Living labs for co-creating solutions for the restoration of ecosystems
Overview
The Horizon Europe call titled "Living Labs for Co-Creating Solutions for the Restoration of Ecosystems" focuses on developing innovative approaches to ecosystem restoration. Its reference code is HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-BIODIV-01-two-stage, and it is categorized under HORIZON-RIA (Research and Innovation Actions). This grant opportunity opens on 12 February 2026, with two key submission stages: a first outline due by 16 April 2026 and a comprehensive proposal due by 23 September 2026. The total budget for this call is €14,000,000, designed to fund two projects, each receiving approximately €7,000,000.
Eligible applicants include a consortium of various entities including researchers, local authorities, SMEs, civil society organizations, and land/water managers, as the multi-actor approach is mandatory. Proposals are required to demonstrate cooperation spanning at least three different EU Member States or Associated Countries, with an emphasis on inclusivity from outermost regions and varying stakeholders. The projects aim to establish living labs, serving as testing grounds where innovative ecosystem restoration solutions are co-designed and validated.
Activities funded under this grant will involve the establishment and operation of transnational living laboratories, each containing 10 to 20 experimental sites focusing on diverse ecosystem types such as marine-coastal environments, urban settings, agricultural landscapes, and arid regions. The goal is to demonstrate not only the scientific effectiveness but also the social and economic viability of restoration practices through varied business models.
While co-funding is not explicitly mandated, substantial involvement from various partners is anticipated. A significant portion—up to 30% of total funding—can be allocated for financial support to third parties, facilitating the inclusion of smaller actors, which can receive a maximum of €60,000 each. Proposals must prioritize co-creation and ensure active stakeholder engagement across the living labs.
The call aligns with the EU's broader biodiversity strategy aimed at restoring ecosystems by 2030 and represents a highly competitive funding opportunity with an expected success rate of 5-10%. The specific evaluation criteria include excellence, impact, and implementation capacity, ensuring only the most robust projects proceed to the next round.
Overall, this funding aims to empower a greener transition by developing solutions collaboratively and involving a spectrum of societal sectors, enhancing ecosystem resilience while addressing climate change challenges.
Eligible applicants include a consortium of various entities including researchers, local authorities, SMEs, civil society organizations, and land/water managers, as the multi-actor approach is mandatory. Proposals are required to demonstrate cooperation spanning at least three different EU Member States or Associated Countries, with an emphasis on inclusivity from outermost regions and varying stakeholders. The projects aim to establish living labs, serving as testing grounds where innovative ecosystem restoration solutions are co-designed and validated.
Activities funded under this grant will involve the establishment and operation of transnational living laboratories, each containing 10 to 20 experimental sites focusing on diverse ecosystem types such as marine-coastal environments, urban settings, agricultural landscapes, and arid regions. The goal is to demonstrate not only the scientific effectiveness but also the social and economic viability of restoration practices through varied business models.
While co-funding is not explicitly mandated, substantial involvement from various partners is anticipated. A significant portion—up to 30% of total funding—can be allocated for financial support to third parties, facilitating the inclusion of smaller actors, which can receive a maximum of €60,000 each. Proposals must prioritize co-creation and ensure active stakeholder engagement across the living labs.
The call aligns with the EU's broader biodiversity strategy aimed at restoring ecosystems by 2030 and represents a highly competitive funding opportunity with an expected success rate of 5-10%. The specific evaluation criteria include excellence, impact, and implementation capacity, ensuring only the most robust projects proceed to the next round.
Overall, this funding aims to empower a greener transition by developing solutions collaboratively and involving a spectrum of societal sectors, enhancing ecosystem resilience while addressing climate change challenges.
Detail
This is a Horizon Europe (HORIZON) call, specifically Call 01 - two stage (2026) (HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-two-stage). The general objective is to empower a green transition towards nature restoration and climate change mitigation and adaptation by developing solutions in a co-creative manner and involving actors in real life settings to achieve large-scale impact and foster collaboration between sectors and communities. The call includes several topics related to biodiversity, circular bioeconomy, and zero pollution. The type of action for the BIODIV and ZEROPOLLUTION topics is HORIZON-RIA (Research and Innovation Actions), while for the CIRCBIO topics, it is HORIZON-IA (Innovation Actions). The MGA (Model Grant Agreement) type is HORIZON Action Grant Budget-Based [HORIZON-AG]. The deadline model is two-stage. The planned opening date is 12 February 2026. The deadline for the first stage is 16 April 2026 at 17:00:00 Brussels time, and the deadline for the second stage is 23 September 2026 at 17:00:00 Brussels time.
