Coupling circularity and climate mitigation in industrial sites and their cities and regions

The Horizon Europe program is offering funding for projects under the call "Coupling circularity and climate mitigation in industrial sites and their cities and regions," aimed at supporting the implementation of the Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities Mission. The funding type is a grant specifically classified as a HORIZON Innovation Action (IA), designed to cover up to 70% of eligible project costs with a requirement for 30% co-funding from beneficiaries.

Eligible applicants must be consortia that include various entities such as industries, research institutes, local regional authorities, and civil society, with a mandatory requirement for proposals to involve partners from at least three different EU Member States or Associated Countries. Projects must deploy activities in a combination of demonstration and replication sites situated across these regions, targeting cities involved in the EU mission for climate-neutral and smart cities.

The funding amounts suggested for this call indicate an average of around €8.5 million per project, with a total budget of €17 million allocated, expecting about two grants for HORIZON-MISS-2025-04-CIT-01. Another budget concern is HORIZON-MISS-2025-04-CIT-02, anticipated to provide around €6 million for each of four expected grants, totaling €24 million.

The projects must primarily address sectors such as climate mitigation, circular economy, and urban or regional planning. The goal is to foster industrial urban symbiosis through innovative governance and business models that promote sustainable practices in industrial ecosystems. Proposals should also articulate clear metrics and indicators for evaluating their impact on climate and resource circularity.

The application process involves a single-stage submission, with a deadline set for September 4, 2025, at 17:00 Brussels time. Although success rates are not explicitly detailed, they are expected to be competitive due to the limited number of grants available.

In summary, this funding opportunity encourages collaborative solutions that effectively integrate circular economy practices with industrial decarbonization. The successful projects should demonstrate innovative approaches to improve sustainability in industrial areas and the surrounding cities, contributing to broader EU goals for climate neutrality and sustainable development.

The Horizon Europe program is offering funding for projects focused on coupling circularity and climate mitigation in industrial sites and their cities and regions. The call, Supporting the implementation of the Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities Mission (HORIZON-MISS-2025-04), is specifically seeking HORIZON Innovation Actions (HORIZON-IA) with a budget-based HORIZON Action Grant. The submission process is single-stage, opening on May 6, 2025, and closing on September 4, 2025, at 17:00:00 Brussels time.

The expected outcomes of these projects include significant advances in climate mitigation and resource circularity, leading to a reduction in pollution and waste within industrial ecosystems at the urban and peri-urban scale. The projects should also contribute to increased local and regional competitiveness, strengthening the capacity for innovation among EU industries. Furthermore, the aim is to foster a long-term shift towards sustainable, flexible, and responsive local and regional industrial ecosystems. These ecosystems should connect key circular economy and climate mitigation stakeholders throughout planning, interventions, and value chains. Proposals must clearly state relevant indicators and metrics for the 2030 horizon, including baseline values.

The scope of the projects should address the gap in action plans and practices at the local level, where the coupling of decarbonisation and circularity, against the background of industrial-urban symbiosis and the sharing economy (energy and materials), could yield substantial ecological, economic, and social benefits. Projects should overcome the lack of coordination among industrial, circularity, and urban activities and actors, which currently leads to sub-optimal outcomes in climate mitigation, energy efficiency, resource use (including water), environmental pollution, material valorisation, and waste reduction.

Key requirements for proposals include the involvement of at least three different demonstration sites and at least three replication sites. The consortia should include key circular economy and mitigation actors from both local public authorities and industries within a specific region. The demonstration sites are expected to cover at least two different economic sectors, value chains, or services.

Proposed projects should:

Establish and implement innovative governance and business models, as well as joint actions on climate mitigation and circularity, within the three demonstration sites. These actions may include circular supply models, collaborative consumption models, service system models, hire or leasing models, and joint public procurements.

Assess and quantify the climate and other benefits of the proposed joint mitigation and circularity actions. This includes, but is not limited to, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, pollution, and water use; reduction of costs for secondary raw materials and waste management; new revenues generated from end-of-life and by-products; waste diversion from landfill and incineration; performance of mitigation infrastructure; industrial-urban symbiosis; creation of new business opportunities; development of green skills; and strengthening of environmental profiles.

