Enhance Open Call

The PoliRuralPlus Enhance Open Call is a funding opportunity aimed at testing and validating JackDaw, an AI-powered GeoAI Chatbot developed to facilitate spatially contextualized conversations concerning rural and urban development. The total budget for the call is €175,000, with individual project funding of up to €25,000 available. It is expected that 7 to 15 projects will be funded, with the application process open from September 30, 2025, to December 1, 2025, at 17:00 Brussels time. The anticipated project duration is from February to July 2026.

Eligible applicants include any legal entity, such as SMEs, NGOs, public authorities, and research organizations, provided they are established in an EU Member State or an Associated Country, as per Horizon Europe guidelines. Only single applicants are allowed; no consortia or joint submissions are permitted. Each application requires an administrative form and a technical description not exceeding eight pages. Successful applicants will receive grant funding in two installments: 30% upon contract signature and 70% after deliverable acceptance.

The call primarily focuses on the validation and application of the JackDaw tool in real-world settings, emphasizing the importance of collecting user feedback and demonstrating added value for decision-making and communication in territorial development. The evaluation of proposals will focus on objectives, expected impacts, and the quality of implementation. The scoring will range from 0 to 5 points based on clarity, relevance, and stakeholder engagement among other criteria.

The project aims to enhance rural governance and synergies between urban and rural areas by leveraging innovative AI and geospatial technologies. There is no co-funding requirement, and the selected projects will not exceed the funding cap stipulations. This opportunity seeks to bridge technological innovation with practical applications in rural development, promoting sustainable and inclusive economic growth across Europe.

The PoliRuralPlus Enhance Open Call is a funding opportunity focused on testing and validating JackDaw, an AI-powered GeoAI Chatbot developed within the PoliRuralPlus project. The call aims to foster sustainable, balanced, equitable, place-based, and inclusive development of rural-urban communities using a specific spatial enhanced attractiveness mapping toolbox.

The opening date for submissions is September 30, 2025, and the deadline for submission is December 1, 2025, at 17:00 (Brussels time). The expected duration of participation is 6 months, from February to July 2026. The total funding available is €175,000.00. The grant agreement number is 101136910. The topic is HORIZON-CL6-2023-COMMUNITIES-01-2 - Improving rural future through better territorial governance and rural-urban synergies.

Proposal submissions are to be made via the online form on the PoliRuralPlus Knowledge Hub. The proposal consists of two parts: Part A, the Administrative Form, which collects essential information about the applicant entity and designated contacts, and Part B, the Technical Description, which is a narrative document uploaded as a single PDF using a provided template. Part B includes sections on Objectives, Impacts, and Implementation. The total length of Part B must not exceed 8 pages, including the cover page.

Proposals will be assessed based on their alignment with the objectives of the call, expected impacts, and quality of implementation. The evaluation procedure follows the Horizon Europe approach, using a scoring scale from 0 to 5. The evaluation criteria are:

Objectives (0-5 points):
Clarity of the proposed validation use case(s) and activities for JackDaw.
Relevance of the chosen validation context to the objectives of the Enhance Call.
Innovative or original aspects of how JackDaw will be applied and tested in practice.

Impacts (0-5 points):
Quality and significance of expected validation feedback for improving JackDaw.
Extent and diversity of stakeholder engagement (e.g. policymakers, SMEs, NGOs, citizens).
Potential for replicability or transferability of results to other European contexts.

Implementation (0-5 points):
Coherence and realism of the proposed validation activities, including timeline and milestones.
Soundness and justification of the proposed budget.
Competence and relevant experience of the applicant.

Successful applicants will receive financial support of up to €25,000 per project as a lump sum contribution. Approximately 7–15 projects will be funded. Proposals requesting amounts above €25,000 will be considered ineligible. The maximum cumulative support per single legal entity across all PoliRuralPlus open calls is €60,000. Subcontracting or transfer of financial contribution to third parties is not permitted.

Eligibility criteria include:
Type of entity: Any type of legal entity (e.g. SME, NGO, public authority, research organisation, self-employed natural persons) can apply, provided they have the operational and financial capacity to carry out the proposed activities.
Single applicants only: Consortia or joint submissions are not permitted.
Eligible countries: Applicants must be legally established in an EU Member State or an Associated Country as outlined by the Horizon Europe rules.
Third parties: Subcontracting or transfer of financial contribution to third parties is not permitted.
One proposal per applicant: Only one proposal will be accepted for funding per applicant.
Non-beneficiary clause: Organisations that are current PoliRuralPlus beneficiaries or their affiliated entities are not eligible to apply.
Declaration of honour: Applicants must declare their eligibility and absence of conflict of interest in the online application form.
Language: English is the official language.
GDPR compliance: Any project involving personal data must comply with GDPR.
Deliverable obligations: Applicants commit to produce obligatory deliverables as outlined in Chapter 6 of the Guidelines for Applicants.
Proposal page limit: The total length of Part B (Technical Description) must not exceed 8 pages.

