The MUR supports all the topics of the Section's call 2 with a total budget of 7 million euros, as a non-refundable grant.
The PRIMA Program is a Euro-Mediterranean action ex article 185 of the TFEU, approved by the European Parliament and the Council by Decision (UE) 2017/1324 of the 4 July 2017, with the aim of consolidating a long-term structured partnership on research and innovation in the Mediterranean area, in accordance with the principles of co-ownership, mutual interest and sharing of benefits.
The general objective of PRIMA is to provide common innovative solutions in the sector of water supply and food systems, improving its efficiency and thus contributing to solving the most serious problems currently encountered in the food sector, of health, well-being and migration
The PRIMA Program, with an overall budget for the 2024 equal to 92.000.000 of Euro, focuses on the following 3 main thematic areas:
- MANAGEMENT OF WATER. Integrated and sustainable management of water for arid and semi-arid Mediterranean areas
- FARMING SYSTEM. Sustainable farming system under Mediterranean enviromental constraints
- AGRO-FOOD VALUE CHAIN. Sustainable Mediterranean agro-food value chain for regional and local development
The integration of the “Nexus” approach in all thematic calls aims to contribute to the overall security and sustainability of the sector in the Mediterranean region. The thematic areas for the 2024 are divided into two sections which include Research and innovation actions (RIA) e Innovation actions (IA):
- Section 1 – Water Management in the Nexus 2024 – Sustainability of Mediterranean irrigated agriculture through the implementation of the WEFE Nexus approach (IA): projects will need to focus on mitigating barriers to the effective implementation of the Nexus WEFE approach for new irrigation technologies;
- Section 1 – Farming Systems in the Nexus 2024 – Transformative Adaptation of Mediterranean dry farming systems using water harvesting techniques to address extreme drought in arid and semi-arid environments (IA): the topic aims to address the challenges of dry farming in the arid areas of the Mediterranean, integrating traditional and modern water technologies to create sustainable and resilient agricultural systems;
- Section 1 – Food Value-chain in the Nexus 2024 – Developing cost-effective and sustainable technologies adapted to Mediterranean Food Systems to decrease food loss and waste (IA): aims to support the implementation and demonstration of sustainable solutions to reduce food loss and waste, save energy and improve food safety during post-harvest activities, including transport, storage and processing;
- Section 2 – Water management in the Nexus – Effective water accounting approaches under crisis conditions: climate change and external shocks (RIA): the objective is to improve the management of water resources, even in the face of climate change and geopolitical and socioeconomic shocks;
- Section 2 – Farming systems in the Nexus – Revitalizing agroforestry practices for sustainable land use and climate resilience in the Mediterranean Region (RIA): this topic aims to support the revitalization of agroforestry systems, including silvo-arable and silvo-pastoral approaches, in the Mediterranean region;
- Section 2 – Food value chain in the Nexus – Leveraging urban and local food systems for sustainable food systems transformation (RIA): the proposals for this topic should aim to strengthen the regulatory frameworks for urban and peri-urban agriculture, paying particular attention to the unique challenges faced in Southern Mediterranean countries.
Legal entities established in PRIMA participating countries are eligible to participate (Croatia, Cipro, France, Germania, Greece, Italia, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Spain, Slovenia), the overseas countries and territories linked to some of these Member States, third countries associated with Horizon 2020 (Israel, Tunisia and Türkiye) and other third countries not associated with Horizon 2020 (Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Morocco). The minimum eligible number of partners for a project is equal to 4 of which at least 3 different nations. In particular, they must be there in every project:
- at least one partner located in an EU country or associated with the Framework Program as long as it is not MPC (Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia and Türkiye);
- at least two partners located in one or two MPC countries.
The tender is structured into two successive phases:
- PHASE 1: the first phase will close on 4 April 2024 at 17:00 (CET), deadline for the submission of preliminary project proposals;
- PHASE 2: the consortia that pass the first evaluation phase, will be invited by the PRIMA Call Secretariat to submit complete proposals by 26 September 2024, ore 17:00 (CET).
The MUR supports all the topics of the call Section 2 with a total budget of 7 million euros, as a non-refundable grant. The financing maximum that can be requested by project, regardless of the number of Italian participants involved, is equal to:
- 500.000 euro if one of the Italian participants is coordinator of the project;
- 350.000 euro if the coordinator is not Italian.
Deadlines for submitting applications:
Applications are open until:
- Phase 1 of the Section 1 (preproposal): 2 April 2024,
- Phase 2 of the section 1: 25 September 2024;
- Phase 1 of the Section 2 (preproposal): il 4 April 2024;
- Phase 2 of the section 2: 26 September 2024.
Italian partners will also have to submit a national application via the platform https://banditransnazionali-miur.cineca.it no later than the same deadline as the international call, i.e. the 4 April 2024 at 17.00 CET, under penalty of ineligibility for financing.
Source: MUR
