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Grant Analysis

Purpose & Target

Core Objective: To test and demonstrate innovative solutions aimed at improving resilience to extreme heat and addressing its health impacts across Europe.
Target Recipients: Primarily regional and local authorities, but also other actors from EU Member States and Horizon Europe Associated Countries including research institutes, industry, investors, and citizens.
Grant Type: SECTOR-SPECIFIC (focused on climate adaptation, public health, urban resilience, and innovative finance).
Geographic Scope: Open to entities from EU Member States and Horizon Europe Associated Countries. Demonstration activities must specifically take place in at least 3 different regional or local authorities, each located in a different eligible country.
Key Filtering Criteria: Focus on heat resilience, multi-country demonstration requirement, and collaboration with regional/local authorities.
Grant Frequency and Context: Part of the 2025 call within the ongoing Horizon Europe EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change, aiming for a climate-resilient Europe by 2030.

Financial Structure

Funding Amount: A maximum contribution of 10,000,000.0 EUR per project is expected.
Total Topic Budget: The total budget allocated for this topic (HORIZON-MISS-2025-01-CLIMA-04) is 30,000,000.0 EUR, intended for 3 expected grants.
Currency: EUR.
Funding Mechanism: Grants will take the form of lump sum contributions.
Eligible Costs: The lump sum will cover estimated direct and indirect project costs, including personnel costs (employees, direct contractors, seconded persons, SME owners), subcontracting costs, purchase costs (travel, equipment, other goods/services), and other cost categories (financial support to third parties, internally invoiced goods/services, research infrastructure access, specific procurement costs).
Indirect Costs: A flat rate of 25% will be applied to eligible direct cost categories for the calculation of indirect costs within the lump sum.
Co-financing: The EU contribution will partially cover the total costs, meaning co-financing is implied and expected from applicants.
Payment Schedule: Lump sum contributions per work package are paid upon proper implementation and fulfillment of conditions for that work package.
Financial Guarantees: Between 5% and 8% of the total lump sum is retained as a contribution to the Mutual Insurance Mechanism.
Financial Reporting: There is no obligation to report actual costs; financial checks and audits will primarily focus on the technical implementation and the fulfillment of work package conditions.

Eligibility Requirements

Organizational Type

Open to actors from EU Member States and Horizon Europe Associated Countries.
Includes research institutes, industry, investors, and citizens.
Regional and local authorities are key stakeholders and preferred as sites for demonstration.

Geographic Requirements

Organizations must be established in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country.
Demonstration activities must take place in the territory of at least 3 different regional or local authorities.
Each of these 3 or more regional/local authorities must be established in a different EU Member State or Associated Country.

Consortium Requirements

A consortium is mandatory, involving the regional or local authorities where demonstrations will take place (preferably participating as beneficiaries or associated partners).
Proposals should also identify at least 3 'replicating' regional or local authorities from different eligible countries, interested in reapplying the solutions.

Technical & Experience Requirements

Proposals require the effective contribution of Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) disciplines and the involvement of SSH experts and institutions.
Regional and local authorities already engaged in Mission activities (e.g., Charter Signatories, Community of Practice) are considered ideal sites for testing and demonstration due to their proven commitment.

Financial Capacity

Financial and operational capacity requirements are described in Annex C of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes.

Application Process

Submission Deadline: 2025-09-24 00:00:00+0000.
Submission Window: The submission session opened on 2025-05-06.
Procedure: Single-stage application process.
Platform: Applications must be submitted via the Electronic Submission Service on the Funding & Tenders Portal.

Required Documentation

Standard application form (HE IA - Horizon Europe Innovation Actions).
Detailed budget table (HE LS - Horizon Europe Lump Sum).

Application Support

Applicants can access guidance from the Online Manual, Horizon Europe Programme Guide, and Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ.
Assistance is available through the Research Enquiry Service, National Contact Points (NCPs), Enterprise Europe Network (EEN), IT Helpdesk, European IPR Helpdesk, and European Standards Organisations' Research Helpdesks (CEN-CENELEC, ETSI).