The expected outcomes of the projects funded under this call are: stakeholders are empowered to implement viable ecosystem restoration measures; competent authorities in charge of implementing the EU Nature Restoration Regulation are able to propose appropriate restoration measures; social, economic and environmental co-benefits and trade-offs of nature restoration activities are demonstrated, including for climate action.
The scope of the call is aligned with the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030 and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. It aims to support the implementation of the EU Nature Restoration Regulation through living labs that test and demonstrate innovative solutions to restore ecosystems.
Proposals should support the set up of three living labs, with 10 to 20 experimental sites each, as places for testing and demonstrating innovative solutions to restore ecosystems following three main principles: (a) co-creation with a large set of stakeholders, (b) carried out in real-life settings and (c) involving the end-users. Transboundary living labs are encouraged and expected to be in at least three different EU Member States and/or Associated Countries, with some of them including outermost regions, islands or remote areas. Proposals should describe the rationale for cooperation across the living labs and among the stakeholders within the living labs. They should establish a work plan of activities in a transdisciplinary way, ensuring the co-design, co-development, and co-implementation of locally adapted innovative solutions. They should establish tools for each living lab to allow for an accurate assessment of the conditions and to monitor progress towards the objectives. Where relevant, the overall objective should be to reach the favourable reference areas, the good conservation status and the satisfactory levels for indicators at national levels defined in the Habitats Directive, the Birds Directive, the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, the Water Framework Directive or the Nature Restoration Regulation. They should monitor and carry out an assessment of both the effectiveness of innovative practices for ecosystem restoration and for their non-deterioration. They should demonstrate how of the identified innovative solutions can be viable for end-users, by developing suitable business models and testing private or public support schemes such as payment for ecosystems services or nature credits as proposed in the Nature Credits Roadmap. They should address challenges with scaling up and transferability of solutions, developing a gender-sensitive and inclusive framework on how ecosystem health could support this work. They should disseminate the newly developed solutions to facilitate their uptake by practitioners. They should demonstrate how ecosystem restoration can support EU general policy objectives, enhancing societal resilience, and reducing natural risks.
The proposals should focus on ecosystems under one or several of the following groups: Transitional interfaces: Marine-coastal-terrestrial transitional ecosystems such as salt marshes, dunes, estuaries, coastal lagoons, and deltas, as well as freshwater transitions between watershed, rivers, lakes and groundwater. Urban-rural gradient: urban ecosystems -including parks, restored brownfields, urban forests, and green and blue infrastructures-, urban nature with surrounding peri-urban and rural ecosystems. Mosaic agricultural landscapes: agricultural ecosystems with high biodiversity value such as semi-natural grasslands, agroforestry systems, hedgerows, and buffer strips. Biodiversity corridors: linear habitats that cut across multiple land uses, such as riparian vegetation, roadsides, canal banks, and hedgerows. Ecosystem connectivity across fragmented landscapes. Dryland and arid ecosystems: garrigue, maquis, and steppe landscapes facing increasing threats from drought, erosion, desertification, and fire.
The projects must adopt the multi-actor approach, involving researchers, land/water managers, industry representatives (e.g., SMEs), local authorities, civil society representatives (e.g., local residents, environmental NGOs, youth organisations) and/or investors. Financial support to third parties (FSTP) to facilitate active involvement of small actors (e.g., land managers, SMEs or civil society) can be provided through calls for proposals. A maximum of 30% of the EU funding should be allocated to this purpose.
This topic requires the effective contribution of SSH (Social Sciences and Humanities) disciplines to enhance the societal impact of the related research activities.
Cooperation is expected with relevant EU-funded projects and with relevant initiatives of the partnership Biodiversa+, and appropriate resources should be foreseen to ensure close cooperation with the EC Knowledge Centre for Biodiversity (KCBD) and its Science Service. The collaboration with the JRC would address JRC methodologies for ecosystem condition assessment, aligned with the System of Environmental Economic Accounting, and data and indicators identified by JRC to perform the assessment.
