Towards Sustainability of Soils and Groundwater for Society - Belmont Soils 2021

The French Research Agency and the Belmont Forum is pleased to announce the launch of a collaborative research call on the theme: Towards Sustainability of Soils and Groundwater for Society.

The goal of this CRA is to produce the necessary knowledge and propose solutions to maintain well-functioning soils and groundwater systems in the Critical Zone through:

• Better understanding of the long-time dynamics and functions of soils and groundwater, impacts from societal (including economics) decisions, integrative management practices, public policies, and how these systems have been transformed; and,
   
• Providing avenues, pathways, and narratives toward transformation of management practices of the whole soil and groundwater systems through a fundamental shift of socio-economic actors' practices and related-decisions making processes.

Development of research consortia, supported financially by at least three participating partner organizations established in three different countries, is a key criterion. We encourage global geographic diversity to increase the scalability and applicability of the project outcomes. Consortium partners that are not eligible for funding from any of the participating funding agencies can participate in the research project at their own expense. Given the complexity and scope of the challenges, research consortia must be truly inter- and transdisciplinary, thus including researchers from: a) social sciences/humanities/economy and b) natural sciences/technology as well as c) societal partners (i.e. citizens, industry, civil society organizations), using a co-design, co-development and co-implementation approach.

Proposals should also clearly demonstrate the added value linked to the international nature of the projects and to the level of collaboration between teams from different countries.

Funding agencies participating in this call are:

São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP, Brazil), French National Alliance for Environmental Research (AllEnvi, France), National Research Agency (ANR, France), National Research Council (CNR, Italy), Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST, Japan), Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF, Qatar), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST, Saudi Arabia), Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR, Russia), Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST, Taiwan) and National Science Foundation (NSF, USA). Discussions are on-going with the Thailand Science Research and Innovation (TSRI, Thailand) to join this call.

For further information, please consult the submission website www.bfgo.org

21.04.2020: Due to unforeseen circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic, FAPESP must refrain from its participation in this CRA at this time.  Please visit bfgo.org for details about the scope and timeline of the call.  All updates regarding this call – including decision on FAPESP participating - will be posted on bfgo.org as well as on the belmontforum.org website and FAPESP´s Belmont Forum page.