Writing a H2020 Green Deal proposal: tips and online resources

10 November 2020 / , ,

With a budget of nearly EUR 1 billion, the Green Deal call is the last H2020 call before Horizon Europe. This very competitive call aims at funding projects to drive the EU towards ecological transition while supporting European recovery. Here are some tips and sources of information to help you write and submit your EU Green Deal project successfully.

5 tips for a successful Green Deal application

The Green Deal calls, the latest Horizon 2020 calls, are very competitive: only excellent projects will be funded. As a reminder, the call – and its 20 topics divided into 10 themes – is open until 26 January 2020.

Here are 5 tips to make your proposal stand out from the others:

Position your proposal upstream

Analyse the call text in depth beforehand, to ensure that your project is exactly aligned with the objectives of the programme and the specificities of the topic. In addition, your development strategy counts: do not recycle old projects but propose innovations and novelties by exploiting their results and synergies with existing projects.

Do not neglect the Impact section

Impact is particularly important in Green Deal projects. Indeed, the objective is to fund projects with tangible and exploitable solutions and results in the short term, while being attainable. For IA (Innovation Actions) projects, the Impact criterion will be evaluated with a weighting of 1.5 (compared to 1 for the 2 other criteria: Excellence and Implementation).

Focus on TRLs

For Green Deal projects, the evolution of the Technology Readiness Level is of great importance. Present clearly the state of the art at the beginning of the project and its expected evolution by the end of the project with tangible data.

Don’t forget the layout!

Facilitate the work of evaluators, who are often non-native English speakers, with a easy-to-read style. In particular, use graphics to highlight non-textual elements and a legible font (not too small) and a clear structure. These elements, often taken lightly, really make your proposal stand out.

Allow yourself some time for proofreading

Due to the highly competitive nature of the call, every detail of your proposal counts. Try to finalise your proposal ahead of the deadline and have it proofread by an external expert: with a fresh eye, he or she will be able to spot errors and ensure that the project is consistent. And don’t wait until the last minute to submit your proposal on the participant portal, which is likely to be overloaded.

Online resources to support your proposal

With the Covid-19 crisis, most of the information events (as we used to know them…) have been cancelled. However, the various organisations in charge of disseminating the Green Deal call have adapted to the virtual mode and made numerous online resources available (webinars, virtual Info Days, partner search platforms, etc.).

Below is a non-exhaustive list:

  • The full Info Day Green Deal organised during the R&I Days 2020 (September) with a general presentation of the call and a webinar for each of the 10 action areas;
  • The Virtual Brokerage Event organised by C-Energy 2020, the network of Energy NCPs (October 2020);
  • The Spanish NCP Info Day (October 2020), part 1 and 2, in Spanish;
  • Enterprise Ireland Info Day and brokerage event (October 2020).

Also, there are many services to help you find the right partners for your Green Deal consortium. These include:

And here is the calendar of upcoming networking events (B2B meetings, Brokerage events…) dedicated to the Green Deal.

Need a hand to set up your Green Deal project? Our team of expert consultants will accompany you throughout your proposal. Discover our special offer and do not hesitate to contact us directly for more information!