RESTORE Act Direct Component (Pot 1)

Advancing integrated scenarios and prediction models for informing transition to a nature positive society is sponsored by European Commission — Horizon Europe. Expected Outcome: Project results are expected to contribute to all the following expected outcomes: advanced knowledge and understanding how ecosystems respond to multiple plausible futures shaped by human-induced pressures, supporting the design of long-term, nature positive and equitable policies; strengthened collaboration across bio-physical , socio-economic and humanities disciplines, resulting in more integrated and robust scenario frameworks that capture interactions, trade-offs and synergies across biodiversity, climate, food, water, air, health, energy and economy; advancement of comprehensive ecosystem prediction models and scenario-based assessments that integrate direct and indirect drivers of biodiversity loss, applicable across terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems; a consistent and transparent framework for model intercomparison and cross-scale scenario building, improving the relevance and usability of modelling outputs for policy , business and international assessments (e.g., IPBES, International Panel on Climate Change - IPCC). Scope: To address the objectives of the European Green Deal, the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030, the EU Nature Restoration Regulation and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), as well as Sustainable Development Goals, actions funded under this topic should support the scientific development of A) integrated scenarios, B) predictive models and C) model intercomparison experiments for Member States and Associated Countries. Developments should be verified in case studies covering at least 2 European biogeographic regions [1] and spanning key economic sectors to inform systemic policy transformations and enable long-term planning for a nature positive society. Proposals should: design and develop components of a European integrated prediction and scenario framework to forecast how natural ecosystems respond to a wide range of human-induced ecosystem interactions including climate change, pollution, socio-economic transitions such as conflicts, pressures, and policy interventions. These frameworks should link ecosystem functions with key economic sectors, such as agriculture and fisheries, and test their resilience and tipping points under multiple plausible futures; make use of long-term monitoring data across biodiversity, land use, climate, and socio-economic variables to improve reliability and real-world relevance. They should also quantify uncertainty in model projections and ensure scenarios incorporate dynamic feedback loops between ecosystems and socio-economic systems, and identify risk distributions relevant to frontline socio-ecological communities; test and assess the suitability of the IPBES Nature Futures Framework for European application and align modelling approaches with international efforts and assessments under IPBES and IPCC. Proposals should seek to address knowledge gaps identified by the relevant IPBES assessments and if appropriate provide recommendations to policymakers; advance model intercomparison capabilities to improve robustness, consistency and transparency in scenario-based assessments. To this end, the suitability of remote sensing data for scalability and intercomparison between different models and across different regions should be assessed. Proposals should include case studies that cover at least two European biogeographic regions with global relevance to verify the developed scenarios, models and intercomparison experiments. Case studies should consider different geographical scales and explore ecosystem tele coupling across Europe and beyond. Scenario development should involve relevant stakeholders—including public authorities, economic sectors, and civil society—in co-creating narratives and ensuring policy applicability. Socio-economic transitions and equity and justice considerations concerning trade-offs and distributional impacts across regions and communities (i.e. across biodiversity, climate, food, water, Programme areas: Horizon Europe (HORIZON), Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness, Food, Bioeconomy Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment, Biodiversity and Natural Resources Keywords: Biodiversity conservation, Biological systems analysis, modelling and simulation, Earth Observation / Services and applications, Ecology, EU biodiversity strategy, Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, biodiversity, climate change, drivers of biodiversity loss, earth observation, freshwater ecosystems, intercomparison, marine ecosystems, model, modelling, nature conservation, scenario, terrestrial ecosystems

