Co-creating solutions for soil health in Living Labs

The Nemesis initiative, part of the EU Mission “A Soil Deal for Europe”, supports the establishment of five Living Labs (LLs) in Cyprus, France, Italy, North Africa (Tunisia/Algeria), and Spain, aiming to ensure their long-term sustainability and generate tangible impact for soil health and combating desertification. These LLs bring together farmers, researchers, SMEs, civil society actors, public authorities and other stakeholders to co-create, test and advance transformative solutions for improving soil health in Mediterranean contexts.

Through Open Call 1 (OC1), Nemesis will fund and integrate at least one additional operational experimental site per LL. The objective is to strengthen and expand the LL by increasing the Nemesis network. Selected applicants will receive Financial Support to Third Parties (FSTP) and will be integrated into the activities of the respective LL. They will not only operate an additional experimental site, but will also contribute actively to co-creation, monitoring, stakeholder engagement, awareness raising, communication and demonstration activities, in accordance with the approved work plan and the sub-grant agreement.

Applications must be submitted electronically through the submission channel on the Nemesis Open Call webpage: https://www.nemesis-soil.eu/open-calls/submission. Interested parties should visit the project website (https://www.nemesis-soil.eu/open-calls), the Guidelines for applicants and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for updates. Any proposal submitted through other channels will be automatically rejected. The applicant is responsible for ensuring that the proposal is complete and submitted on time. Incomplete proposals may be declared inadmissible. Late submissions will not be accepted, and after the closure of the call, no additions or changes to submitted proposals will be considered. In case multiple versions of the same application are submitted, only the last complete version will be evaluated. All previous versions will be discarded. Throughout the entire process, the confidentiality of applicants' identities and the contents of the proposals will be rigorously upheld. By applying to the Nemesis OC1 applicants automatically accept the terms and conditions of the OC1 as described in the guidelines for applicants.

The application must be submitted in English.

After the Nemesis OC1 is closed, an initial eligibility check will be carried out to ensure that all administrative and procedural requirements are met. Proposals that meet all eligibility criteria move on to the technical evaluation carried out by the Evaluation Committee.

Eligible proposals will be assessed against criteria including:

Alignment and excellence: Relevance of the proposed site and the thematic focus to the respective LL; fit of the proposed site within the geographical and land use context of the LL; contribution to combatting desertification and land degradation.; capacity to engage stakeholders and contribute to co-creation, demonstration, communication and dissemination activities.

Capacity and implementation: Operational capacity of the applicant; ability to participate actively in LL activities and co-creation processes; site maturity and operational readiness; adequacy and effectiveness of the proposed eligible activities, feasibility of implementation, budget adequacy and value for money.

Expected contribution / impact: Expected contribution to the representativeness and strengthening of the LL; expected added value for Nemesis activities and outputs; potential contribution to capacity building; demonstration, practice uptake and policy relevance; Sustainability and longer-term perspective

The maximum total score is 20 points. Proposals will be evaluated as follows:

1. Alignment and excellence: 0–5 points
2. Capacity and implementation: 0–10 points
3. Expected contribution / impact: 0–5 points

A minimum threshold of 3/5 applies to the section “Alignment and excellence”. Proposals scoring below this threshold will be rejected and will not be evaluated further against the remaining criteria. Funding decisions will be based on the final ranking of proposals, considering the available budget allocation and the objective of selecting at least one third party per LL.

External evaluators will be selected to assess the proposals, and conflict of interest, confidentiality, fairness and transparency principles will be applied throughout the process. Each proposal will be reviewed by two external evaluators and one expert from the Nemesis consortium.

Following ranking and validation, successful applicants will be informed and invited to prepare a sub-grant agreement. Signature of the sub-grant agreements is currently foreseen for mid-September 2026, with implementation starting on 1 October 2026.

The Nemesis project will use FSTP to engage small actors and local stakeholders in LL activities and to expand the LL network through additional experimental sites located in Cyprus, France, Italy, Spain, and North Africa (Tunisia/Algeria). OC1 specifically focuses on strengthening and expanding the LLs to enhance territorial reach, stakeholder participation and the practical testing of soil-related solutions in real-world settings, while the integration of additional experimental sites is expected to further increase the overall impact, representativeness, and demonstration capacity of the LLs.

Each LL focuses on a specific regional soil health challenge connected to desertification and land / soil degradation in the Mediterranean:

·Cyprus – Soil-water: Focus on soil health in agricultural systems, addressing soil degradation and combating desertification through soil-water interactions.

·France – Soil-biodiversity: Focus on enhancing soil biodiversity through agroforestry and sustainable agricultural practices.

·Italy – Soil-crops: Focus on optimizing soil-crop interactions for improved soil health and sustainable productivity.

·Spain – Soil-pasture: Focus on sustainable soil-pasture management and livestock integration practices.

·Tunisia / Algeria – Cross-border soil management: Cross-border focus on sustainable soil management practices adapted to semi-arid conditions.

Selected applicants will receive up to 100% lump-sum funding of the approved eligible budget. A total of EUR 500,000 is foreseen for OC1, and each selected third party may receive up to EUR 100,000. At least one third party will be selected per LL, resulting in at least one additional experimental site per LL.

The call is limited to single legal entities. Applicants must be legal entities established in an eligible country / region corresponding to the relevant LL and must not be beneficiaries, affiliated entities or associated partners of Nemesis. They must have the operational capacity to implement soil-related and site-based activities, demonstrate access to an experimental site, and comply with the thematic, geographic and operational requirements of the respective LL, as set out in the OC 1 Guidelines for applicants.

Possible applicant profiles may include the following general categories, while the extended list of eligible profiles and the LL-specific requirements are set out in the Guidelines for applicants:

·farmers and landowners, including farmer cooperatives and producer organisations,

·regional or local public authorities managing relevant land or demonstration sites,

·environmental NGOs with managed demonstration or pilot sites,

·applied research institutes with field sites,

·SMEs operating test fields, pilot farms or providing relevant soil-related intervention services.

Applicants may submit only one proposal per LL under OC1. The same legal entity may not receive more than one sub-grant under OC1.

For detailed eligibility criteria, LL-specific requirements, budget conditions, documentation requirements, implementation obligations and applicant responsibilities, please consult the Nemesis OC1 Guidelines for applicants including the relevant LL-specific requirements section. Applicants are strongly encouraged to read all documentation carefully before preparing their proposal.