2 greenhouse gas emissions and related air pollutants from agriculture, especially to understand the combined effects of air pollutants. The projects under this topic are relevant to the EU policies related to the Zero Pollution Action Plan, the Industrial and Livestock Rearing Emissions Directive, the National Emissions Reduction Commitments Directive, the Ambient Air Quality Directive, the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030, and the transition to a more sustainable EU agriculture in alignment with the EU Vision for Agriculture and Food and the Common Agricultural Policy. The Joint Research Centre (JRC) may participate as a member of the consortium selected for funding. In particular, the JRC could, as relevant, link project outcomes to tools, databases and methodologies relevant for estimating farm-to-agricultural sector air pollutant emissions.

Technology readiness, as published

Activities are expected to achieve TRL 4-5 by the end of the project – see General Annex B. Activities may start at any TRL. EMEP/EEA air pollutant emission inventory guidebook 2023 | European Environment Agency's home page https://unece.org/DAM/env/documents/2012/EB/ECE_EB.AIR_120_ENG.pdf, https://unece.org/sites/default/files/2021-08/ECE_EB.AIR_149-2104922E.pdf,…

Other topics in HORIZON-CL6-2027-01

Source and attribution

Topic text from the official topic page on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal, retrieved 19 October 2026. © European Union, reused under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU (CC BY 4.0). Changes: the expected outcomes and impacts are split into numbered statements, long passages are shortened, and the evaluator checklist is GrantWise's own commentary. Your call and the Work Programme always win; check them before you submit. GrantWise is independent and not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of the European Commission.