Quantify and assess the co-benefits, constraints, and trade-offs of coupling circularity and climate mitigation, considering social, economic, and environmental aspects, as well as links with key sectors such as energy, buildings, and transport. Complementary actions in terms of spatial planning, digitalisation, and data enhancement should also be considered.

Define strategies, processes, and actions needed to underpin the climate-neutral and circular transition for each demonstration and replication site, using a systemic, multi-sectoral, multi-stakeholder approach. This should include the engagement of relevant stakeholders such as policymakers, research bodies, academia, civil society, and the private sector (industry, entrepreneurs, start-ups, SMEs, etc.).

Based on lessons learned, deliver guidelines and recommended approaches (including innovative methods) to integrate circularity into cities’ mitigation strategies and vice versa.

Implement activities to develop and secure long-term support from national and regional public authorities, which may include establishing inter-institutional multi-level governance partnerships, introducing binding rules, regulations, subsidies, and/or other economic incentives.

Proposals should plan for early financing follow-up by linking with the Climate City Capital Hub of the NetZeroCities Mission Platform and the Circular Cities and Regions Initiative financial advisory services, to further scale-up and deploy innovative activities, measures, and business models at the city/region scale through a combination of funding sources and financial instruments.

Proposals should envisage clustering activities with other projects selected under this topic, including cooperation, consultations, joint activities on cross-cutting issues, sharing results, lessons learned, addressing barriers and mitigating risks, joint communication, dissemination, capacity building, and assessing and evaluating impacts. Collaboration with relevant CCRI-related projects and projects funded under the Cities Mission is also encouraged.

As part of the broader European Green Deal framework, proposals should link with the objectives of the new Circular Economy Action Plan of 2020, the Green Deal Industrial Plan of 2023, the Net Zero Industry Act, the Critical Raw Materials Act, and the Clean Transition Dialogues. Synergies with pollution reduction measures, the Zero Pollution Action Plan, and the Industrial Emissions Directive should also be considered. Links with other relevant EU initiatives, such as the Hubs for Circularity and the Regional Innovation Valleys, are expected.

This action supports the follow-up to the July 2023 Communication on EU Missions assessment.

The general conditions for participation include admissibility conditions related to proposal page limits and layout, eligible countries as defined in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes, and other eligible conditions such as the deployment of activities in at least three different demonstration sites and three different replication sites located in different Member States or Associated Countries. Beneficiaries must include cities hosting or in proximity to these sites, including at least one of the 112 cities selected for the EU Mission on Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities, and at least one other CCRI city, region, or territorial cluster.

Financial and operational capacity and exclusion criteria are described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes. The evaluation and award process, including award criteria, scoring, thresholds, submission, evaluation processes, and indicative timelines, are detailed in Annexes D and F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual.

Grants awarded under this topic will be linked to HORIZON-MISS-2021-CIT-02-03, emphasizing collaboration with the Cities Mission Platform and the Circular Cities and Regions Initiative (CCRI). A Memorandum of Understanding with the Cities Mission Platform is required.

Application form templates are available in the Submission System, and standard evaluation forms will be used with necessary adaptations. Guidance is provided in the HE Programme Guide, and Model Grant Agreements (HE MGA and HE Unit MGA) are applicable.

The budget overview indicates that for HORIZON-MISS-2025-04-CIT-01, 17,000,000 EUR is allocated, with an indicative number of 2 grants, each around 8,500,000 EUR. For HORIZON-MISS-2025-04-CIT-02, 24,000,000 EUR is allocated, with an indicative number of 4 grants, each around 6,000,000 EUR.

Partner search announcements are available, and LEARs, Account Administrators, and self-registrants can publish partner requests on the Funding & Tenders Portal.

In summary, this funding opportunity aims to drive innovation and systemic change in climate mitigation and circularity within industrial ecosystems and their surrounding cities and regions. It seeks to foster collaboration among key stakeholders, promote the implementation of innovative solutions, and contribute to the broader goals of the European Green Deal. Applicants should carefully review the eligibility criteria, proposal requirements, and available resources to develop comprehensive and impactful project proposals.

