Find EU-funding for your projects now!Search for FundingSearch for programsReset all filters

  1. Select the type of organisation that you are interested in to implement projects.

    The role of an organisation involved could by lead partner, regular project partner, associate partner, and observers.

    Info
    Type of organisation

  2. Select countries that you are interested in to implement projects.

    The funding regions are defined by countries only. In case only part of a country (certain NUTS regions) is eligible for funding relevant information is provided in the description of the programme.

    Info
    Funding region

  3. Select themes that you are interested in to implement projects.

    16 different thematic keywords were predefined when the database was set up. Each call is classified according to this system either with one, two or more themes to facilitate the search for suitable calls.

    Info
    Topics

  4. You can use free text when searching for interesting calls. All you need to do is to enter a phrase in the text bar that EuroAccess is to look for in its database.

    When looking for a phrase in the free text bar, the system will perform an exact-match search. This means that it will search the database for the exact words, in their exact order. However, you can opt for two different approaches:

    1. You can use “AND”, in this way: One AND Two. EuroAccess will look in the database for the fields which records contain both One and Two, regardless of their order and their position in any sentence.

    2. You can use the “OR”, in this way: One OR Two. In this case, EuroAccess will search the database for fields that contain either the word One or the word Two. It will retrieve all the fields with one of these words or with both.

    However, you should prefer phrases or complex words over simple words in you text searches.

    Info
    Keyword
    Selection of eligible entitiesReset all

  1. An institution, body, office or agency established by or based on the Treaty on European Union and the Treaties establishing the European Communities.

    All education and training facilities for people of different age groups.

    An intergovernmental organization having legal personality under public international law or a specialized agency established by such an international organization. An international organization, the majority of whose members are Member States or Associated Countries and whose main objective is to promote scientific and technological cooperation in Europe, is an International Organization of European Interest.

    A person with legal rights and obligations. Unlike a legal entity, a natural person does not have a legal act (e.g. association, limited liability company, etc.).

    An NPO is an institution or organization which, by virtue of its legal form, is not profit-oriented or which is required by law not to distribute profits to its shareholders or individual members. An NGO is a non-governmental, non-profit organization that does not represent business interests. Pursues a common purpose for the benefit of society.

    A partnership, corporation, person, or agency that is for-profit and not operated by the government.

    Any government or other public administration, including public advisory bodies, at the national, regional or local level.

    A research institution is a legal entity established as a non-profit organization whose main objective is to conduct research or technological development. A college/university is a legal entity recognized by its national education system as a university or college or secondary school. It may be a public or private institution.

    A microenterprise, a small or medium-sized enterprise (business) as defined in EU Recommendation 2003/361. To qualify as an SME for EU funding, an enterprise must meet certain conditions, including (a) fewer than 250 employees and (b) an annual turnover not exceeding EUR 50 million and/or an annual balance sheet total not exceeding EUR 43 million. These ceilings apply only to the figures for individual companies.

    Selection of eligible countriesReset all
    Selection of topicsReset all

  1. Governance, partnership: Projects aimed at increasing the application of multilevel and transnational or cross-border governance, designing and testing appropriate governance structures and mechanisms. Also cooperation between public institutions on any theme.

    Innovation capacity and awareness-raising: Actions that increase a person’s or organisation’s capacity for innovation (not innovation as such), and that establish the capacity to diffuse and apply innovation; projects that stimulate innovation in different areas and innovation capacities; strengthening and empowering of innovation networks.

    Institutional cooperation and cooperation networks: Projects working on the improvement of institutional cross-border co-operation and capacities, on renewing and simplifying administrative management through long term cooperation between institutions (e.g. Euregion), on establishing and sharing regional knowledge and intercultural understanding and cohesion. It also deals with cooperations between universities, health care facilities, schools and sports organisations, as well as with management and capacity building.

    Activities focussing on agricultural products, organic farming, horticulture, as well as forest management and wood products; furthermore the development of the food sector, food chains, organic food production, and seafood products and any topics related to animals and fishing.

