Demonstrating place-based experimentation and innovation spaces as enabling environments for scaling EU Missions

Open

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Expected Outcome:
Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

• The territorial anchoring of the EU Mission(s) is strengthened through multi-layered governance
• Enabling environments for the scaling of novel solutions contributing to the EU Missions are established
• Analytical insights are turned into territorial experimentation and best practices for replication in a wide array of EU funding instrumentsScope:
This topic is a strategic instrument to support the transition to the second phase of the EU Missions’ lifecycle (2026–2030), focused on scaling up and wider deployment of novel mission-relevant solutions.
To this end, territories (countries, regions and interregional partnerships) in EU Member States and Associated countries are called upon to design and demonstrate governance, regulatory experimentation, innovative public-public and public-private financing solutions, and procurement strategies that enable scaling. Consortia should be led by local authorities established in countries, regions and interregional partnerships.
Proposals submitted to this topic should:

• Address barriers at territorial level and build on them to demonstrate concrete governance, finance, and policy models that foster scaling and deployment of EU Missions across diverse territories.
• Provide operational support for the transition to the next MFF by delivering tested, replicable models suitable for multi-level governance and place-based implementation.
• Co-develop and demonstrate innovative governance, policy, and finance models that enable scaling and wider deployment of tested solutions on the ground.
• Support the co-creation of place-based and pathways allowing for scaling and wider take up of EU Missions across EU and associated country territories, integrating multi-level governance, regulatory experimentation, innovative public-public and public-private financing solutions and procurement strategies.
• Test innovative policy, governance and finance models that favour scaling EU Missions by creating enabling conditions allowing to overcome identified systemic constraints such as fragmented regulation, limited risk appetite, lack of blended financing, or insufficient cross-sector coordination. The models should demonstrate innovation impact pathways that facilitate wider deployment of solutions that are already proven but underutilised.
• Ensure continuous stakeholder engagement throughout the process of developing and testing new models. The focus on co-creation and participatory approaches will ensure credibility and legitimacy of the tested models and will build on the strong EU Missions community developed during the first phase of the EU Missions.Rather than funding individual technologies, the topic should fund place-based models creating enabling conditions for scaling these technologies, combining policy, regulatory, financial and governance innovation.
The projects activities should cover one or several EU Missions of choice of the local authorities involved in the actions.

Status

Open

Deadline

13 January 2027 (time not stated)

Opens

6 October 2026

Published

30 September 2026

Total budget

€3,620,000

Grant range

€1,000,000 – €1,500,000

Country

European Union (EU-wide)

Programme

Horizon Europe (HORIZON)

Funder

European Commission

Official page

Open at the source portal

What applying involves

12 steps, all of them taken from this call's own documents.

Understand the call

• Read the call on the source portal and download its documents
• Write the proposal against the award criteria and thresholds standard for this programme

  described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes — conditions §5a

• Check the grant's legal and financial set-up standard for this programme

  described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes. Specific conditions described in the [specific topic of the Work Programme] Application and evaluation forms and model grant agreement (MGA): Application form templates Please use the application form that you will find in the Submission System. You can find examples of standard application forms in the Reference Documents page . Evaluation form templates — will be used with the necessary adaptations Standard … — conditions §6

• Check the amount you plan to request against the call's range

Check you are eligible

• Check every partner is established in an eligible country standard for this programme

  described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide — conditions §2

• Meet the call's other eligibility conditions

  If projects use satellite-based earth observation, positioning, navigation and/or related timing data and services, beneficiaries must make use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS (other data and services may additionally be used). described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes — conditions §3

• Be able to show financial and operational capacity standard for this programme

  described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes — conditions §4

• Check the conditions for financial support to third parties

Prepare the documents

• Prepare Part B of the Application Form standard for this programme

  Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System. — conditions

• Complete the detailed budget table standard for this programme

Submit

• Check the submission and evaluation process standard for this programme

  described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual — conditions §5b

• Submit before the closing date shown above

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