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Grant Analysis

Purpose & Target

Core objective: To directly engage and support waterfront cities and their ports in demonstrating and accelerating the transitions needed for restoring ocean and waters, achieving the EU Mission 'Restore our Ocean and Waters' objectives.
Target recipient type and size: Public bodies managing waterfront cities and port authorities. Cities must have at least 50,000 inhabitants, or 10,000 for specific smaller EU countries (Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Slovenia, Slovakia).
MUST state if grant is 'SECTOR-SPECIFIC' or 'SECTOR-AGNOSTIC': SECTOR-SPECIFIC
Geographic scope and any location requirements: Waterfront cities and ports within the EU. Demonstration activities must occur in at least 8 cities/ports, with at least 2 in each of the four specified sea and river basins: Atlantic/Arctic, Mediterranean, Baltic/North Sea, and Danube River (including Black Sea).
Key filtering criteria for initial grant screening: Focus on urban waterfront ecosystems, marine and freshwater restoration, pollution prevention, and sustainable blue economy within cities and ports.
Grant frequency and program context: This is part of the Horizon Europe Mission Work Programme, contributing to the 'Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030' Mission. This specific call is for the 'deployment and upscaling' phase (2026-2030) as indicated by the 2025 work programme context, building on prior 'development and piloting' (2022-2025).

Financial Structure

Budget range per grant: Minimum €15,000,000, maximum €15,000,000.
Total budget for this topic: €15,000,000.
Currency: EUR (inferred from EU program context).
Co-financing requirements: Applicants are encouraged to pool and enhance synergies with other sources of funding (e.g., structural, cohesion funds like ERDF, LIFE) and leverage private funds, potentially through a Cooperation Working Arrangement.
Eligible costs: Not explicitly detailed, but expected to cover costs for demonstrating and deploying innovative solutions.
Financial reporting requirements: Described in Annex C and G of the Work Programme General Annexes (not provided in this document).

Eligibility Requirements

Organizational Type & Structure

Consortium required: Yes, with strong encouragement for public bodies managing waterfront cities and port authorities to be full partners.

Geographic Requirements

Location: Cities and ports must be located within the European Union.
Regional Coverage: Demonstration activities must take place in at least 8 waterfront cities or ports, ensuring at least 2 are in each of the four specified sea and river basins: Atlantic and Arctic Sea basin, Mediterranean Sea basin, Baltic and North Sea basin, and Danube River basin (including Black Sea).

Organizational Size & Capacity

City Population: Cities must have a minimum of 50,000 inhabitants.
Exception for City Population: For Croatia (HR), Cyprus (CY), Estonia (EE), Ireland (IE), Latvia (LV), Lithuania (LT), Luxembourg (LU), Malta (MT), Slovenia (SI), and Slovakia (SK), the population threshold is lowered to 10,000 inhabitants.

Technical Requirements

Earth Observation Data: If projects use satellite-based earth observation, positioning, navigation, or related timing data and services, beneficiaries must make use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS.

Application Process

Application Process Steps

Submission: Applications must be submitted via the Electronic Submission Service on the Funding & Tenders Portal.
Procedure: Single-stage submission process.

Key Dates & Deadlines

Application deadline: 2025-09-24 00:00:00+0000.
Planned Opening Date: 2025-05-07.
Project Duration/Phases: Projects are expected to show how their activities will achieve Mission objectives by 2025 (development & piloting phase) and 2030 (deployment & upscaling phase).

Required Documentation & Materials

Application Forms: Standard application forms (HE RIA, IA) are available in the Submission System. Proposal page limits and layout are described in Part B of the Application Form.
General Annexes: Refer to Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes for general conditions on proposal page limits and layout.

Support and Guidance

General Guidance: Online Manual, Horizon Europe Programme Guide, Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ.
Technical Support: IT Helpdesk for technical issues (passwords, access rights).
Expert Assistance: Research Enquiry Service for general questions on European research; National Contact Points (NCPs) for guidance and practical information; Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) for advice to businesses, especially SMEs.
Intellectual Property: European IPR Helpdesk for intellectual property issues.
Standardisation: CEN-CENELEC Research Helpdesk and ETSI Research Helpdesk for advice on standardisation in project proposals.
Partnering: Partner Search service to find partner organizations.