Toward a comprehensive assessment of the disturbance of marine ecosystems by anthropogenic underwater noise is sponsored by European Commission — Horizon Europe. Expected Outcome: Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes: impacts of continuous and impulsive underwater noise levels on marine organisms and ecosystems, and the related ecosystem services they provide, including cumulative impacts with other pressures, are well understood, taking into account regional differences; environmental authorities have access to advanced methods, tools and indicators enabling them to comprehensively monitor and assess the impacts of underwater noise pollution on marine species and ecosystems and to devise strategies for protecting the ecosystems services they provide. Scope: Proposals should: develop new, or improve upon existing, scientific methods and tools for comprehensively monitoring the impacts of anthropogenic underwater noise pollution on marine ecosystems and species populations at different trophic levels and taking into account regional differences; develop new, or improve upon existing, indicators for the assessment of the effects of noise exposure as well as their cumulative effects on marine organisms and ecosystems, and the services they provide, in line with methods (including threshold values) already agreed at EU level for the assessment of good environmental status for underwater noise and taking into account regional developments; investigate options for mitigation measures for safeguarding relevant ecosystem services, including carbon sequestration, and develop or improve tools to measure their impacts and efficiency. Proposals should support the objective and implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) by providing new evidence and data on the impacts of noise on marine ecosystems and related ecosystem services, in line with the MSFD guidelines for impulsive and continuous noise monitoring, and by providing evidence-based methods for the assessment of good environmental status for underwater noise at national, regional and EU level. The European Commission signed on behalf of the European Union a Declaration for a High-Ambition Coalition for a Quiet Ocean at UNOC 3 which includes actions to address underwater noise and mitigate its impact on marine life and biodiversity. With a view of supporting the implementation of this Declaration, proposals are expected to contribute to restore a quieter ocean. Programme areas: Horizon Europe (HORIZON), Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness, Food, Bioeconomy Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment, Seas, Oceans and Inland Waters Keywords: Biological oceanography, Boat and yacht construction, Cables and pipelines, Construction of offshore platforms and installations, Hydrology, Hydrology, water and soil pollution, Marine Communities/Species Interactions, Marine Conservation, Marine Ecology, Marine Ecosystems, Marine Environment, Marine Environmental Policies, Marine Knowledge and Research, Marine Protected Areas/Mpas, Marine Reserves, Marine Strategy Framework Directive, Marine and Ocean Management, Marine, Coastal And Ocean Pollution, Nautical Routes, Ocean, Ocean Observation and Monitoring, Ocean energies, Ocean engineering, Ocean observing systems and operational forecasting, Oceanography, Physical oceanography, Port/Harbour, Propulsion systems engineering, Water resources, Marine pollution, Ocean protection, Ocean restoration, Underwater noise, ocean monitoring

Pushing the frontier of knowledge and conservation action for deep sea ecosystems is sponsored by European Commission — Horizon Europe. Expected Outcome: Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes: Member States and Associated Countries contribute to the implementation of area-based management tools, such as protection targets and adaptive management approaches for deep-sea regions under the Treaty on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), for Regional fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) and for transitions areas with the EU exclusive economic zone notably by identifying Ecologically and biologically significant marine areas (EBSAS), and informing the next Global Assessment of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services; Public Authorities prioritise deep sea areas for inclusion in their 30% protection target while enhancing maritime spatial planning achieved through science-based information, habitat mapping and ecosystem-based approach, aligned with the EU strategies for biodiversity and climate adaptation by 2030. Scope: The deep sea represents 90% of the Ocean volume and remains the least explored biome of the planet. Nevertheless, we know that the deep sea forms an extensive and complex ensemble of ecosystems which functioning is crucial to the rest of the biosphere, global biogeochemical cycles and ecosystems upon which much terrestrial life, including human civilisation, depends. The critical limiting factors in the definition and implementation of protection and restoration measures are the lack of biodiversity knowledge and appropriate monitoring, especially in layers below 1000 m. The main reasons are the limited access and high cost of explorations of the diversity of biotopes in the deep sea, and the resources available to identify organisms across the full range of sizes (from microorganisms to megafauna) and describe ecosystems functioning. In line with the objectives and targets of the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030, the EU Nature Restoration Regulation, the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, the EU climate adaptation strategy, the strategy for European life sciences, the European Ocean Pact, the Treaty on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), proposals should: fill the gaps in geographical coverage in habitats mapping, species inventory, genetic diversity, ecological functioning, food webs and ecological connectivity (including migratory species) of deep sea ecosystems in the bathypelagic and abyssopelagic zones (abyssal seafloor, hydrothermal sites, seamounts, canyons and across the water column) between them and with shallower ocean zones (mesopelagic, epipelagic, coastal...); develop, integrate and deploy imaging, acoustic, multi-omics, genomics and taxonomic technologies and methodologies for the inventory and fast identification of deep-sea marine species from microbes, invertebrates to migratory species, apex predators such as sharks and mammals, corals and other habitat-forming species, generating reference datasets from identified voucher specimens and novel methods to improve biodiversity monitoring and inventory and the discovery of novel biological traits, enhancing understanding of ecosystem resilience to climate and anthropogenic pressures; contribute to the Global Taxonomy Initiative of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and to free and open access to the Global Biodiversity Information Facility’s biodiversity data; establish baselines, spatial and temporal dynamics, assess and predict the cumulated impacts from climate change and other anthropogenic stressors including underwater noise, on ecosystems functioning and services, including the biological carbon pump fisheries stock; describe holistic interactions between the deep sea, Ocean and planetary health and propose actionable knowledge by involving multiple stakeholders for identifying adaptive management approaches, and mitigation and conservation scenarios for prioritised deep Programme areas: Horizon Europe (HORIZON), Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness, Food, Bioeconomy Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment, Seas, Oceans and Inland Waters Keywords: Biochemistry and molecular biology, Biodiversity conservation, Biophysics, Deep-sea ecosystems, Earth and related environmental sciences, Ecology, Genetics and heredity, Marine biology, BBNJ, Deep sea, EBSAS, Ecological functioning, Ecosystem-based approach, Habitats mapping, High-Seas, Kunming Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, Species inventories