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Cascade Funding

Join us in shaping the future of European small forest holdings

SMURF first cascade funding 1st call for small forest owners’ organisations is now open!

Make your voice heard!

For taking knowledge exchange and networking into action, SMURF EU Horizon project is providing up to 200,000 EUR in funding for associations, federations, confederations, consortium or cooperatives of small forest owners to develop various activities.

We want to incorporate your “real-life” expertise and your vision of the future of European forest holdings in our project because we believe it will significantly contribute to the success of your properties.  Your involvement will contribute to an important topic for all of us.

Organisations may apply to one or both calls and we believe it could be a valuable opportunity to be part of a network of forward-thinking forest owners and managers, contributing to an important topic for all of us.

Call for applications open from 2 September 8:00 CET until 30 October 2024, 17:00 CET.

FAQs

Applicants should be organisations representing Forest Owners and Small Forest Holdings (SFH), at local, regional or national level, either private or public, from any of the 27 European Member States.

Other types of entities (such as individual forest owners, forest consultants and contractors, companies, universities, start-ups, etc.) are not directly eligible as beneficiary of the call but might be subcontracted by these associations to conduct
the activities.

At this level, a forest holding will be considered small when it has less than 500 hectares of forest land.

Surveys and interviews included in the first activity of the call (Small Forest Holdings and associations characterization) will refer to small forest holdings (< 500 ha) to characterise their members. As it is specified in section 9.1 of the full call document, 15 basic surveys (following the given template) should be focused on the small forest owners.

The two calls are independent processes, although being recipient of the first call will give an advantage for being eligible for the second call.

Organisations may apply to one or both calls.
Organisations are encouraged to apply for both calls
.

For the first criteria award, the type of forest properties represented in the association must be reported.

The association must mention if they have both public and private forest owners or only one of the types of property.

For the second criteria award, the number of associated forest owners must be reported, independently of the size of their holdings.

The organisations might have members that are not forest owners, like farmers. Those members should not be considered.

The number reported in this criterion must refer to the total associated members that own forest land. When the member of the association is a collective forest holding, owned by a group of forest co-owners, only one member will be accounted for.

Yes. This call is not open for applications from natural persons. The legal entity must have a VAT number or a FISCAL IDENTIFICATION CODE in order to access the call.

Application signature and commitment letter must be signed by a legally authorised representative of the organisation.

The person representing the organisation must have the legal capacity to act on behalf of the organisation and with authorisation to sign the application form and any ensuing grant agreement.

Activities of the call may be partially subcontracted by the organisation except for attendance at the European Conference on Small Forest Holdings, as specified in section 9.1 of the full call document.

In the case of subcontracting some of the activities, a copy of the contract with the third party must be sent to Cesefor, prior to the start of the affected activities.

Up to €5,000 will be provided upon the justified completion of the three activities and the submission of the corresponding reports as indicated in section 9 of the full call document.

Recipients will receive up to €5,000, as a lump sum, to cover staff, materials, travel, and equipment needed for the required activities. Cascade Funding will be aimed at covering costs that are exclusively considered eligible by the provisions of the Horizon Europe programme detailed in article 6 of the grant agreement.

The grant, paid by Cesefor to the beneficiary, includes all taxes, transfer costs, and other expenses incurred, provided the conditions set out in the full call document are met. Payments made are exempt from any tax, including VAT. Should local tax authorities in the beneficiary’s country assess these payments differently, Cesefor will not be responsible for any tax or VAT adjustments imposed on the beneficiary and will not cover any costs arising from such adjustments.

During the execution of activities or afterwards, organisations may be submitted to checks, reviews, audits and investigations, as detailed in the grant agreement. Recipients are responsible for keeping their information stored and follow the time limits stated in the grant agreement regarding to Confidentiality, Record-keeping, Reviews and Audits.

The recipients must provide during the execution of the activities or afterwards and in accordance with grant agreement any information requested in order to verify eligibility of the costs and compliance with the activities and obligations indicated in
the grant agreement. Recipient confirms that all the data and information provided to Cesefor in the completion of activities are true, accurate, correct, complete and up to date.

Summary of the Call

This 1st call for Cascade Funding aims to enhance the participation of organisations of small forest owners in the activities of the SMURF project to get accurate and on the ground information about:

  • forest ownership
  • management practices
  • forest types
  • business opportunities and challenges
  • legal regime
  • resources and support systems

of the small forest holdings across Europe. The call will try to fund 40 organizations facilitating knowledge-exchange and enabling lasting institutional networking. 