The admissibility conditions include proposal page limits and layout, which are described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes and Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System. Eligible countries are described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. 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. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.
Other eligible conditions include the participation of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) as a member of the consortium selected for funding as a beneficiary with zero funding, or as an associated partner. The JRC will not participate in the preparation and submission of the proposal - see General Annex B. The proposals must apply the multi-actor approach.
Financial and operational capacity and exclusion are described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes. Evaluation and award criteria, scoring, and thresholds are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes. Submission and evaluation processes are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual. The indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement is described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Beneficiaries may provide financial support to third parties. The support to third parties can only be provided in the form of grants. The maximum amount to be granted to each third party is EUR 60 000. This is described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes. Specific conditions are described in the specific topic of the Work Programme.
Application form templates are available in the Submission System, including the Standard application form (HE RIA, IA) and the Standard application form (HE RIA IA Stage 1). Evaluation form templates will be used with the necessary adaptations, including the Standard evaluation form (HE RIA, IA) and the Standard evaluation form (HE RIA, IA and CSA Stage 1). Guidance is provided in the HE Programme Guide. Model Grant Agreements (MGA) include HE MGA and HE Unit MGA. Call-specific instructions and information on financial support to third parties (HE) are also available.
Additional documents include: HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 1. General Introduction, HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 9. Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment, HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 15. General Annexes, HE Programme Guide, HE Framework Programme 2021/695, HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764, EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509, Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment, EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement, Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual, Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions, and Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement.
The budget overview for the year 2026 includes the following topics:
HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-BIODIV-01-two-stage - HORIZON-RIA: 14 000 000 EUR, indicative grant amount around 7000000 EUR, 2 grants.
HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-BIODIV-02-two-stage - HORIZON-RIA: 12 000 000 EUR, indicative grant amount around 3000000 EUR, 4 grants.
HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-BIODIV-03-two-stage - HORIZON-IA: 10 000 000 EUR, indicative grant amount around 5000000 EUR, 2 grants.
HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-BIODIV-04-two-stage - HORIZON-RIA: 18 000 000 EUR, indicative grant amount around 6000000 EUR, 3 grants.
HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-CIRCBIO-01-two-stage - HORIZON-IA: 10 000 000 EUR, indicative grant amount around 5000000 EUR, 2 grants.
HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-CIRCBIO-02-two-stage - HORIZON-IA: 18 000 000 EUR, indicative grant amount around 6000000 EUR, 3 grants.
HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-ZEROPOLLUTION-01-two-stage - HORIZON-RIA: 23 000 000 EUR, indicative grant amount 7000000 to 8000000 EUR, 3 grants.
There are partner search announcements available, and LEARs, Account Administrators, or self-registrants can publish partner requests for open and forthcoming topics after logging into the Portal. The submission system is planned to be opened on the date stated on the topic header.
For support, applicants are advised to read all provisions carefully before preparing their application. The Online Manual is a guide on the procedures from proposal submission to managing the grant. The Horizon Europe Programme Guide contains detailed guidance on the structure, budget, and political priorities of Horizon Europe. The Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ provides answers to frequently asked questions on submission of proposals, evaluation, and grant management. The Research Enquiry Service can be used to ask questions about any aspect of European research in general and the EU Research Framework Programmes in particular. National Contact Points (NCPs) provide guidance, practical information, and assistance on participation in Horizon Europe. The Enterprise Europe Network can be contacted for advice to businesses with special focus on SMEs. The IT Helpdesk can be contacted for questions such as forgotten passwords, access rights and roles, technical aspects of submission of proposals, etc. The European IPR Helpdesk assists on intellectual property issues. The CEN-CENELEC Research Helpdesk and ETSI Research Helpdesk advise on how to tackle standardisation in the project proposal. The European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for their recruitment should be consulted for the general principles and requirements specifying the roles, responsibilities, and entitlements of researchers, employers, and funders of researchers. Partner Search can help find a partner organisation for the proposal.