This opportunity is about funding projects that can demonstrate how to make industrial areas and the cities around them more climate-friendly and resource-efficient. The EU wants to see new ways of doing things that not only cut pollution and waste but also boost the local economy and create green jobs. To get the funding, you need to work with cities and industries to set up projects in at least three different locations, and then show how those projects can be copied in other places. The projects should focus on things like using resources more wisely, reducing emissions, and finding new business opportunities in the circular economy. The EU also wants to make sure these projects fit into the bigger picture of the European Green Deal and work with other initiatives that are trying to make Europe climate-neutral. Essentially, it's about finding practical, innovative solutions that can be scaled up and used across Europe to create a more sustainable future for cities and industries.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types include key circular economy and mitigation actors from both local public authorities and industries in a certain region, policymakers, research bodies and academia, the civil society and the private sector (industry, entrepreneurs, start-ups, SMEs etc). The text specifies that beneficiaries must include cities that host or are in the proximity of demonstration and replication sites, including at least one of the 112 cities selected for the EU Mission on Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities. Beneficiaries must also comprise at least another CCRI city, region or territorial cluster.

Funding Type: The funding type is a grant, specifically a HORIZON Action Grant Budget-Based [HORIZON-AG] under HORIZON-IA (HORIZON Innovation Actions).

Consortium Requirement: A consortium of multiple applicants is required. The proposals must involve at least three different demonstration sites and at least three replication sites. The consortia should involve key circular economy and mitigation actors from both local public authorities and industries in a certain region.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility includes Member States and Associated Countries. Activities must be deployed in demonstration and replication sites located in different Member States or Associated Countries. 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.

Target Sector: The target sectors are climate, energy, environment, industrial processes/components, buildings or construction, circular economy, and innovation. The program targets climate mitigation and resource circularity, focusing on industrial ecosystems at the urban and peri-urban scale. It also aims to strengthen the capacity for innovation of EU industries and promote sustainable, flexible, and responsive local and regional industrial ecosystems.

Mentioned Countries: The opportunity mentions EU member states and associated countries. No specific countries are named, but the eligibility extends to member states and associated countries of the Horizon Europe program.

Project Stage: The project stage is demonstration and implementation. The call aims to set up and deploy innovative governance and business models, assess and quantify benefits, and define strategies for climate-neutral and circular transition.

Funding Amount: For HORIZON-MISS-2025-04-CIT-01, the budget is EUR 17,000,000, with an indicative contribution of around EUR 8,500,000 per grant and 2 grants expected. For HORIZON-MISS-2025-04-CIT-02, the budget is EUR 24,000,000, with an indicative contribution of around EUR 6,000,000 per grant and 4 grants expected.

Application Type: The application type is a single-stage open call.

Nature of Support: Beneficiaries will receive money in the form of a grant to support their projects.

Application Stages: The application process is single-stage.

Success Rates: The success rates are not explicitly stated, but the indicative number of grants suggests a competitive process. For HORIZON-MISS-2025-04-CIT-01, 2 grants are expected, and for HORIZON-MISS-2025-04-CIT-02, 4 grants are expected.

Co-funding Requirement: The information does not explicitly state a co-funding requirement.

This Horizon Europe call, under the Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities Mission, focuses on "Coupling circularity and climate mitigation in industrial sites and their cities and regions." It aims to bridge the gap between high-level climate and circularity models and local action by fostering industrial-urban symbiosis and the sharing economy. The call seeks projects that can demonstrate significant advances in climate mitigation and resource circularity, enhance the competitiveness of EU industries, and promote long-term sustainable industrial ecosystems. Consortia must involve key stakeholders, including local public authorities, industries, research bodies, and civil society. Projects should establish demonstration and replication sites across different Member States or Associated Countries, implementing innovative governance and business models, assessing the benefits of joint mitigation and circularity actions, and developing strategies for a climate-neutral and circular transition. The call also emphasizes the importance of linking with relevant EU initiatives and platforms, such as the Climate City Capital Hub and the Circular Cities and Regions Initiative. The funding is provided through HORIZON Innovation Actions, with budgets of EUR 17 million and EUR 24 million allocated to different topics, and the application process is a single-stage open call.