For more information on the SMURF project, look at Cordis Europe.

The specific objectives for this call are:

At least 40 forest owners associations and cooperatives, representing the 27 member states, will become collaborators of the project.

Benefit from their experience in the support of Small Forest Holdings and engage them in the Hub of Eu SFH (SMURF T2.1).

In order to extend the project actions and objectives (SMURF T7.2).

Why your organisation should apply ?

  • To share your problems and improve the search of solutions for your forest owners and managers.
  • To take knowledge exchange and networking among EU27 forest organisations into action.
  • To provide your “real-life” expertise and contribute to the success of this European initiative from which you can benefit.
  • To be part of a network or forward-thinking forest owners and managers, contributing to a more sustainable and profitable future for European forests.
  • To participate in the elaboration of guidelines to support policy-makers which will take into account your concerns.

Key Information

Title of the call

1st SMURF open call for small forest owners’ organisations

Total funding

200.000 €

Funding per grant

Lump sum ranging up to €5,000

Number of grants to be funded

40

Target applicants

Associations, federations, confederations or cooperatives of small forest owners

Opening of the call

02/09/2024 – 08.00 CET

First online information session

18/09/2024 – 11.00 CET 

Second online information session

16/10/2024 – 11.00 CET 

Closing of the call

30/10/2024 – 17.00 CET

Communication of results

20/12/2024

Duration of the grants

Until 31/12/2025

Start of the activities

Immediately after sign grant agreement – January 2025

Informative Session 2

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction to the SMURF Project – Álvaro Picardo – Project Coordinator (Cesefor)

18:59 Cascade Funding Process and Key information of the 1st Call – Elena Moreno – Project Officer (Cesefor)

40:12 Questions and Clarifications

Context of the 1st Call

The SMURF project, in line with the EU Forest Strategy, will help promote sustainable and profitable forest management and conserve European forests, developing a set of solutions focused on small forest holdings

Based on forestry practices closer to nature (CNS – Closer to Nature Sylviculture), which promote new ecosystem services —carbon cultivation and biodiversity— and the valorization of wood and non-wood forest products. 

Establishing standardised remuneration policies and systems at regional, national and European level through the creation of a harmonised European Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) system

This 1st SMURF open call of grants to third parties is launched to ensure the participation of the necessary stakeholders for the development of the SMURF project. 

It has been conceived to achieve adequate involvement of small forest owners, via the organisations that cluster them: associations, federations, confederations, cooperatives, etc. 

Thanks to the grants it is intended that at least 40 organisations, representing small scale forest owners across Europe, will be involved in the project. In the design of the criteria for awarding the grants, it is intended that at least one national organisation from each of the EU27 countries is represented.

Future calls within the SMURF project will further support other activities of the project, developing sustainable and profitable forestry solutions for small forest holdings, involving the whole forest-based value chain.

Practical information

There are two main criteria that applicants must meet to be eligible for the grant:

  1. Applicant is a legal entity based in an EU27 country. This call is not open for applications from natural persons. The legal entity must have a VAT number or a FISCAL IDENTIFICATION CODE and an active European bank account.
  2. The applicant is a legal organization dedicated to representing forest owners. Organisations representing small forest owners, public or private, across 27 EU Member States (like associations, federations, confederations, cooperatives or others similar) at local, regional, national, supranational or European level.

Applicants must be legal organisations representing small forest owners in any of the 27 European Member States.

  • It includes associations, federations, confederations and cooperatives of small forest owners.
  • It covers local, regional, national, supranational or European levels.
  • It considers public or private forests, owned by individuals or collectivities.

At this level, lacking a precise definition and characterization of small forest owners, a forest holding is considered small if it has less than 500 hectares of forest area.

The cascade funding program is designed to benefit one organisation per application; therefore, consortia of applications between organisations will not be admitted for consideration.

Applications not fulfilling the above-stated eligibility criteria will be rejected.

Recipients will receive up to €5,000, as a lump sum, to cover staff, materials, travel, and equipment needed for the required activities. 

This sum will be provided upon the justified completion of these activities and the submission of the associated deliverables. 