In summary, this Horizon Europe call focuses on establishing and supporting living labs for ecosystem restoration, aligning with the EU's biodiversity strategy and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. It encourages multi-actor participation, transdisciplinary approaches, and the development of innovative and sustainable solutions for various ecosystem types. The call provides funding opportunities for research and innovation actions, as well as innovation actions, with a two-stage submission process. Applicants should carefully review the general and specific conditions, utilize the available guidance and support resources, and consider collaborating with partners from different EU Member States and Associated Countries. The call aims to empower stakeholders, inform policy, and demonstrate the co-benefits of nature restoration for climate action and societal resilience.
The expected outcomes of the projects funded under this call are: stakeholders are empowered to implement viable ecosystem restoration measures; competent authorities in charge of implementing the EU Nature Restoration Regulation are able to propose appropriate restoration measures; social, economic and environmental co-benefits and trade-offs of nature restoration activities are demonstrated, including for climate action.
The scope of the call is aligned with the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030 and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. It aims to support the implementation of the EU Nature Restoration Regulation through living labs that test and demonstrate innovative solutions to restore ecosystems.
Proposals should support the set up of three living labs, with 10 to 20 experimental sites each, as places for testing and demonstrating innovative solutions to restore ecosystems following three main principles: (a) co-creation with a large set of stakeholders, (b) carried out in real-life settings and (c) involving the end-users. Transboundary living labs are encouraged and expected to be in at least three different EU Member States and/or Associated Countries, with some of them including outermost regions, islands or remote areas. Proposals should describe the rationale for cooperation across the living labs and among the stakeholders within the living labs. They should establish a work plan of activities in a transdisciplinary way, ensuring the co-design, co-development, and co-implementation of locally adapted innovative solutions. They should establish tools for each living lab to allow for an accurate assessment of the conditions and to monitor progress towards the objectives. Where relevant, the overall objective should be to reach the favourable reference areas, the good conservation status and the satisfactory levels for indicators at national levels defined in the Habitats Directive, the Birds Directive, the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, the Water Framework Directive or the Nature Restoration Regulation. They should monitor and carry out an assessment of both the effectiveness of innovative practices for ecosystem restoration and for their non-deterioration. They should demonstrate how of the identified innovative solutions can be viable for end-users, by developing suitable business models and testing private or public support schemes such as payment for ecosystems services or nature credits as proposed in the Nature Credits Roadmap. They should address challenges with scaling up and transferability of solutions, developing a gender-sensitive and inclusive framework on how ecosystem health could support this work. They should disseminate the newly developed solutions to facilitate their uptake by practitioners. They should demonstrate how ecosystem restoration can support EU general policy objectives, enhancing societal resilience, and reducing natural risks.
The proposals should focus on ecosystems under one or several of the following groups: Transitional interfaces: Marine-coastal-terrestrial transitional ecosystems such as salt marshes, dunes, estuaries, coastal lagoons, and deltas, as well as freshwater transitions between watershed, rivers, lakes and groundwater. Urban-rural gradient: urban ecosystems -including parks, restored brownfields, urban forests, and green and blue infrastructures-, urban nature with surrounding peri-urban and rural ecosystems. Mosaic agricultural landscapes: agricultural ecosystems with high biodiversity value such as semi-natural grasslands, agroforestry systems, hedgerows, and buffer strips. Biodiversity corridors: linear habitats that cut across multiple land uses, such as riparian vegetation, roadsides, canal banks, and hedgerows. Ecosystem connectivity across fragmented landscapes. Dryland and arid ecosystems: garrigue, maquis, and steppe landscapes facing increasing threats from drought, erosion, desertification, and fire.
The projects must adopt the multi-actor approach, involving researchers, land/water managers, industry representatives (e.g., SMEs), local authorities, civil society representatives (e.g., local residents, environmental NGOs, youth organisations) and/or investors. Financial support to third parties (FSTP) to facilitate active involvement of small actors (e.g., land managers, SMEs or civil society) can be provided through calls for proposals. A maximum of 30% of the EU funding should be allocated to this purpose.
This topic requires the effective contribution of SSH (Social Sciences and Humanities) disciplines to enhance the societal impact of the related research activities.