    Agriculture and fisheries and forestry: Projects focussing on agricultural products (i.e. fruits, meat, olives, etc.), organic farming, horticulture, as well as forest management and wood products. Also the development of the agro-food sector, food chains, organic food production, and seafood products. Any topics related to animals (i.e. health, management) and fishing (i.e. sustainable fishery, aquaculture).

    Soil and air quality: Projects that deal with any topic against soil and air pollution, except water pollution, for example, reduction of soil and air contamination, pollution-management systems, but also prevention and eradication of soil erosion, new ways of improving air quality (also indoors) and soil/air knowledge in general.

    Climate change and biodiversity projects assisting mitigation and adaption to climate change and environmental impacts of climate change. Development of low carbon technologies and strategies, reduction of CO2 emissions from all sectors. Promotion of biodiversity, new instruments to enhance biodiversity and natural protection.

    Soil and air quality projects that deal with any topic against soil and air pollution, except water pollution, for example, reduction of soil and air contamination, pollution-management systems, but also prevention and eradication of soil erosion, new ways of improving air quality (also indoors) and soil/air knowledge in general.

    Water management projects about management and distribution of drinking water, integrated sustainable water management, monitoring systems for water supply and improving drinking water quality; also water treatment (wastewater), in particular, innovative technologies to improve wastewater, treatments in the purification of industrial and domestic wastewater and water reuse policies. Waterways, lakes and rivers: This deals with any topics on waterways, lakes and rivers, from improving water quality, protecting and developing of ecosystems or sustainable wetland management.

    Activities that protect, promote and enhance cultural and natural heritage, increase the attractiveness through preservation and valorisation of common cultural and natural heritage in a sustainable manner, and improve and develop cultural and natural heritage objects, services and products. Cultural heritage management, art and culture, (maritime) heritage routes, access to cultural and natural heritage. Also all topics on cultural services such as festivals, concerts, art workshops.

    Tourism projects dealing with the promotion of natural assets, and the protection and development of natural heritage, as well as increasing the touristic attractiveness through the better use of natural, cultural and historical heritage. Also projects about improved tourist services/products, development of ecotourism models, tourism development strategies.

    Sustainable management of natural resources projects focussing on the protection, promotion and valorization, and sustainable management and conservation of natural areas (habitats, geo parks, protected areas, etc.). Also projects focussing on preserving and enhancing cultural and natural heritage and landscape, as well as protecting the marine environment.

    Projects on waste management (innovative services and strategies), ecological waste treatment, treatment techniques/systems; waste disposal and recycling (improvement of recycling, innovative recycling technologies, recovery of organic waste, repair & re-use centres and networks); also prevention of pollution and pollution control (ecological and circular economy, marine littering, etc.).

    Labour market and employment: creating employment opportunities and/or optimising jobs, academic (un)employment and job mobility, workforce attraction and improvement of employment conditions for different groups.

    SME and entrepreneurship: strengthening SME capacities, boosting entrepreneurial activities in different sectors and for different groups, supporting social entrepreneurship, creating business support/advisory systems for start-ups/spin-offs/incubators, improving the competitiveness of SMEs, and promoting new business processes.

    Community integration and common identity projects that build identity, create a more cohesive society, promote positive relations through an increased provision of shared spaces and services.

    Demographic change and immigration is about projects tackling major societal challenges like demographic change in different areas and migration, in particular, aging society (active aging, best agers, silver economy strategies) and related new public services (adaptation of key services and infrastructure), social and spatial segregation, and brain drain. Also all topics on migration (policy tools, strategic planning, integration).

    All projects where ICT has a significant role, including tailor-made ICT solutions in different fields, as well as digital innovation hubs, open data, Internet of Things; ICT access and connecting (remote) areas with digital infrastructure and services; services and applications for citizens (e-health, e-government, e-learning, e-inclusion, etc.); services and applications for companies (e-commerce, networking, digital transformation, etc.).

