INSPIRE Open Call for early adopters from local and regional authorities in Associated Regions
Are you a local or regional authority from an Associated Region eager to tackle Detection, Collection, and Prevention (DCP concept) of litter, including macro- and microplastics, in your rivers? Then apply for the INSPIRE Open Call to become one of the early adopters and receive a grant between 60k EUR and 100k EUR!
INSPIRE aims to boost the deployment of technology and actions for detection, collection and prevention (DCP concept) of litter, including macro- and microplastics, in European rivers.
For that, INSPIRE is seeking to select proposals from local and regional authorities from Associated Regions (AR) and manage the Financial Support to Third Parties (FSTP) for scaling up, replication and exploitation of the lessons learnt from the project use cases.
A total budget of 500k EUR is allocated to the INSPIRE Financial Support to Third Parties (FSTP) Call for funding the participation of at least 5 projects.
Applicants can apply for minimum 60k EUR to maximum 100k EUR.
Apply for this Open Call, and team-up with INSPIRE partners implementing 20 technologies and actions and become one of the early adopters of an INSPIRE solution deployment, replication and exploitation in your region. If granted, the insights gained from your own project will be integrated in the modular Master Plan of INSPIRE. Consult the INSPIRE website (https://inspire-europe.org) for all available technologies and actions.
Webinar
REGISTER FOR WEBINAR 1 INCLUDING Q&A SESSION ON JULY 1st 2024 11:00-11:45 Brussels time to find out more about the INSPIRE Open Call eligibility criteria, application process, timeline, … and to get answers to all your questions. Did you miss webinar 1, then recordings and the presentations can be watched here.
Open Call Webinar 01/07/2024: pdf presentations
Open Call Webinar 01/07/2024: recording
Open Call Information
FSTP for scaling up, replication and exploitation of the DCP solutions developed within INSPIRE in Associated Regions.
Eligible Authorities and Countries
Proposals must be submitted by a local or regional authority that must be in an EU or a Horizon Europe Associated country other than countries where a project partner of INSPIRE is located.
- Eligible Authorities: Financial support to third parties can only be awarded to local and regional authorities from an Associated Region, i.e., INSPIRE defines these as public entities that manage, regulate and supervise public welfare at local or regional level (e.g. city council, regional council, municipality, etc.).
- Eligible Countries: Eligible beneficiaries of this call are local and regional authorities from European Union Member States, or Horizon Europe associated countries (Association to Horizon Europe – European Commission and list of participating countries in Horizon Europe). UK is eligible for the FSTP. Note that applicants from the following countries where a project partner of INSPIRE is located are ineligible for this call (i.e., Austria, Belgium, Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden are excluded from the list of potential beneficiaries).
No universities nor private companies are eligible even if they receive public funding or are considered public entities. They can however participate as sub-contractors.
The INSPIRE project can be contacted for further clarification about eligibility. EU restrictive measures are also applicable for financial support to third parties.
Funding and Eligible Costs
Applicants can apply for minimum 60k EUR to maximum 100k EUR. The grant will be paid in three lump sums: one at the beginning of the project (50% with the sub-grant agreement signature), the second with an interim assessment (25%) and at the end of the project pending the achievement of agreed milestones and deliverables (25% with expected outcome).
The FSTP must include justifications of costs and resources. The total grant requested by the third party will represent up to 100 % of the total costs of the project. The amount of the financial support will be calculated based on estimated costs. Each project must include an implementation plan including milestones and deliverables, and a cost estimate justifying the costs and resources in relation to the implementation plan.
Commitment
The selected beneficiaries commit to carrying out the following activities in their role as part of an Associated Region to the INSPIRE project:
- Participation in workshops and meetings for knowledge transfer during the INSPIRE implementation
- Participation in developing blueprints and business roadmaps for the replication sites
Submission Process
The suggested Application Template and Guidelines for Applicants for submitting proposals for the INSPIRE Financial Support to Third Parties (FSTP) Call are available at the INSPIRE project webpage.
Proposals to INSPIRE FSTP Open Call must be submitted electronically through TypeForm.
Budgets should be in EURO. Applicants established in countries outside the Euro zone must use the conversion rates published in the C series of the Official Journal of the European Union (OJ).
English language should be used for the proposal. Each applicant can only submit one single proposal.
Applicants are encouraged to follow the Frequently Asked Questions.
- Call opening date: June 17th 2024
- Call closing date: November 29th 2024, 17:00 Brussels time (single-stage)
- Download the Application Template
- Complete the Application Template
- Submit the completed Application Template in PDF using TypeForm
The call is published on the Funding & Tenders Portal, as well as on the INSPIRE website. If submission deadlines change, this will immediately be announced.
Timeline
Evaluation and selection: December 2024 – January 2025
Granting completed: February 2025
Project implementation (18 months): From March 1st 2025 – August 31st 2026
Project reporting period (6 months): September 1st 2026 – February 28th 2027
Project end: February 28th 2027
Duration: 24 months
INSPIRE will publish the outcome of the calls without delay, including a description of third-party projects, the date of the award, the duration, and the legal name and country.
Evaluation
The call will be carried out in alignment with the same basic principles which govern European Commission calls, namely:
i. Excellence: The proposal(s) selected for funding must demonstrate a high quality in the context of the topics and criteria such as relevance, fit with EU principles, resources available, networks of the organization, and expected impact of the actions as set out in the call;
ii. Transparency: Funding decisions are based on clearly described rules and procedures, and all applicants should receive adequate feedback on the outcome of the evaluation of their proposals;
iii. Fairness and impartiality: All proposals submitted to a call are treated equally. They are evaluated impartially on their merits, irrespective of their origin or the identity of the applicants;
iv. Confidentiality: All proposals and related data, knowledge and documents are treated in confidence.
The excellence of the proposals will be evaluated by using the following guidelines, each with a 25% weight in the total evaluation:
1. Concept and innovation
2. Expertise and excellence of the proposed team
3. Alignment and project planning
4. Impact and sustainability
The highest scoring proposals for the call will be selected, using the scores given on the consensus forms from the evaluators. However, the consortium is not obliged to select the highest scoring proposal where it has objective grounds for any participant’s ineligibility.
Proposals received will be checked against the Eligibility Check Criteria:
Country other than consortium partner countries (as described above);
- The proposal is submitted by a local or regional authority.
More Information
For more complete Open Call information:
Contact
Contact inspire-project@vliz.be for further clarifications.
Personal data will be collected, processed and published in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679, also known as GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation).
