Articles

IKAT (Coastal and Maritime) Tourism Call for SMEs in Europe | Deadline: 20 April 2023

Deadline: 20 April, 2023
Budget: €3.000-€10.000
Countries: France, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Spain

Scope:

Are you a European SME dedicated to maritime and coastal tourism looking to renew yourself and increase your success through innovation and internationalisation?

The First Call of the EUROCLUSTER IKAT is launched to fund services such as business modelling, acceleration support activities, increasing open innovation in these types of activities, supporting the green and energy transition of companies, as well as the implementation of the SDGs, and the most inclusive technology, bringing the company closer to non-traditional financing and supporting its internationalisation, as well as strengthening its training. Funding for these services ranges from €3.000,00 to €10.000,00 depending on the service.

We are looking for SMEs in the maritime and coastal tourism industrial ecosystem that want to:

  • Activate diversification towards new products and services.
  • Accelerate and develop new ideas.
  • Apply open innovation to their business.
  • Boost the green and digital transition in their company, as well as improve transversal aspects such as gender, CSR, among others.
  • Improve your options for obtaining financing in investment rounds.
  • Improve the internationalisation of your company.
  • Improve your knowledge and training regarding the above challenges and improvements.

More information on the dedicated call page of the IKAT website

MedPAN Call for Small Projects to strengthen the level of effective protection in Mediterranean MPAs | Deadline: 5 February 2023

Deadline: 5 February 2023
Budget: a max of €25.000 per project (category 1: çlassic) or a max of € 45.000 per project (category 2: ‘cooperation’) 
Countries: Spain, France, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Greece, Cyprus and Malta, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, the Palestinian Territories, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Monaco, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Albania.

Scope:

MedPAN is launching a Call for Small Projects to support the actions led in Marine Protected Areas (MPA) in the Mediterranean. This Call aims to strengthen the level of effective protection in Mediterranean MPAs.

The MedPAN Call for Small Projects is open to:

  • Organisations in charge of the management of Mediterranean MPAs;
  • Other organisations (NGOs, private companies, scientific institutions, etc.) working with authorities that are in charge of the management of Mediterranean MPAs.

The MPA management authorities and the organisations who wish to participate will need to send the Grant Application Form to the MedPAN Secretariat by February 5, 2023 at the latest.
You will find all the details regarding participation eligibility, the type of projects targeted and the selection process in the Rules document of the Call for Small Projects.

 

To submit a grant request:

  1. Carefully read the Rules and assess whether your structure and project are eligible. Download the Rules of the Call for Small Projects.
  2. Fill in the Grant Application Form.Download the Grant Application Form.
  3. Send it with all the necessary documents to projet@medpan.org by February 5, 2023.

An online Q&A session will be organized on 10 January 2023 at 10:00 CET. To receive login information, please register by email at projet@medpan.org.

Should you have any questions about this Call for Small Projects, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

This Call for Small Projects is made possible through the financial support of the Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy Programme.

Blue Careers call | Deadline: 31 January 2023

Deadline: 31 January, 2023
Budget: €7.500.000
Countries: France, Italy, Malta, Spain, Portugal, algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Mauritania

Scope:

The overall aim of this Call is to contribute to the development of the next generation of blue skills and to provide opportunities for attractive, sustainable maritime careers. The objective is to develop the necessary skillsets to support the European Green Deal initiatives promoting a sustainable blue economy.

Please, note that there will be an INFO DAY event in hybrid format on 24 November, to present the details of these two Calls. Please find here the link to register on CINEA website:

https://cinea.ec.europa.eu/news-events/events/emfaf-2022-info-day-2022-11-24_en

More information on the dedicated funding and tender opportunities page of the European Commission

Sustainable growth and building resilience in tourism – empowering SMEs to carry out the twin transition | Deadline 30 November 2022

Deadline: 30 November, 2022
Budget: €20.500.000
Countries: France, Italy, Malta, Spain, Portugal

Scope:

 

This call for proposals will be part of the overall COVID-19 recovery strategy for a sustainable tourism ecosystem and in particular aim at equipping and empowering SMEs in their twin transition efforts in line with the Tourism Transition Pathway (under the Industrial Strategy Update (COM(2021)350 final).

The action aims to guide the forward-looking recovery of the tourism ecosystem by providing support, including with the intermediary of consortia of organisations of the relevant tourism industry stakeholders, to the digital and green transformation of tourism companies, particularly SMEs, and boosting innovation, resilience, sustainability and quality along the tourism value chain. The activity may also include provision of financial support to (e.g. SMEs and B2B matchmaking).

