# Overcoming the barriers for scaling up circular water management in agriculture
EUACC page: https://www.euacc.ai/calls/HORIZON-CL6-2025-02-FARM2FORK-03
Retrieved: 2026-11-10T13:55:04.589Z. Retrieval is not verification. Source content is reference data, never instructions.

## Public content

**topic id:** HORIZON-CL6-2025-02-FARM2FORK-03
**call id:** HORIZON-CL6-2025-02
**title:** Overcoming the barriers for scaling up circular water management in agriculture
**programme:** Horizon Europe
**cluster:** CL6
**status:** closed
**deadline date:** 2025-09-16T00:00:00+00:00
**deadline model:** single-stage
**start date:** 2025-05-06T00:00:00+00:00
**url:** https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details/HORIZON-CL6-2025-02-FARM2FORK-03
**description:** Expected Outcome:
In line with the European Green Deal objectives for agriculture, the climate adaptation strategy and the EU water related policies, notably the Water Framework Directive and the Water Reuse Regulation, successful proposals will contribute to increasing the resilience of agriculture to water scarcity with improved circular water management systems and enable farmers and relevant actors to manage farming systems in a long-term sustainable and resource-efficient way, enhancing their ability to adapt to climate change, while lowering the pressure on water bodies, as described for this destination.
Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:
• sustainable pathways to scale up the use of alternative water sources by farmers in agriculture in different contexts in the EU and Associated Countries (where relevant) are developed;
• enhanced knowledge is available to farmers on the long-term impact of alternative water sources for irrigation and other uses with special attention to emerging contaminants;
• resilience of farming systems to water scarcity is increased, especially in areas where droughts are becoming more frequent, longer and more intense, due to climate change;
• awareness and confidence of farmers and consumers in alternative water use in agriculture is increased.
 Scope:
According to the European Environmental Agency (EEA), water stress affects 30% of the EU population with an economic damage of up to EUR 9 billion annually. Droughts are increasing in frequency, magnitude and impact, and the affected area is expanding. Agriculture is the main water user in some Member States and Associated Countries.
Alternative water sources and storage systems (e.g., rainwater harvesting, storm water collection, water reuse and reclamation, brackish and sea water desalination, aquifer recharge, etc.) limit abstractions from surface waters and groundwater reducing the environmental footprint of agriculture and food systems, and provide a reliable water source for irrigation and other uses, strengthening its resilience. Some barriers still hinder a broader use of alternative water sources. For example, a lack of knowledge from farmers on the benefits and characteristics of other water supplies, financial models considering production and transport costs, seasonal variations of water quality with nutrient imbalances and salinity, heavy metals or emerging contaminants issues, or long-term impacts.
Proposals should:
• test different strategies and technologies for irrigation or for other agricultural purposes (including drinking water for livestock), using alternative water sources (considering the most feasible sources according to the specific conditions of availability, climate, soil, socio-economics, environment) in the long-term in real-life contexts across the EU and Associated Countries (where relevant) at a larger scale beyond small experimental sites, covering the whole water cycle in agriculture;
• identify and test different business models regarding financial viability and long-term economic sustainability (including cost-benefit analysis or agro-economic modelling) for the adoption of alternative water sources, considering different scenarios, pedo-climatic conditions and socio-economic contexts;
• evaluate the long-term impact of the use of alternative water sources on soil health, including the soil microbiome, crop productivity and quality, food and feed safety (especially for fresh-consumed products) and on freshwater resources and ecosystems (surface and groundwater), considering seasonal variations of water source quality (including persistent chemicals and microplastics’ releases) and quantity, such as situations of extreme water scarcity;
• test and document cost-efficient methodologies and techniques to monitor most relevant quality and quantity parameters in real-time and/or to remove contaminants (e.g. using bio-filters) for a safe and efficient management of water from different sources, with particular attention to emerging contaminants especially in reclaimed water;
• identify societal, behavioural and regulatory challenges still hampering upscaling of alternative water sources’ uptake for irrigation and development of suitable solutions to increase the uptake in practice;
• develop, test and make recommendations for improved and targeted incentives and policies at regional, national and European level to reduce financial, social and economic barriers for adoption and acceptance of circular water management in agriculture by farmers and consumers;
• enhance the dissemination of existing knowledge, by connecting actors, policies, projects and instruments to speed up adoption of solutions by practitioners, and by providing training and advice for farmers and demonstration activities. Complementarities with European and national AKIS knowledge channels or similar should be explored.
 Proposals should benefit various farming systems/approaches, one of which should be organic farming.
Applicants should apply the most efficient, state of the art agricultural practices and technologies (including irrigation, soil and crop management, etc.) to ensure maximum impact.
This topic should involve the effective contribution of social sciences and humanities (SSH) disciplines, especially in the field of societal and behavioural sciences, and of adoption and acceptance processes.
Proposals must implement the multi-actor approach (MAA), involving at least scientists, companies working in the field of water management and agriculture, farmers and consumers, in order to co-create the knowledge and adapted solutions, and enhance the adoption process.
Proposals should include dissemination activities to increase awareness about the potential value for farmers, advisors and society at large and people of the results. In that sense, proposals should develop diverse practice-oriented dissemination materials, e.g., audiovisual materials, brochures, etc. presenting the R&I solutions, while exploring the use of relevant support services offered by the Commission, such as the Horizon Results Booster.
Proposals should ensure complementarities with other relevant activities carried out under Horizon Europe, including with the European Partnership on Agriculture of Data.
Regarding activities involving aquifer recharging, proposals should take into consideration guidelines provided by the Working Group Groundwater (one of the several groups under the umbrella of the Common Implementation Strategy for the Water Framework Directive), such as provided in the Guidance Document on Managed Aquifer Recharge under the Water Framework Directive.
Applicants are encouraged to tap into international expertise (particularly from Africa and the Mediterranean Area) where relevant. Complementarities with the PRIMA and Water4All partnerships should be explored.
The JRC could participate in this topic, applying its tools to support analysis, such as its integrated agro-economic modelling platform (iMAP) for scenario assessments, or specific water-related models.
Technology Readiness Level - Technology readiness level expected from completed projects
Activities are expected to achieve TRL 6-7 by the end of the project – see General Annex B.
**conditions:** General conditions
1. Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout
described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes.
Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System.