    This is about the mitigation and management of risks and disasters, and the anticipation and response capacity towards the actors regarding specific risks and management of natural disasters, for example, prevention of flood and drought hazards, forest fire, strong weather conditions, etc.. It is also about risk assessment and safety.

    Education and training projects on expanding educational opportunities, reducing barriers in the field of education, improving higher education and lifelong learning, training and labour mobility, educational networks, higher vocational education, common learning programmes.

    Topics on energy management, energy-saving methods, evaluating energy efficiency measurements, energy rehabilitation/efficiency in buildings / public infrastructure, promotion of energy efficiency, cooperation among experienced energy efficiency firms, institutions and local administrations, co-generation.

    Projects focussing on wind, solar, biomass, hydroelectric, geothermal and other renewable energy, increasing the production of sustainable renewable energy and improving research capacities in biomass. Also projects focussing on storage and management of renewable energy, new technologies, sustainable regional bioenergy policies and financial Instruments for investments on renewable energy.

    Social projects concerning people with disabilities and excluded groups; enhancement of the capacity of children, young people, women and elderly; creation of infrastructure to improve access for disabled people, integration of socially vulnerable people; innovate in the care of victims of gender violence, social inclusion of women, etc.

    This deals with the development of health and social services and improved accessibility and efficiency for different groups (elderly, children, etc.). It is also about new healthcare models and medical diagnosis and treatments (dementia, cancer, diabetes, etc.), hospitals, care management, and rare diseases, as well as improving wellbeing and promoting sports.

    Projects about (organised) crime, efficient and secure borders, such as enhancing the effectiveness of the police in the prevention of drug crimes, the development of safety services, or tackling security and organised crime issues.

    Activities related to:

    • Transport and mobility covering all sorts of transport (incl. urban transport) and mobility.
    • Improving transport connections dealing with traffic and/or transport connections, rehabiliation/modernisation, better connectivity, improving accessibility/connections, but also public transport.
    • Multimodal transport and logistics and freight transport focusing on using different means of transport, developing multimodal connections, optimising intermodal transport chains; offering multimodal logistics solutions and providing access to clean, efficient and multimodal transport corridors and hubs; establishing cooperation among logistic centres and developing multimodal mobility strategies.

    Activities related to:

    • urban development, such as planning and design of cities and urban areas, urban renewal, urban-rural links (climate, sustainable mobility, water efficiency, participation, sustainable land use, smart cities, public urban areas, regeneration)
    • regional planning and development, such as the implementation of regional development policies/instruments and programmes, sustainable land use management plans, integrated regional action plans, spatial planning, and marine protected area management.
    • rural and peripheral development, referring to remote, sparsely populated areas, rural community development, and rural economics, in particular access to remote areas and policies for rural areas.
    Keyword search
Apply selection

Filter Search for grants

back to the overview

Deadline expired

The deadline for this call has expired.

Call key data

European Urban Initiative - Innovative Actions - 2nd Call

Funding Program

European Urban Initiative - Innovative Actions

Call number

EUI-IA-2023-02

deadlines

Opening
31.05.2023

Deadline
05.10.2023 14:00

Funding rate

80 %

Call budget

€ 120,000,000.00

Estimated EU contribution per project

max. € 5,000,000.00 ERDF co-financing

Link to the call

www.urban-initiative.eu

Link to the submission

eep.urban-initiative.eu

Call content

short description

With an indicative budget of EUR 120 million ERDF, the second Call for Proposals of EUI - Innovative Actions is targeting innovative projects focusing on the three topics: Greening cities, Sustainable tourism and Harnessing talent in shrinking cities.

Call objectives

Topic 1: Greening cities
Under the topic ‘Greening Cities’ projects will be funded to experiment and deliver tangible innovative solutions on green infrastructure across European cities, for better addressing the biodiversity, pollution, resource and climate challenges, including synergy development with other key policy areas. The innovative solutions tested under the funded projects are expected to contribute to Cohesion policy investments related to the green and just transition, and will embrace the issue of being affordable to all.

