EU-Wide Advantages & Opportunities for “Understanding the perceptions of and improving communication on the biodiversity crisis …” (HORIZON-CL6-2025-01-BIODIV-09)

1. Single Market Access

• Direct reach to 450 + million citizens allows project pilots and communication tools (apps, media campaigns, citizen-assemblies) to be tested and rapidly rolled-out EU-wide.

• Harmonised consumer data rules (GDPR, DMA) simplify the collection of perception data across Member States, giving statistically robust, comparable insights for policymakers.

• Results can inform pan-European educational content, green labelling and nature-tourism services, creating new market niches for SMEs in ecotourism, communication tech and creative industries.

2. Cross-Border Collaboration

• Mandatory multi-actor approach encourages consortia of NGOs, universities, regional authorities and business from at least three countries, unlocking diverse socio-cultural perspectives on biodiversity attitudes.

• Transnational living-labs (e.g. North Sea wetlands, Iberian dehesas, Carpathian forests, Mediterranean urban hotspots) enable comparative case studies and peer-learning on conflict mediation and co-creation methods.

• Built-in links to JRC Competence Centre on Participatory & Deliberative Democracy provide an EU-level hub for networking events and shared methodologies.

3. EU Policy Alignment

• Supports core objectives of the EU Green Deal, EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030, Nature Restoration Regulation, Climate Adaptation Strategy and the Democracy Action Plan.

• Evidence generated will feed directly into upcoming legislative reviews (e.g. CAP post-2027, EU Soil Monitoring Law) and the EU-level monitoring framework for the Kunming-Montréal Global Biodiversity Framework.

• Demonstrates contribution to “Protecting our democracy, upholding our values” by embedding deliberative democracy tools.

4. Regulatory Harmonisation Benefits

• Common environmental acquis (Birds & Habitats Directives, Water Framework Directive) provides a coherent legal baseline that makes comparative perception analysis meaningful and allows policy recommendations to be rapidly transposed.

• EU-wide ethical standards (HREAP, GDPR) streamline SSH data collection and AI-enabled sentiment analysis.

5. Access to the EU Innovation Ecosystem

• Horizon Europe’s open science requirements maximise visibility through the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC).

• Synergies with European Research Infrastructures (e.g. LifeWatch ERIC, eLTER, ICOS) grant free/discounted access to biodiversity datasets and research facilities.

• Excellent talent pool: Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellows, Erasmus+ trainees, and European Innovation Council (EIC) start-ups can be integrated for cutting-edge communication tech (AR/VR, AI sentiment analytics).

6. Funding Synergies & Leveraging Opportunities

• LIFE Programme – complements biodiversity communication actions and provides routes to upscale pilot nature-based solutions.

• INTERREG & European Regional Development Fund – finance cross-border demonstration sites and visitor centres that emerge from the project.

• CEF Digital & Digital Europe – support AI platforms, multilingual chatbots and XR tools developed.

• Creative Europe – collaborate with artists for science-in-society campaigns.

• CAP Eco-schemes & Horizon Europe Missions (Soil/Ocean) – embed findings into agri-environmental measures and mission living-labs.

7. Scale & Impact Potential

• Pan-EU datasets on public perceptions become the de-facto reference for subsequent EU impact assessments and Eurobarometer surveys.

• Tested deliberative models (citizen assemblies, participatory budgeting, online crowdsourcing) can be packaged as “EU Democracy Toolkits” for municipalities, with support from the Committee of the Regions.

• Common communication frameworks reduce duplication, increasing cost-effectiveness and coherence of Member State biodiversity campaigns.

• Alignment with EU Taxonomy for Sustainable Activities positions outputs as enabling measures for green finance, attracting private co-investment.

8. Strategic Value of Operating at EU Level

• Overcomes fragmented national narratives by crafting a shared European story on biodiversity, fostering solidarity and legitimacy for restoration measures.

• Creates economies of scale for sophisticated digital tools (AI-driven discourse analysis in 24 EU languages) that would be prohibitively expensive for individual countries.

• Strengthens the EU’s global leadership in participatory governance and biodiversity diplomacy, influencing COP-16 and IPBES fora.

9. Actionable Recommendations for Consortia

1. Build a minimum 8-10 country consortium mixing high-biodiversity and urbanised regions to capture perception diversity.

2. Integrate JRC, LifeWatch ERIC and Biodiversa+ for data, and involve CoR & Eurocities to guarantee policy uptake.

3. Design deliverables that map directly onto EU Green Deal scoreboards and Kunming-Montréal monitoring indicators.

4. Reserve budget for alignment workshops with LIFE, INTERREG, EIC and Mission projects to secure cascading funds post-2028.

5. Plan multilingual digital platforms compliant with eIDAS and AI Act draft provisions to future-proof scalability.

In sum, the EU-wide framework multiplies the scientific, societal and economic value of the project far beyond what a purely national initiative could achieve, positioning the consortium at the heart of Europe’s transition towards nature positivity and resilient democracy.