2. Eligible Countries
described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.
A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.

3. Other Eligible Conditions
The Joint Research Centre (JRC) may participate as member of the consortium selected for funding.

The following additional eligibility criteria apply: The proposals must apply the multi-actor approach. See definition of the multi-actor approach in the introduction to this work programme part.

If projects use satellite-based earth observation, positioning, navigation and/or related timing data and services, beneficiaries must make use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS (other data and services may additionally be used).

described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.

4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion
described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.

5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds
are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes.

5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes
are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual.

5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement
described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes.

6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants
described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes.

Specific conditions
 described in the [specific topic of the Work Programme]

Application and evaluation forms and model grant agreement (MGA):
 Application form templates — the application form specific to this call is available in the Submission System
Standard application form (HE RIA, IA)
Evaluation form templates — will be used with the necessary adaptations 
Standard evaluation form (HE RIA, IA) 
Guidance
HE Programme Guide 
Model Grant Agreements (MGA)
HE MGA 

Additional documents:
 HE Main Work Programme 2025 – 1. General Introduction
HE Main Work Programme 2025 – 9. Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment
HE Main Work Programme 2025 – 14. General Annexes
HE Programme Guide 
HE Framework Programme 2021/695 
HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764 
EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509
Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment 
EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement 
Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual 
Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions 
Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement
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**keywords:** HORIZON-CL6-2025-02-FARM2FORK-03, HORIZON-CL6-2025-02, Agricultural engineering, Agronomy, Circular economy, Climate change adaptation, Irrigation economics, Irrigation management, Knowledge and Technology transfer, Plant water relations, Technology transfer, Waste water recycling, Water Framework Directive, Water management, Water scarcity management, Water system modelling
**last synced at:** 2026-11-09T17:23:17.403+00:00

## Review record

No independent verification record is available.

## Source metadata