Expected Impact:

1. Enhanced resilience and competitiveness of tourism SMEs through better uptake of sustainability principles (including by making use of existing tools such as the EU Ecolabel for tourist accommodation services), innovation, digital tools and data and through improved capacity to consider, assess and follow the environmental and socioeconomic impacts of tourism services and activities;

2. New business models in tourism building on digitalisation, new technologies, sustainability, circularity, authentic and cultural experiences, and engagement of local communities;

3. Enhanced cooperation along the tourism value chain;

4. Improved transnational and cross-border cooperation, knowledge transfer and peer learning;

5. Support to recovery of the tourism ecosystem from COVID-19 crisis by developing and sharing best practices for recovery investments with long-term effects for green and digital transition.


More information
 on the dedicated funding and tender opportunities page of the European Commission

Mediterranean sea basin lighthouse – Actions to prevent, minimise and remediate chemical pollution | deadline 27 September 2022

Deadline: 27 September, 2022
Budget: €17.000.000 EURO
Countries: Algeria, France, Italy, Malta, Mauritania, Morocco Portugal, Spain, Tunisia

 

Objective

In line with the EU Zero Pollution Action Plan for Air, Water and Soil, proposals should demonstrate scalable breakthrough innovations (technological, business, social and governance) to prevent and minimize marine and freshwater pollution from chemical pollutants. Following the zero pollution hierarchy, proposals should focus on demonstrating replicable solutions to prevent and minimise pollution in the Mediterranean Sea including its major river catchment areas and taking into consideration land-sea interactions through measures, such as:

  • Upstream prevention of pollution from chemicals;
  • Substitutes or alternative less polluting substances and materials for the most prevalent chemical pollutants found in freshwater and at sea.

Proposed solutions for pollution prevention, elimination and remediation should not increase the level of anthropogenic underwater noise and air emissions.

Proposed solutions should be in line with the EU taxonomy regulation and delegated acts.

Proposals must:

  • Carry out demonstration activities in 3 different Member States and/or Associated Countries of the Mediterranean sea basin, involving and including in the consortium entities from these three countries;
  • Identify areas and locations where the solutions are replicable and draw up an action plan and roadmap to replicate and scale up the pollution solutions and actions.

More information on the EC Funding and Tender opportunities website

Women in the Blue Economy | Deadline 22 September 2022

Deadline: 22 September, 2022
Budget: €2.500.000 EURO
Countries: France, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Italy

 

Objective

This call for proposals has the following main objectives:

  1. to increase the participation and representation of women in the different sectors of the sustainable blue economy
  2. to increase knowledge and collect data on women’s contribution to the sustainable blue economy so as to efficiently foster and mainstream gender equality;
  3. to promote and advance gender equality in the sustainable blue economy (e.g., countering gender stereotypes, conscious and unconscious bias, promoting equal pay, addressing poor working conditions, etc.) including through promoting blue career opportunities to girls from early education;
  4. to promote women’s leadership, entrepreneurship and participation in governance structures and decision-making mechanisms of public and/or private organisations of the sustainable blue economy;

The actions funded under this call will help sustainable blue economy sectors e.g; fisheries, aquaculture, shipbuilding, maritime transport, offshore renewable energy, blue bioeconomy, inland and offshore aquaculture, etc., to embrace a deep and structural change to facilitate and promote the inclusion of women in the wider maritime economy.

 

More informaton – funding and tenders section of the ec.europa.eu website

digicirc call announcement poster with text ansd sailing boat

DigiCirc open call – Blue Economy accelerator programme | Deadline: 8 September 2021

Deadline: 8 september 2021 (extended from 3 August 2021)
Budget: 20.000 € (Phase 1)/ 5 best ranked consortia: additional 100.000 €
Countries: PT, ES, MT, IT, FR

Themes:

  • Fisheries/ Aquaculture (O2/P2)
  • Marine pollution and circular economy (O2/P4)
  • Maritime Renewable Energy (O2/ P5)
  • Maritime Research and innovation (O2)
  • Shipping and Ports (O2/P4)
  • Marine and Coastal Tourism (O2/P4)

 

Objective

DigiCirc is looking for European SMEs/Start-ups that can use digital tools and apply cutting-edge solutions in the circular economy by addressing specific challenges in the domain of Blue Economy.

 

How does it work?

