Foto: EEA Library
“Finding and promoting innovative ways to protect the environment is the common denominator of our entire Norwegian program. It is therefore not surprising that the Rago call is the biggest challenge from Norway Grants in terms of volume. Universities, research institutions, and other applicants can receive from 5.2 to 26 million crowns for the implementation of scientific research or innovative projects and the transfer of foreign good practice to the Czech Republic,” says Petr Valdman, Director of the State Environmental Fund of the Czech Republic, whose office mediates the subsidy.
The focus of the call makes it possible to support, for example, measures that are the result of completed research projects registered in the Information System of Research, Development and Innovation operated by the Council for Research, Development and Innovative Approaches. And they can also be pilot innovative projects that have already been successfully implemented in other locations, or abroad. The condition is that the proposed measures cannot be supported from the Operational Program Environment and have a demonstrable benefit in terms of improving the state of ecosystems and protection of biodiversity in the Czech Republic.
The Rago call, which pays up to 90% of the eligible costs of the project to the applicants, is announced as a two-stage application. In the first stage of the call, applicants can submit their project proposals, which summarize the basic idea of the planned project. “The received project proposals will be assessed by an expert committee composed of representatives of professional institutions, which will decide whether the project will be recommended for support from the Norway Grants program. Successful applicants from the first stage will then be invited to finalize the project proposal in the form of an application for support,” describes the evaluation mechanism of the call Petr Valdman.
By its nature, the call is intended mainly for university, scientific or research institutions, but local authorities and any private, public or non-profit organizations established in the Czech Republic as legal entities may also submit their project plans.
Project proposals are received online via the Agenda Information System of the State Environmental Fund of the Czech Republic (AIS SEF CR), from 8 April to 11 June 2021. Supported projects must be implemented by 30 April 2024.
Details can be found on the page: Calls for Proposals
Why Rago?
Rago is one of Norway‘s smallest national parks, located beyond the Arctic Circle on the border with Sweden. In addition, the park is directly adjacent to Sweden’s largest national park, Padjelanta, and is a continuation of the natural and cultural monument Lapland, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The close neighbourhood provides space for cooperation in the implementation of environmental measures. Together with the neighbouring Swedish national parks, Rago is a part of the largest protected area in Europe, with an area of 5,700 km2 . The terrain of the national park is very rugged and is known especially for its steep mountain slopes and cascading rivers surrounded by pine forests. Several ecosystems with typical vegetation and animal species alternate in the park. Here you can find zones of the Nordic taiga, forest-tundra, tundra, and bare granite plates. Of the animal species, there are mainly elk, reindeer, and wolverines.
Environmental Resort 