Topic 2: Sustainable tourism

Under the topic ‘Sustainable tourism’, projects will be funded to support the long-term green and digital transformation and resilience of the tourism ecosystem. By introducing unique solutions and comprehensive policies for the promotion and management of sustainable tourism, cities can set an example for smaller towns, villages and regions that are more dependent on tourism for their economy, particularly in terms of reducing overdependence on a single sector and combining tourism economic activities with other investments and job creation efforts for diversification to other sectors. 

Topic 3: Harnessing talent in shrinking cities

Under the topic ‘Harnessing talent in shrinking cities’, particularly in the above-mentioned regions identified by the European Commission in the Communication ‘Harnessing talent in Europe’s regions’, will be supported to test new solutions to retain and attract talent. The call is seeking to identify placed-based and integrated pilot projects, i.e. involving local communities in experimentations at the urban scale and addressing the economic, social and environmental dimensions of the faced demographic challenges, in a way that could inspire the use of Cohesion policy programmes in these urban areas.

read more

Expected results

Topic 1: Greening cities
  • Developing and enhancing urban green spaces by focusing on projects that contribute to halting biodiversity loss, to verifiably and significantly reducing air pollution and to combatting heat waves, and at the same time, to achieving climate objectives and improving health and well-being of citizens.
  • Constructing green mobility corridors with the help of green infrastructure within urban areas and between urban centres and peri-urban areas that contribute to reducing air and soil pollution and noise, using artificial intelligence for traffic management systems, promoting sustainable multimodal urban mobility including active mobility modes such as cycling, and at the same time, to achieving climate objectives and improving health and well-being of citizens.
  • Preventing droughts and flooding via projects that focus on sustainable water management, including rainwater, in urban areas, with the help of green infrastructure that contribute to preventing droughts and flooding as well as to improving water quality, and at the same time, to reducing disaster risks and land take.
  • Designing and renovating buildings and their surrounding areas, particularly in socially deprived quarters with nature-based solutions by integrating green infrastructure and nature-based solutions in the design and/or renovation of buildings and in their surrounding areas, including efficient resource management, also by using recycled construction material. Such solutions should improve energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions of buildings, further contribute to achieving climate objectives through e.g. provision of climate adaptation and carbon storage and sequestration opportunities.

Topic 2: Sustainable tourism

  • Diversifying the tourism product towards varied forms of smart, sustainable and accessible tourism, digitising tourism services, expanding its geographical and seasonal outreach for a more balanced annual economic and cultural cycle, and catering to a wider range of types of visitors, as well as contributing to the livelihoods of local communities.
  • Driving the green and digital transformation of the tourism sector within the urban setting, including the transition towards circular economy, smart tourism business models, and climate adaptation, in close cooperation with digital and green upskilling and reskilling opportunities, matching skills and qualifications sought in tourism.
  • Fostering social inclusion and innovation through tourism, including by supporting accessibility and affordability measures, and social economy tourism enterprises that facilitate the creation of resilient and sustainable jobs with a special focus on the inclusion on vulnerable and marginalised groups.
  • Innovative destination management models based on real-time data of tourism flows, especially in view of addressing overcrowded tourism sites and achieving a more balanced and distributed approach, including through collaborative digital platforms and innovative, sustainable and inclusive urban tourism routes.
  • Strengthening the role of cities as gates into the wider tourism regional setting, especially in lesser-known regions with high tourism potential, through fostering urban-rural linkages in the tourism context, including by capitalising on cultural assets and heritage sites in the proximity of urban centres and surrounding areas.
  • New tourism governance models, including participatory and collaborative tools to enhance local and stakeholder participation, crisis management measures, innovative data collection mechanisms, systems to manage the pressure on public resources and public services, and measures addressing social and housing needs, cost and quality of living considerations.

