Increasing walking and cycling: to reap health benefits, emission reductions and integrate active mobility and micro-mobility devices, with smart technologies and infrastructure

The HORIZON-MISS-2025-06-CIT-CANCER-01 call, part of the Horizon Europe program, emphasizes the integration of active mobility solutions like walking and cycling to achieve health and environmental benefits, particularly in cancer prevention. The grant is a collaborative effort associated with the Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities Mission and the Cancer Mission and is structured as a single-stage application process.

Eligible applicants must form a consortium that includes at least five 'lead cities' and five 'follower cities,' where each city is located in different EU Member States or Associated Countries. The target sectors for this call focus on sustainable urban mobility, health, transport, climate change, and the integration of smart technologies into urban infrastructure.

The total budget for this grant opportunity is €12 million, with an expected funding contribution of approximately €6 million per project. The anticipated outcomes involve promoting a significant increase in walking and cycling as well as improving the integration of micro-mobility infrastructure. Projects must demonstrate a reduction in transport emissions, enhanced public health, and concrete strategies for increasing active mobility.

Applications will open on May 6, 2025, and close on September 4, 2025. The competitive success rate is likely estimated to be below 10%, given the limited number of grants available. While co-funding is not explicitly mentioned, projects are encouraged to leverage additional resources from other EU initiatives.

Proposals should aim to enhance the quality and accessibility of walking and cycling infrastructure, innovate with smart systems to support these mobility modes, and strengthen stakeholder coordination and capacity building to boost active mobility initiatives. Additionally, they must align with broader EU policies aimed at promoting sustainable urban environments and health outcomes.

Overall, this funding opportunity aims to facilitate sustainable urban mobility solutions that contribute to climate neutrality while addressing public health needs linked to cancer prevention.

The HORIZON-MISS-2025-06-CIT-CANCER-01 call, under the Horizon Europe program, is a joint initiative between the Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities Mission and the Cancer Mission. It aims to promote active mobility, such as walking and cycling, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve public health, and integrate micro-mobility devices with smart technologies and infrastructure. This call falls under the HORIZON-IA (Innovation Actions) funding scheme and utilizes the HORIZON Lump Sum Grant [HORIZON-AG-LS] model grant agreement.

The call opens for submission on May 6, 2025, with a deadline of September 4, 2025, at 17:00 Brussels time. It employs a single-stage submission process. The total budget allocated for this topic in 2025 is 12,000,000 EUR, with an estimated contribution of around 6,000,000 EUR per grant. The indicative number of grants to be awarded is 2.

The expected outcomes of projects funded under this call include: Cities advancing towards climate neutrality targets and reducing transport emissions by at least 15% through the promotion of walking, cycling, and the integration of micro-mobility infrastructure. A minimum 30% increase in the modal share of walking and cycling in follower cities, measured by the number of daily trips. Increased integration of e-bikes, e-scooters, and other intelligent micro-mobility vehicles into the digital and green road infrastructure, enhancing their safety and modal share through Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS). Development of comprehensive EU guidance on increasing walking, cycling, and micro-mobility in cities, providing concrete measures for infrastructure improvement, integration in transport models, and the use of smart technologies for healthy behavioral change. Support for urban transport authorities to partner with health authorities to promote active mobility projects that demonstrate quantified health benefits, including cancer prevention and improved quality of life for cancer patients.

The scope of the call addresses the challenges of greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution, congestion, and scarcity of public space in cities. It recognizes the potential of active mobility modes to contribute to the EU's climate goals and improve public health. The call emphasizes the importance of high-quality infrastructure, effective planning, and the integration of micro-mobility devices into intelligent transport systems.

Proposals should address the following key areas: Improving the quality, safety, quantity, accessibility, continuity, and attractiveness of walking and cycling infrastructure. This includes providing an updated state of the art of walking and cycling policies, preparing infrastructure network plans, and developing case studies of best practices. Improving the integration and modal share of active mobility. This involves developing case studies on the benefits of walking and cycling for cancer patients, analyzing the integration of active mobility in urban development plans, demonstrating innovative solutions in living labs, testing behavioral change strategies, and supporting the development of active mobility policies. Utilizing smart technologies and integration in traffic management systems. This includes exploring conditions for integrating e-bikes and micro-mobility devices in traffic management, identifying use cases for extending connected vehicles technology (C-ITS) to cycling and micro-mobility, and exploring the wider uptake of smart technologies in the sector. Coordination, exchange, and capacity building for increasing the uptake of active mobility. This involves supporting coordination, exchanging experiences and best practices, and engaging various actors, including transport, research, and health authorities, cancer charities, academia, public transport operators, and citizen associations.