Cooperation is expected with relevant EU-funded projects and with relevant initiatives of the partnership Biodiversa+, and appropriate resources should be foreseen to ensure close cooperation with the EC Knowledge Centre for Biodiversity (KCBD) and its Science Service. The collaboration with the JRC would address JRC methodologies for ecosystem condition assessment, aligned with the System of Environmental Economic Accounting, and data and indicators identified by JRC to perform the assessment.
The admissibility conditions include proposal page limits and layout, which are described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes and Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System. Eligible countries are described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. 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. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.
Other eligible conditions include the participation of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) as a member of the consortium selected for funding as a beneficiary with zero funding, or as an associated partner. The JRC will not participate in the preparation and submission of the proposal - see General Annex B. The proposals must apply the multi-actor approach.
Financial and operational capacity and exclusion are described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes. Evaluation and award criteria, scoring, and thresholds are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes. Submission and evaluation processes are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual. The indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement is described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Beneficiaries may provide financial support to third parties. The support to third parties can only be provided in the form of grants. The maximum amount to be granted to each third party is EUR 60 000. This is described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes. Specific conditions are described in the specific topic of the Work Programme.
Application form templates are available in the Submission System, including the Standard application form (HE RIA, IA) and the Standard application form (HE RIA IA Stage 1). Evaluation form templates will be used with the necessary adaptations, including the Standard evaluation form (HE RIA, IA) and the Standard evaluation form (HE RIA, IA and CSA Stage 1). Guidance is provided in the HE Programme Guide. Model Grant Agreements (MGA) include HE MGA and HE Unit MGA. Call-specific instructions and information on financial support to third parties (HE) are also available.
Additional documents include: HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 1. General Introduction, HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 9. Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment, HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 15. General Annexes, HE Programme Guide, HE Framework Programme 2021/695, HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764, EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509, Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment, EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement, Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual, Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions, and Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement.
The budget overview for the year 2026 includes the following topics:
HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-BIODIV-01-two-stage - HORIZON-RIA: 14 000 000 EUR, indicative grant amount around 7000000 EUR, 2 grants.
HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-BIODIV-02-two-stage - HORIZON-RIA: 12 000 000 EUR, indicative grant amount around 3000000 EUR, 4 grants.
HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-BIODIV-03-two-stage - HORIZON-IA: 10 000 000 EUR, indicative grant amount around 5000000 EUR, 2 grants.
HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-BIODIV-04-two-stage - HORIZON-RIA: 18 000 000 EUR, indicative grant amount around 6000000 EUR, 3 grants.
HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-CIRCBIO-01-two-stage - HORIZON-IA: 10 000 000 EUR, indicative grant amount around 5000000 EUR, 2 grants.
HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-CIRCBIO-02-two-stage - HORIZON-IA: 18 000 000 EUR, indicative grant amount around 6000000 EUR, 3 grants.
HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-ZEROPOLLUTION-01-two-stage - HORIZON-RIA: 23 000 000 EUR, indicative grant amount 7000000 to 8000000 EUR, 3 grants.
There are partner search announcements available, and LEARs, Account Administrators, or self-registrants can publish partner requests for open and forthcoming topics after logging into the Portal. The submission system is planned to be opened on the date stated on the topic header.
For support, applicants are advised to read all provisions carefully before preparing their application. The Online Manual is a guide on the procedures from proposal submission to managing the grant. The Horizon Europe Programme Guide contains detailed guidance on the structure, budget, and political priorities of Horizon Europe. The Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ provides answers to frequently asked questions on submission of proposals, evaluation, and grant management. The Research Enquiry Service can be used to ask questions about any aspect of European research in general and the EU Research Framework Programmes in particular. National Contact Points (NCPs) provide guidance, practical information, and assistance on participation in Horizon Europe. The Enterprise Europe Network can be contacted for advice to businesses with special focus on SMEs. The IT Helpdesk can be contacted for questions such as forgotten passwords, access rights and roles, technical aspects of submission of proposals, etc. The European IPR Helpdesk assists on intellectual property issues. The CEN-CENELEC Research Helpdesk and ETSI Research Helpdesk advise on how to tackle standardisation in the project proposal. The European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for their recruitment should be consulted for the general principles and requirements specifying the roles, responsibilities, and entitlements of researchers, employers, and funders of researchers. Partner Search can help find a partner organisation for the proposal.