Topic 3: Harnessing talent in shrinking cities

Boosting the demand for younger and qualified talent in cities including by:
  • Encouraging the economic diversification of targeted urban areas, by focusing on emerging sectors with greater added value but also potential in view of local economy’s characteristics, possibly in the light of entrepreneurial discovery processes and smart specialisation approaches.
  • Reinforcing local entrepreneurship of young people through innovative financial schemes supporting the creation of start-ups or spin-offs by resident students and/or recently graduated workers (and in particular women), related incubation, mentorship and associated business services.
Boosting the supply of young and qualified talent and attractiveness of cities, including by:
  • Fostering new alliances between urban authorities, enterprises, academia, research institutions and/or vocational training centres inter alia to:
    • develop curricula, scholarships, on-the-job trainings and associated financial assistance such as youth guarantees in the view of bridging skills mismatches between business demand and available labour forces, as well as in view of the mastering of competences associated to the green and digital transitions;
    • encourage women (equal access to) qualifications and employment;
    • promote and organise the integration of EU and non-EU high-skill workers.
  • Developing services favouring labour force participation and the quality of life of inhabitants, including through community-based projects increasing social capital and adapting the offer of services to local needs (retirees, families), initiatives contributing to rejuvenate public spaces, the associative, cultural and/or creative community life and/or promoting gender balance and inter-generational solidarities.
  • Enhancing the access to affordable housing and/or facilitating the settlement and/or resettlement of young workers and their families and/or of researchers and/or post-graduates that may be indispensable to sustain a vivid innovation ecosystem.
  • Renewing and/or rightsizing the built environment and urban space as well as public infrastructure and associated services through:
    • measures to renovate and/or repurpose vacant housing, historical or industrial buildings, or to reconvert brownfields and similar abandoned sites into green spaces, also contributing to the EU Green Deal targets towards carbon neutrality;
    • new governance and financial models, mutualisation of means within functional area dynamics, to better connect urban and rural areas and/or run collectively infrastructures and services better calibrated, at the appropriate critical mass of population and benefiting from economies of scale, for the cities and their surrounding territories;
    • measures to modernise and to improve the quality of the public administrations, of basic services offered to the population as well as to improve the transparent and participative involvement of citizens in decision-making.

read more

Eligibility Criteria

Regions / countries for funding

EU Member States

eligible entities

Public Body (national, regional and local; incl. EGTCs)

Mandatory partnership

Yes

Project Partnership

The following authorities may apply for support to undertake the EUI-IA:

  • First category: Any urban authority of a local administrative unit defined according to the degree of urbanisation (DEGURBA) of Eurostat as city, town or suburb (corresponding to DEGURBA code 1 or DEGURBA code 2 of Eurostat) comprising at least 50 000 inhabitants.
  • Second category: An association or grouping of urban authorities with legal status of organised agglomeration composed by Local Administrative Units, where the majority (at least 51%) of inhabitants lives in Local Administrative Units defined according to the degree of urbanisation (DEGURBA) of Eurostat as cities, towns or suburbs (corresponding to DEGURBA code 1 or DEGURBA code 2) and where the total combined population is at least 50 000 inhabitants.
  • Third category: An association or grouping of urban authorities without legal status of organised agglomerations where all the urban authorities involved (Main Urban Authority and Associated Urban Authorities) are Local Administrative Units defined according to the degree of urbanisation (DEGURBA) of Eurostat as cities, towns or suburbs (corresponding to DEGURBA code 1 or DEGURBA code 2) and where the total combined population (Main Urban Authority and Associated Urban Authorities) is at least 50 000 inhabitants.

Within the EUI-IA, the Main Urban Authority is expected to be directly involved in the experimentation and to play a strategic leading role in the development of the EUI-IA project by establishing and chairing a strong Project Partnership to make it technically, scientifically, and financially viable.