Evaluation Criteria

Alignment with Mission Objectives

Measurable, quantifiable, and verifiable progress towards one or more interlinked objectives of the Mission 'Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030' (restoring marine/freshwater ecosystems, preventing pollution, making blue economy carbon-neutral/circular).
Contribution to increased readiness of cities and port authorities for testing, deploying, and upscaling systemic innovative solutions for urban waterfront ecosystems.
Impact on increasing the number of cities and port authorities taking concrete protection, restoration, and sustainability measures.
Contribution to increased resilience of waterfront communities to extreme climate events and sea-level rise.

Project Design & Innovation

Effectiveness of solutions tested and demonstrated to achieve the Mission's specific objectives and targets in waterfront cities.
Implementation of a systemic transition across all Mission objectives and enablers.
Special emphasis on nature-based solutions, land-sea interactions, and transboundary actions.
Integration of sustainable and environmentally friendly methods that are both ecologically and economically beneficial.
Identification, testing, and adaptation of innovative solutions.
Development of new innovative funding approaches.

Stakeholder Engagement & Impact

Assessment of economic, social, and ecological impacts, as well as societal acceptance of proposed measures.
Facilitation of citizen and stakeholder involvement and uptake (e.g., through living labs, citizen science initiatives).
Ability to leverage public and private investment at the urban level.

Replication & Sustainability

Clear identification of other suitable cities and ports for replication of solutions and approaches.
Systematic assessment of potential barriers to implementation and strategies to overcome them.
Support for existing regulatory frameworks like River Basin Management Plans (Water Framework Directive), Programme of Measures (Marine Strategy Framework Directive), and future national Nature Restoration Plans (Nature Restoration Regulation).
Solutions based on good knowledge about coastal and riparian ecosystems to be restored (mapping and assessment of condition may be included if necessary).
Establishment of operational links and collaboration with Lighthouse CSAs and the Mission Implementation Platform.

Compliance & Special Requirements

Regulatory & Legal Compliance

Existing Frameworks: Proposed solutions should support River Basin Management Plans (under the Water Framework Directive), Programme of Measures (under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive), and future national Nature Restoration Plans (under the Nature Restoration Regulation).
Existing Mechanisms: Consider existing mechanisms such as coastal restoration contracts, river contracts, or Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) where applicable.
Ethical Standards: The European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for their recruitment provide general principles and requirements for researchers, employers, and funders.

Data Management & Sharing

Data Principles: All actions are expected to share and disseminate their results according to FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable) principles.
Data Systems: Compatibility with ongoing EU initiatives such as the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet) and the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC).
Digital Twin Ocean (DTO): Specific actions will be devoted to widening access to data and knowledge of ocean, seas, and freshwater through the Digital Twin Ocean.

Collaboration & Synergies

Internal Links: Establish operational links and collaboration with the Lighthouses CSAs and the Mission Implementation Platform.
Cross-Program Synergies: Encourage synergies with other R&I-relevant EU, national, or regional programmes (e.g., EMFF/EMFAF, LIFE, ERDF, ESF+, JTF, CEF Inland Waterways/Maritime, InvestEU).
Prior Projects: Build on previously developed or existing solutions from other EU and national programmes (e.g., Horizon 2020, Horizon Europe, EMFAF, INTERREG, LIFE).
Related Initiatives: Establish links with 'HORIZON-MISS-2024-OCEAN-02-01: Community-led actions to restore our ocean, seas and waters' and 'HORIZON-MISS-2024-OCEAN-02-02: Support for the Coalition of waterfront cities, regions and islands for Mission Ocean and Waters'.
Research Infrastructures: Encourage consideration of services offered by European research infrastructures.

Innovation & Technical Aspects

Nature-based Solutions: Special emphasis should be placed on nature-based solutions.
Land-Sea Interactions: Focus on land-sea interactions.
Transboundary Actions: Prioritize transboundary actions.
Innovative Funding: Develop new innovative funding approaches.

Inclusivity & Societal Engagement

People-Centred: Projects should be place-based and people-centred.
Citizen Engagement: Facilitate citizen and stakeholder involvement through active participation (e.g., living labs, citizen science initiatives).

Grant Details