The Horizon Europe Work Programme 2026 – released on Dec 11, 2025, by the European Commission – includes Cluster 6 |“Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment”—at its core. The cluster is pivotal in advancing sustainability, biodiversity, and climate resilience across agrifood chains and food systems.

The Work Programme Cluster 6 includes calls addressing the folloginw six Destinations:

1. Destination – Biodiversity and ecosystem services​
2. Destination – Fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly food systems from primary production to consumption​
3. Destination – Circular economy and bioeconomy sectors​
4. Destination – Clean environment and zero pollution​
5. Destination – Land, ocean and water for climate action​
6. Destination – Innovative governance, environmental observations and digital solutions in support of the Green Deal

The Horizon Europe Work Programme 2025 – released on May 14, 2025, by the European Commission – includes Cluster 6 |“Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment”—at its core. The cluster is pivotal in advancing sustainability, biodiversity, and climate resilience across agrifood chains and food systems.

Key initiatives include:

• Circular Economy & Bioeconomy for innovative business models and digital solutions to drive sustainable value chains.
• Zero Pollution for targeting environmental biotechnology for ecosystem remediation and pollution reduction.
• Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services focusing on large-scale biodiversity observations and nature restoration measures. Research and innovation
• Sustainable Food Systems for enhancing food security, nutrition, and mental health through innovative practices.

A comprehensive resource for the EU Food and Drink Industry

The Data & Trends 2024 report by FoodDrinkEurope is now available. This essential resource offers detailed statistics and insights into the EU food and drink industry, highlighting its position as the largest manufacturing sector in the EU.

The report reveals that the industry employs 4.7 million people, generates a turnover of €1.2 trillion, and adds €250 billion in value. It also explores the cost of transitioning to more sustainable food systems, input costs, and future industry trends.

Additionally, the report provides a market outlook, showing that 65% of EU food and drink exports go to the Single Market, with exports outside the EU reaching €182 billion and a trade surplus of €80 billion. It includes a ranking of the top 50 food and drink companies worldwide.

This comprehensive report is an invaluable tool for professionals looking to understand the current landscape and future direction of the EU food and drink industry.

Key Funding Schemes in the 2025 Programme

The 2025 EIC work programme allocates funding across four major schemes:

1. EIC Pathfinder
   Funding: €262 million
   Grants up to €4 million will be awarded to multi-disciplinary research teams tackling visionary, high-risk projects that have the potential to deliver breakthrough technologies.
2. EIC Transition
   Funding: €98 million
   Aimed at turning research results into viable innovation opportunities, the EIC Transition scheme will offer grants of up to €2.5 million to further develop promising results from EIC Pathfinder projects, ERC Proof of Concept, and Horizon Pillar 2 collaborative projects.
3. EIC Accelerator
   Funding: €634 million
   Designed to help start-ups and SMEs develop and scale high-impact innovations, EIC Accelerator will provide grants of up to €2.5 million, along with equity investments ranging from €0.5 million to €10 million. This scheme focuses on innovations with potential to create new markets or transform existing ones.
4. STEP Scale Up
   Funding: €300 million
   The STEP Scale Up programme will provide additional equity funding to promising SMEs, start-ups, spin-offs, and small mid-caps operating in critical technology areas. Investments range from €10 million to €30 million, helping these companies secure private co-investment for further scaling.

Supporting Innovation Across Europe

The EIC 2025 programme offers numerous resources to support applicants and highlight the programme’s impact, including information days, downloadable factsheets, FAQs, and a dedicated podcast series. The programme also includes videos on key challenges and statements from the EIC Board, all aimed at guiding innovators toward realizing their potential in strategic sectors.
More info here

A new study on virtual social labs implementation has been published in the Journal of Responsible Technology (2024), by Maria Schrammel and Ilse Marschalek of ZSI, Zentrum für Soziale Innovation GmbH, as a partner of the FoodSafety4EU project.
The FoodSafety4EU participatory process gave the stage for exploring, experimenting, testing and standardizing how to conduct successful social laboratories in a virtual mode, through the implementation of four FSOLabs, that have been successfully organized online and conducted by Social Lab Managers:
FSOLab 1: Niels van der Linden & Pieternel Luning – Wageningen University & Research
FSOLab 2: Michael Rychlik & Tamara Steltz -Technical University of Munich
FSOLab 3: Denisa E. Duta IBA BUCURESTI & Biancamaria Ciasca CNR ISPA
FSOLab 4: Line Friis Lindner ISEKI-Food Association
supported by Food Safety Hub Leaders:
Monika Tomaniová UCT Prague – Veronica Lattanzio CNR ISPA – Sarah De Saeger UGENT – Hanna-Leena Alakomi VTT.

Abstract:

In response to the challenges posed by the complex field of food safety, the FOODSAFETY4EU project established social labs. Due to COVID-19 pandemic the lab process, typically held in-person, had to be converted to the virtual space. This means that all workshops, meetings, and collaboration processes and the pilot activity implementation solely took place online. This resulted in the novel situation of teams collaborating virtually throughout the labs. Virtual collaborations were already on the rise before the pandemic, evidenced by an increase in virtual meetings and workshops.
This study examines the requirements and limitations for online settings to be effective in virtual social lab processes. It investigates virtual collaboration, team dynamics, and the use of online tools. Findings reveal advantages such as increased participation, but also drawbacks including technical issues and role accountability. Despite challenges, all four virtual social labs finally succeeded in engaging diverse stakeholders and achieving significant outcomes.

Download the publication below!

An interesting article published in Trends In Food Science and Technology presents the Self-evaluation Tool for Risk Communication (SET) as a result of collaboration between experts from the SafeConsume Horizon 2020 funded project and European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).

Abstract:
Background: Food safety risk communication is part of the risk analysis methodology and plays an important role in the increasingly complex food system. Besides shaping consumer risk awareness, risk perception and risk behaviour, risk communication also affects the reputation of the food safety authorities, being especially important for securing operational stability and budget of the concerned organisations. A recent European study highlighted a high variance in risk communication preparedness of official institutions in EU member countries.
Scope and approach: This paper presents a benchmarking instrument, the Self-evaluation Tool for Risk Communication (SET), designed for food safety authorities. SET helps decision-makers to receive a quick assessment of their preparedness level for risk communication by comparing it with international best practices.
Key findings and conclusions: SET divides risk communication competencies into three domains: Human capacities, Organisational management, and Risk communication activities. Several elements are assessed in each domain, evaluated on a scale from 0 to 3. The results are delivered instantly, benchmarking the scores in terms of domains and the individual elements. The data wheel visualization highlights strengths and weaknesses and points out logical improvement options for the organisation.

Download the publication below!