Project Partnership involves:

  • Delivery Partners – key institutions and organisations able to contribute to the implementation of the project, having an active role in the implementation and funding of the project activities by providing financial contribution to the project (the share of the budget ensured by a Project Partner, i.e. co-financing rate);
  • Transfer Partners – cities interested in learning from the experimentation and replicating the innovative solution, following the project implementation and providing the Main Urban Authority with an external perspective related to the transferability and replicability of the experimented innovative solution;
  • (if applicable) Associated Urban Authority(ies).

other eligibility criteria

In addition to the principles outlined above for each specific category of eligible urban authorities, the following principles apply to all eligible urban authorities in the framework of the EUI-IA:

  • All urban authorities shall be located in an EU Member State.
  • Only eligible urban authorities as defined above may submit an Application Form in the framework of the EUI-IA Call for Proposals. An Application Form submitted by a Delivery Partner will be declared ineligible.
  • Urban authorities (as defined above) can be listed in a project proposal only as Main and/or Associated Urban Authorities. The category of Delivery Partners is reserved only to institutions and/or organisations that are not recognised as urban authorities in the framework of the EUI-IA.
  • If innovative solutions require an urban-rural interface or functional area approach, it is possible to include Local Administrative Units defined as rural according to their degree of urbanization (DEGURBA code 3 of Eurostat) as Delivery Partners. Please note that their number of inhabitants does not count to reach the minimum eligibility threshold of 50 000. The reason for including Local Administrative Units defined as rural must be clearly presented and justified in the Application Form.
  • An urban authority or an organised agglomeration can be involved in only one project proposal in the framework of each Call for Proposals (even if these project proposals are submitted under different topics in the same Call for Proposals). The rule applies also to the Associated Urban Authorities (a municipality can be involved in only one project proposal whether it is as Main Urban Authority or as Associated Urban Authority).
  • Urban authorities already supported in an approved project by the EUI-IA in the framework of a previous Call for Proposals cannot submit a new Application Form on the same topic over the entire duration of the Initiative.
  • Urban authorities must comply with the requirements on exclusion from access to funding (more details are provided below in the Section 8.5 “Exclusion criteria for grant applicants” and in the EUI-IA Guidance, Chapter 3.3 “Exclusion criteria for grant applicants”).

Agencies and companies (e.g.: in the field of energy/waste management, economic development, touristic promotion, etc.) fully or partially owned by the municipality/city council are not considered as Local Administrative Units and therefore cannot be recognised as eligible urban authorities. Nevertheless, these organisations can be involved in the Partnership as Delivery Partners (more details on the roles and responsibilities of Delivery Partners are provided in the EUI-IA Guidance, Chapter 2.1.2 ”Typology of the European Urban Initiative – Innovative Actions Partners”).

Please note that, in the case of associations or grouping of urban authorities with legal status of organised agglomerations (second category of eligible authorities – see above for the details), the institution, including all the other urban authorities involved, is considered as a single urban authority in the framework of the EUI-IA and therefore the agglomeration shall be listed as the Main Urban Authority. In the case of associations or groupings of urban authorities without legal status of organized agglomeration (third category of eligible authorities – see above for the details), the urban authorities involved are requested to identify one municipality as Main Urban Authority and the other municipalities as Associated Urban Authorities.

Additional information

Topics

Administration & Governance, Institutional Capacity & Cooperation, 
Air Quality, Biodiversity & Environment, Climate & Climate Change, Water quality & management, 
Arts & Culture, Cultural Heritage, Tourism, 
Circular Economy, Natural Resources, 
Competitiveness of Enterprises, Employment/Labour Market, SME & entrepreneurship, 
Rural & Urban Development/Planning

Relevance for EU Macro-Region

EUSAIR - EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region, EUSALP - EU Strategy for the Alpine Space, EUSBSR - EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, EUSDR - EU Strategy for the Danube Region

UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs)

project duration

max 3.5 years

Call documents

Terms of Reference EUI 2nd Call ENTerms of Reference EUI 2nd Call EN(511kB)
Terms of Reference EUI Zweite Aufforderung DETerms of Reference EUI Zweite Aufforderung DE(547kB)

Contact

European Urban Initiative (EUI) Permanent Secretariat
+33 (0)3 61 76 59 34
info@urban-initiative.eu
Website

To see more information about this call, you can register for free here
or log in with an existing account.
Log in Register now

back to the overview