The financial support will be disbursed in two instalments: 30% prepayment upon contract signature and 70% final payment after acceptance of the deliverables.

The Enhance Call focuses on JackDaw GeoAI Chatbot, an AI-powered chat agent designed for spatially contextualised conversations. It addresses challenges in rural and urban development where traditional language models struggle with location-specific queries. Users interact with JackDaw by selecting a location on a map and submitting a natural language query. The system analyses the query, determines necessary spatial and temporal parameters, and retrieves relevant data from available sources. The enriched spatial context is then integrated into AI-generated responses, which may be presented as text, tables, charts, maps, or dashboards. JackDaw combines natural language processing with geospatial intelligence, enabling smarter, data-informed decision-making for regional development, policy analysis, and stakeholder engagement.

Under this call, applicants are expected to:
Apply JackDaw in real-world contexts across Europe.
Collect structured user feedback on its functionality and usability.
Demonstrate its added value for decision-making and communication.

Other PoliRuralPlus tools are not in scope for this call.

In summary, this opportunity is a call for proposals to test and validate the JackDaw GeoAI Chatbot in real-world scenarios across Europe. The goal is to gather feedback and demonstrate the tool's value in decision-making and communication related to rural and urban development. The call is open to various types of legal entities established in EU Member States or Associated Countries, offering up to €25,000 in funding per project. The application process involves submitting an administrative form and a technical description outlining the proposed validation use case, expected impacts, and implementation plan. The call aims to improve the JackDaw tool and promote its adoption across Europe, contributing to better territorial governance and rural-urban synergies.

Eligible Applicant Types: The call is open to any type of legal entity, including SMEs, NGOs, public authorities, research organizations, and self-employed natural persons, provided they have the operational and financial capacity to carry out the proposed activities.

Funding Type: The funding type is a grant, specifically cascade funding, with successful applicants receiving a lump sum contribution.

Consortium Requirement: Only single applicants are allowed. Consortia or joint submissions are not permitted. Each application must be submitted by one legal entity.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): Applicants must be legally established in an EU Member State or an Associated Country as outlined by the Horizon Europe rules.

Target Sector: The program targets sectors related to rural and urban development, territorial governance, AI, and geospatial intelligence. Specific areas include regional development, policy analysis, and stakeholder engagement. The call focuses on improving rural futures through better territorial governance and rural-urban synergies.

Mentioned Countries: The opportunity is open to EU Member States and Associated Countries as outlined by the Horizon Europe rules.

Project Stage: The project stage is validation and demonstration. The call aims to test and validate the JackDaw GeoAI Chatbot in real-world contexts.

Funding Amount: The funding amount is up to €25,000 per project, provided as a lump sum contribution. A total of €175,000 is available for this call, and it is expected that approximately 7 to 15 projects will be funded. Proposals requesting amounts above €25,000 will be considered ineligible. The maximum cumulative support per single legal entity across all PoliRuralPlus open calls is €60,000.

Application Type: The application type is an open call. Proposals must be submitted via the online form on the PoliRuralPlus Knowledge Hub.

Nature of Support: Beneficiaries will receive money in the form of a lump sum grant.

Application Stages: The application process appears to be single-stage, with a single deadline for submissions. The proposal contains two parts: Part A (Administrative Form) and Part B (Technical Description).

Success Rates: It is expected that approximately 7 to 15 projects will be funded out of the total number of applications received. Without knowing the number of applications, it is not possible to determine the success rate, but it would likely be below 40% and potentially below 10%.

Co-funding Requirement: There is no explicit mention of a co-funding requirement.

Summary:

The PoliRuralPlus Enhance Call is an open call for proposals focused on testing and validating the JackDaw GeoAI Chatbot, a tool developed within the PoliRuralPlus project. JackDaw is an AI-powered chat agent designed for spatially contextualized conversations, addressing challenges in rural and urban development. The call aims to apply JackDaw in real-world contexts across Europe, collect user feedback, and demonstrate its value for decision-making and communication.

The call is open to any type of legal entity (SME, NGO, public authority, research organization, or self-employed natural person) established in an EU Member State or an Associated Country, provided they have the operational and financial capacity. Only single applicants are eligible; consortia are not allowed. Successful applicants will receive up to €25,000 as a lump sum contribution. The application process involves submitting a proposal with an administrative form (Part A) and a technical description (Part B), with a maximum length of 8 pages for Part B. Proposals will be evaluated based on their alignment with the call's objectives, expected impacts, and quality of implementation, using a scoring scale from 0 to 5. The opening date for submissions is September 30, 2025, and the deadline is December 1, 2025, at 17:00 (Brussels time). The expected duration of participation is 6 months, from February to July 2026. The total funding available is €175,000, and it is anticipated that 7 to 15 projects will be funded. The funding will be disbursed in two installments: 30% upon contract signature and 70% after acceptance of deliverables. The call falls under the Horizon Europe program, specifically addressing the topic of improving rural future through better territorial governance and rural-urban synergies.