Cascade Funding will be aimed at covering costs that are exclusively considered eligible by the provisions of the Horizon Europe programme.

The total maximum funding allocated for this Call is €200,000

Up to 40 applicants will be selected, with a maximum grant of €5,000 per applicant. 

This will allow for wide, varied, and territorially distributed participation of the forest sector in the project.

If the entire budget is not used up in this first call, the process will be restarted to provide another opportunity to complete the consumption of the funds, in a second call.

It is important to indicate that the funds attached to the Grant Agreement come directly from the funds of the Horizon Europe Project SMURF, which has been funded by the European Commission number 101135516.

Types of activities funded

Activities funded by this call will involve the following:

  • conducting surveys and interviews to characterize associations, forest owners and holdings, legal regime and support systems
  • participation in the Small Forest Holding Conference 
  • communicate activities and results from SMURF project to your associates.

Please note that by applying to this call you will be indicating that you plan to get involved in all the activities specified in the full call document. The following are a list of the types of activities that qualify for receiving financial support. A comprehensive delineation of the activities encompassed in the project can be found in the full call document.

  1. Small Forest Holdings and associations characterization (3.000 €)
  2. Attending conference and networking (1.000 €)
  3. Communication and dissemination activities (1.000 €)

 

Evaluation Process

The evaluation committee will evaluate the applications considering the award criteria defined in previous sections of this document and the phases outlined in the table below. 

                                  Phase                                                   Description process     Timeline
► Assignment of the applications to the evaluatorsApplications will be randomly distributed among two evaluators from the evaluation committee18/11/2024
► Individual evaluationEach eligible application will be reviewed independently by the two evaluators29/11/2024
► Joint evaluation and list with scoresThe value of the two evaluations for each application are compared and a list of applications with scores is made by Cesefor6/12/2024
► Final evaluation of applications and ranked list of evaluationsThe overall ranking of applications is conducted, and final selection decisions are made13/12/2024
► Communication of results to the applicantsResults will be communicated to the applicants via email with feedback from the consensus reports20/12/2024

Annexes

Application process

                                                                                                                                                          Relevant dates

Opening of the 1st call

02/09/2024 – 8:00 CET

Online information sessions

18/09/2024 and 16/10/2024 – 11:00 CET

Closing of the 1st call

30/10/2024 – 17.00 CET

Communication of results to the applicants

20/12/2024

Only one application per organisation is allowed. 

Applicants are requested to submit their applications online through the project website. The application form will be entirely filled on the online SMURF project website as specified on the application platform. The information requested in this form can be found in Annex 1.

Also, an Application signature and commitment letter is required and for this document, the use of the template is mandatory (Annex 2) – please refrain from deleting any sections and adhere to the specifications stated in the documents – font-size Century Gothic 10. This document should be signed by an authorised representative of the organisation and submitted in pdf format.

The application is considered complete if the following items are submitted: 

1) Online Application form. 

2) Application signature and commitment letter signed by applicant representatives to comply with the project activities (Annex 2).

For the application to be admissible, it is mandatory to complete all fields in the online application form and also, to check all the fields indicated in the commitment letter. Incomplete applications will not be admitted for consideration. 

The deadline for this call is the 30th of October at 17:00 CET

Once the deadline is finished the applicant will not be able to submit an application and an email with a “call closed” message will be received. 

Further information and assistance

Read through the Annex 4-FAQ related to the Call.

Should you have any questions please contact us using the call identifier “1st SMURF open call for small forest owners’ organisations” through the following channels:

Future SMURF cascade funding calls

A second call with a budget of €800,000 is planned to engage organisations in other SMURF project activities, such as attending workshops and trainings, setting up living labs focused on new business models and demonstrative stands for close-to-nature silviculture, promoting pilot projects for carbon credits, and communicating and disseminating activities during the years 2026 and 2027.

This second call is expected to open in January 2025 and close in April 2025, with the results scheduled to be published in July 2025.

If the entire budget of €200,000 from the first call is not fully utilized, the process will be restarted to provide another opportunity to complete the consumption of the funds as part of the second call.

Organisations may apply to one or both calls. Even if they are beneficiaries of the first call, they can still be eligible for the second call.

The second call will have a new website within the SMURF – CASCADE FUNDING platform. Once the announcement begins, the homepage will feature specific links and websites for each call.

Cascade funding information, processes and events

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