Project Implementation & Reporting

Projects are expected to embed the developed and tested solutions into the adaptation planning of the participating regional or local authorities, or into national plans, to ensure sustainability beyond the project duration.
Projects must establish operational links and collaborate with the Mission Implementation Platform and other relevant knowledge platforms.
Applicants are requested to dedicate resources and budget within their proposal to engage with and contribute to the Mission's monitoring framework, including providing data and information on progress towards Mission objectives.

Evaluation Criteria

Standard Evaluation Criteria

Proposals will be evaluated according to standard Horizon Europe procedures based on: excellence, expected impact, and quality and efficiency of implementation.

Budget Assessment

Experts with financial know-how will check the budget estimate based on relevant benchmarks (e.g., market prices, statistical data, historical data).
They will assess whether the proposed resources and the breakdown of lump sum shares align with achieving the planned activities and expected outputs.

Impact & Outcomes

Expected to improve adaptive capacities of European regional and local authorities to extreme heat.
Expected to reduce the impacts of extreme heat on human health and well-being, protecting citizens (especially vulnerable groups).
Regional and local authorities should take a leading role in developing and testing innovative solutions.
Active exploration of funding opportunities beyond Horizon Europe for the deployment of adaptation measures.

Innovation & Sustainability

Demonstration of effective and systemic solutions against extreme heat.
Solutions sought should address reduction and management of heat stresses in public/private spaces and built environments, and prepare emergency/utility services.
Development and testing of proposed solutions should be embedded in the adaptation planning of participating regional/local authorities or national plans to ensure sustainability.

Collaboration & Knowledge Sharing

Encouragement of collaborations between regional and local authorities facing similar challenges.
Projects should build on existing knowledge and adaptation solutions from previous projects and seek synergies with ongoing EU and national programs (e.g., Horizon 2020, Interreg, LIFE, Cities Mission).
Proposals must include a mechanism and resources to establish operational links and collaboration with the Mission Implementation Platform and other relevant knowledge platforms (e.g., Climate-ADAPT, European Climate and Health Observatory).
Projects are expected to participate in the Mission Community of Practice and contribute data to Mission progress monitoring.

Cross-Cutting Themes

Proposals should adopt a participatory approach that fully considers the local dimension of climate change and entails collaboration and engagement with local communities.
Explicit requirement for effective contribution from Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) disciplines.
Consideration of socio-economic factors and vulnerable groups in solution design.

Compliance & Special Requirements

Regulatory & Legal Compliance

Admissibility and eligible conditions are detailed in Annexes A, B, C, D, F, G of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes.
Ethical standards and research integrity must be adhered to (as per Annex C).
Solutions may include nature-based solutions, which should align with the Nature Restoration Law.

Technical & Operational Requirements

Proposals require the effective contribution and involvement of Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) disciplines and experts.
Projects should explore and evaluate options for innovative funding schemes to implement heat resilience solutions.
Projects must address associated challenges such as institutional/political bottlenecks, multi-level governance, and the politics/justice dimensions of implementing innovative solutions.

Demonstration & Replication

Demonstration activities are mandatory and must take place in at least 3 different regional or local authorities, each located in a different EU Member State or Associated Country.
Projects should identify at least 3 'replicating' regional or local authorities from different eligible countries who are interested in adopting the solutions post-project. These 'replicating' regions should prepare the theoretical framework and explore funding for replication.

Cross-Cutting Considerations

Proposals should adopt a participatory approach, involving and engaging local communities affected by climate impacts.
Solutions should consider the differential impact of extreme heat on vulnerable people due to socio-economic and physiological factors (income, social exclusion, gender, age, disability, health conditions).

Knowledge Sharing & Synergies

Projects must establish operational links and collaboration with the Mission Implementation Platform and other relevant knowledge platforms (e.g., Climate-ADAPT, European Climate and Health Observatory, Copernicus Health Hub).
Projects are expected to participate in joint workshops, exchange knowledge, develop best practices, and engage in joint communication activities within the Mission Community of Practice.
Applicants must account for resources and budget for active engagement and collaboration with the Mission.

Grant Details