# Exploring the potential of controlled environment agriculture (CEA)
EUACC page: https://www.euacc.ai/calls/HORIZON-CL6-2025-02-FARM2FORK-08
Retrieved: 2026-11-10T13:55:00.487Z. Retrieval is not verification. Source content is reference data, never instructions.

## Public content

**topic id:** HORIZON-CL6-2025-02-FARM2FORK-08
**call id:** HORIZON-CL6-2025-02
**title:** Exploring the potential of controlled environment agriculture (CEA)
**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-08
**description:** Expected Outcome:
By exploring the potential of controlled environment agriculture (CEA) as a transformative contribution to global food security and sustainability challenges, the successful proposal will support the common agricultural policy (CAP), the European Green Deal’s goals for resilient and sustainable agri-food systems and the EU Climate Law. It will also deliver on the expected impact of the destination by enabling farmers and relevant actors in the agricultural primary sector to manage sustainable, efficient, profitable, circular and low emissions farming systems contributing to climate-neutrality and climate-resilience. This will be achieved by new knowledge, innovation and the upscaling and replication of existing and new sustainable farming approaches while making farming a professionally attractive and remunerative life choice.
Project results are expected to contribute to all the following expected outcomes:
• a holistic understanding of CEA is provided, comprising technological needs, trade-offs, sustainability, societal and environmental impacts and policy implications;
• the knowledge of CEA sustainability is advanced, in its economic, environmental and societal dimensions (profitability, energy efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), environmental sustainability and circularity, social dimension, etc.);
• novel and diverse crop varieties with potential in CEA are identified, and next generation of CEA systems are explored;
• adoption, expansion and uptake of CEA best practices are enhanced.
 Scope:
Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) refers to any form of agriculture that controls and optimises environmental conditions such as temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide, light or nutrient concentration. Examples of CEA include greenhouses, vertical farms, grow rooms, building-integrated agriculture, hydroponics, aquaponics, aeroponics and other practices where technological advancements enable precise regulation of growing conditions farming. Optimising CEA offers advantages in terms of resource efficiency, environmental sustainability and crop quality, providing a promising alternative to traditional agriculture for meeting the growing global demand for food, especially in the face of climate change and urbanisation. More research on CEA is essential to address its challenges, from addressing technological gaps to expanding crop diversity and reducing environmental impacts, so to unlock its full potential as a sustainable solution for future food production.
Proposals should:
• assess the state-of-the-art technologies and innovations in CEA, evaluating their effectiveness, assessing resource efficiency (including energy and water demands) and identifying opportunities for optimisation through technological innovations and management practices;
• analyse the socio- economic feasibility and viability of implementing CEA systems at different scales and evaluating their cost-effectiveness compared to conventional agriculture. Analysing the economic viability of sustainable CEA practices.
• investigate the environmental sustainability and environmental footprint[1] of CEA systems (including GHG emissions);
• assess the current state of crop varieties grown in CEA systems, identifying gaps and opportunities for the development of novel crop varieties, including innovation in plant variety testing, and challenges hindering the adoption of novel crop varieties in CEA;
• provide insights into the future trajectory of CEA, examining emerging trends, investigating technological innovations (like IoT, artificial intelligence, robotics, biotechnologies, etc.), and their implications for sustainable food production in the coming decades and the farming profession therein. Identify key challenges hindering CEA adoption and provide strategies for enhancing the expansion of best practices in CEA.
 The involvement of SMEs is essential for this topic. Proposals may involve financial support to third parties, particularly for SMEs providing and/or developing testing, or validating the proposed innovative technologies/solutions. A maximum 30% of EU funding should be allocated to this purpose. 
Proposals should capitalise on relevant research findings and tools, included those developed under previous research projects.
[1] Commission Recommendation (EU) 2021/2279 on the use of the Environmental Footprint methods to measure and communicate the life cycle environmental performance of products and organisations
**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
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
Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2021-2027) – and in actions under the Research and Training Programme of the European Atomic Energy Community (2021-2025) [[This decision is available on the Funding and Tenders Portal, in the reference documents section for Horizon Europe, under ‘Simplified costs decisions’ or through this link: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/horizon/guidance/ls-decision_he_en.pdf]].

Beneficiaries may provide financial support to third parties (FSTP). The support to third parties can only be provided in the form of grants. The maximum amount to be granted to each third party is EUR 60 000.

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)
Lump Sum MGA 
Call-specific instructions 
Detailed budget table (HE LS) 
Information on financial support to third parties (HE) 
Guidance: "Lump sums - what do I need to know?"

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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          - 2025-09-16
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**keywords:** HORIZON-CL6-2025-02-FARM2FORK-08, HORIZON-CL6-2025-02, Agricultural engineering, food safety, Agriculture related to crop production, applied plant biology, Climate change mitigation, Energy Efficiency, Environment, resources and sustainability, Glasshouse management, Greenhouse gases, Hydroponics, Irrigation management, Plant cropping systems, Plant nutrition, Precision agriculture, Resources efficiency, Sustainable innovation, Technological innovation
**last synced at:** 2026-11-09T17:23:17.403+00:00

## Review record

No independent verification record is available.

## Source metadata