Eligibility criteria include the participation of at least five ‘lead cities’ and five ‘follower cities’ from different Member States or Associated Countries, ensuring geographical balance. At least half of these cities must be among the 112 cities selected for the EU Mission on Climate-neutral and Smart Cities. Projects using satellite-based earth observation data must utilize Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS.

Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum. Eligible costs for major infrastructure works related to walking and cycling solutions should not exceed 20% of the total eligible costs. Collaboration with the Cities Mission Platform is essential, formalized through a Memorandum of Understanding.

The call aims to foster sustainable urban mobility, contributing to the European Green Deal, Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy, New Urban Mobility Framework, and the Zero Pollution Action Plan. It also supports the implementation of the Mission on Cancer and Europe's Beating Cancer Plan.

Applicants are encouraged to consult various resources, including the Horizon Europe Programme Guide, Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ, Research Enquiry Service, National Contact Points, and the Enterprise Europe Network.

In summary, this call seeks innovative projects that can transform urban mobility by prioritizing walking and cycling, integrating smart technologies, and promoting healthier lifestyles, all while contributing to climate neutrality and cancer prevention. It requires a collaborative approach involving cities, researchers, and various stakeholders to implement and upscale effective solutions across Europe.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types include local authorities (cities), research institutions, health authorities, cancer charities, public transport authorities and operators, urban mobility practitioners, shared mobility service providers, citizen associations, stakeholder organizations, and industry associations and representatives. Specifically, the call requires consortia to include at least five ‘lead cities’ and five ‘follower cities’.

Funding Type: The funding type is a grant, specifically a HORIZON Innovation Action (HORIZON-IA) with a HORIZON Lump Sum Grant (HORIZON-AG-LS) model grant agreement.

Consortium Requirement: A consortium is required. The consortium must include at least five ‘lead cities’ and five ‘follower cities’, each established in a different Member State or Associated Country. The consortium should bring together local authorities and other relevant stakeholders.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility includes Member States and Associated Countries participating in the Horizon Europe program. 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 sustainable urban mobility, health, transport, climate, cancer prevention, smart cities, and social sciences and humanities (SSH). The program aims to promote active mobility (walking and cycling) and integrate micro-mobility devices with smart technologies and infrastructure.

Mentioned Countries: No specific countries are mentioned, but the requirement for consortia to include cities from different Member States or Associated Countries implies that the opportunity is targeted towards entities within the EU and associated countries.

Project Stage: The project stage is innovation action, which implies a focus on demonstration and implementation of existing technologies and solutions.

Funding Amount: The total budget for the topic is 12,000,000 EUR. The indicative contribution per grant is around 6,000,000 EUR. Two grants are expected to be awarded.

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

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

Application Stages: The application process is single-stage.

Success Rates: With a budget of 12,000,000 EUR and an expected 2 grants, the success rate is likely to be below 10% given the broad scope and potential interest in the call.

Co-funding Requirement: While not explicitly stated as a co-funding requirement, the call mentions that eligible costs for major infrastructure works related to walking and cycling solutions should not constitute more than 20% of the total eligible costs. Beneficiaries’ own resources and/or mobilisation and leverage of additional investments from other EU programs and initiatives (such as EU Structural and Investment Funds) and/or other sources, private or public, could make up the remaining investment costs to secure the economic and financial sustainability of the project. This suggests that applicants are expected to leverage additional funding sources.

Summary:

This Horizon Europe call, HORIZON-MISS-2025-06-CIT-CANCER-01, is a joint initiative between the Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities Mission and the Cancer Mission. It aims to promote active mobility (walking and cycling) and integrate micro-mobility devices in urban transport networks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve public health, and contribute to cancer prevention. The call seeks to fund projects that improve walking and cycling infrastructure, integrate active mobility with smart technologies, and foster coordination among various stakeholders. Consortia must include at least five ‘lead cities’ and five ‘follower cities’ from different Member States or Associated Countries, with at least half of these cities being part of the EU Mission on Climate-neutral and Smart Cities. The funding is provided as a lump sum grant, with a total budget of 12,000,000 EUR and an indicative contribution of around 6,000,000 EUR per project. The call emphasizes the importance of social sciences and humanities (SSH) expertise and encourages collaboration with initiatives like CIVITAS and the Driving Urban Transitions (DUT) partnership. The opening date for submissions is May 6, 2025, and the deadline is September 4, 2025.