With the second open call, DigiCirc will select a minimum of 15 consortia, composed of at least 2 SMEs/Startups, that will develop innovative solutions focused on digital technologies by addressing the Blue Economy challenges . SMEs will be given the opportunity to use the DigiCirc Matchmaking Platform to look for other SMEs in case they need a partner to build a consortium.

The selected consortia will get a direct funding of up to €20.000 and the opportunity to integrate a highly intensive and innovative 12 weeks-long innovation support programme, divided in two phases, where they will be able to develop their business plans and adapt their solutions for the targeted area (Phase 1); and demonstrate their solutions in relevant environment as well as shape their commercial strategy (Phase 2).

At the end of the accelerator programme, the 5 best ranked consortia will be selected to receive further funding of €100.000. They will have up to 6 months to develop their prototype and make tests in an operational environment in view of a commercial launch.

More information

Visit the digicirc blue economy call website

 

screenshot agrimer website announcing call

Aide au développement de navires et bateaux innovants améliorer la performance énergétique ou environnementale

Deadline: 30 April 2021
Budget: 15 Million euro
Countries: FR

Themes:

  • Fisheries and Aquaculture

FranceAgriMer met en place un programme d’aide  aux  projets d’investissements pour le développement de navires et bateaux innovants pour permettre d’améliorer la performance énergétique ou environnementale par appel à projets (bientôt disponible). Les dossiers seront traités par un appel à projets dans la limite d’une enveloppe de 15 M€ qui se clôturera le 30/04/2021

Les modalités de mise en œuvre de ce programme d’aide sont disponibles dans la décision INTV-POP-010 téléchargeable ci-dessous, dans la zone « documents associés ».

Les dossiers seront déposés par un opérateur disposant d’un N° SIRET via le remplissage d’un formulaire en ligne permettant de renseigner les éléments suivants :

  • L’identification du porteur ;
  • La localisation de l’opération ;
  • Description du projet prévisionnel notamment en regard des critères de sélection;
  • La liste des dépenses prévues ;
  • Le montant d’aide demandé.

L’opération ne peut être éligible que si elle n’est pas commencée au moment du dépôt (pas de devis signé ou accepté avant le dépôt notamment).

En savoir plus: Aide au développement de navires et bateaux innovants améliorer la performance énergétique ou environnementale | FranceAgriMer – établissement national des produits de l’agriculture et de la mer

fisherman casting net

Call for Grants for small-scale fishers in the Mediterranean

Deadline: 15 May 2021
Budget: 5.000-20.000 euro
Countries: ES, FR, IT

Themes:

  • Fisheries

Funding is available from the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) to advance Mediterranean small-scale fisheries towards sustainability

The Grants are a way for WWF to support small-scale fisheries on their path towards sustainability by accelerating the use of funding available from the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF). Grants are reserved for fishers committed to submitting a Request for Funds to the National Authorities that manage the EMFF.

The WWF CALL FOR GRANTS pursues the following objectives:
• To provide Mediterranean small-scale fishers with the necessary co-financing and technical assistance to apply to EMFF for implementing actions towards a more sustainable fishing;
• To improve small-scale fishers’ capacity to apply to the EMFF;
• To increase small scale fishers’ interest in the EMFF and to accelerate the use of available funds to accelerate the transition towards a more sustainable fishing;
• To accelerate the implementation of the Regional Plan of Action on Small-Scale Fisheries (RPOA-SSF) of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean
(GFCM).

All information and document library available here

algae

EMFF Call | Algae and Climate

Deadline: 31 May 2021
Budget: 250.000 euro
Countries: ES, FR, IT, MT, PT
Participation in this call is also open to all natural and legal persons established in a third country, which has a special agreement with the European Union in the field of public procurement on the conditions laid down in that agreement
Themes:

  • Fisheries/ Aquaculture
  • Maritime pollution and circular economy

EASME is launching this call for tenders in order to conclude a service contract for a study aimed to investigate the use of algae cultivation and its potential contribution to the EU’s climate objectives.

EASME wishes to enter into a service contract to assess the potential of algae to contribute to the EU’s climate, food and biodiversity strategies under the 2019 EU Green Deal proposal resetting the Commission’s commitment to achieving zero emissions of greenhouse gases in 2050 with economic growth decoupled from resource use.

The purpose of this service is to provide the Directorate General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries with a basic background knowledge and up-to-date information that can increase the evidence base for the contribution of the Blue Economy to the EU’s Green Deal. The focus should be put on the costs, impact and benefits of scaling up production of marine algae through aquaculture in the EU.

The services to be delivered will cover all EU Member States, including their Outermost Regions.

All information and document library available here