In summary, this Horizon Europe call focuses on establishing and supporting living labs for ecosystem restoration, aligning with the EU's biodiversity strategy and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. It encourages multi-actor participation, transdisciplinary approaches, and the development of innovative and sustainable solutions for various ecosystem types. The call provides funding opportunities for research and innovation actions, as well as innovation actions, with a two-stage submission process. Applicants should carefully review the general and specific conditions, utilize the available guidance and support resources, and consider collaborating with partners from different EU Member States and Associated Countries. The call aims to empower stakeholders, inform policy, and demonstrate the co-benefits of nature restoration for climate action and societal resilience.
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Breakdown
Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types include researchers, land/water managers, industry representatives (e.g., SMEs), local authorities, civil society representatives (e.g., local residents, environmental NGOs, youth organisations), and/or investors. The Joint Research Centre (JRC) may participate as a member of the consortium selected for funding as a beneficiary with zero funding, or as an associated partner.
Funding Type: The funding type is primarily a grant, specifically HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions (HORIZON-RIA) and HORIZON Innovation Actions (HORIZON-IA) under the Horizon Europe program. Beneficiaries may provide financial support to third parties in the form of grants.
Consortium Requirement: The opportunity requires a consortium of multiple applicants, as indicated by the need for multi-actor approach and the encouragement of transboundary living labs involving multiple EU Member States and/or Associated Countries.
Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility includes EU Member States and/or Associated Countries. Transboundary living labs are encouraged and expected to be in at least three different EU Member States and/or Associated Countries, with some of them including outermost regions, islands or remote areas. 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 program targets the following sectors: biodiversity, environment, agriculture, climate action, and innovation, with a focus on ecosystem restoration. It also requires the effective contribution of Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) disciplines. The program also touches on circular bioeconomy and zero pollution.
Mentioned Countries: The opportunity explicitly mentions EU Member States and Associated Countries. It also refers to non-EU and non-Associated Countries that have specific provisions for funding participants in Horizon Europe projects.
Project Stage: The expected maturity of the project is at the demonstration and validation stage, with a focus on setting up living labs for testing and demonstrating innovative solutions to restore ecosystems.
Funding Amount: The funding amounts vary depending on the specific topic:
HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-BIODIV-01-two-stage: EUR 14,000,000 (around EUR 7,000,000 per grant, 2 grants)
HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-BIODIV-02-two-stage: EUR 12,000,000 (around EUR 3,000,000 per grant, 4 grants)
HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-BIODIV-03-two-stage: EUR 10,000,000 (around EUR 5,000,000 per grant, 2 grants)
HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-BIODIV-04-two-stage: EUR 18,000,000 (around EUR 6,000,000 per grant, 3 grants)
HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-CIRCBIO-01-two-stage: EUR 10,000,000 (around EUR 5,000,000 per grant, 2 grants)
HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-CIRCBIO-02-two-stage: EUR 18,000,000 (around EUR 6,000,000 per grant, 3 grants)
HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-ZEROPOLLUTION-01-two-stage: EUR 23,000,000 (EUR 7,000,000 to EUR 8,000,000 per grant, 3 grants)
Application Type: The application type is an open call with a two-stage submission process.
Nature of Support: Beneficiaries will receive money in the form of grants. They may also provide financial support to third parties, with a maximum amount of EUR 60,000 per third party.
Application Stages: The application process involves two stages.
Success Rates: The success rates can be estimated based on the indicative number of grants and the total budget allocated to each topic, but the exact success rate is not explicitly mentioned.
Co-funding Requirement: The need for co-funding is not explicitly mentioned, but applicants should review the general conditions and specific conditions of the Work Programme to determine if co-funding is required.
Summary: This Horizon Europe call focuses on establishing and supporting living labs for co-creating innovative solutions for ecosystem restoration. The call aims to empower stakeholders, assist authorities in implementing the EU Nature Restoration Regulation, and demonstrate the co-benefits of nature restoration. Projects should support the setup of living labs with experimental sites across multiple EU Member States and/or Associated Countries, involving a wide range of actors, including researchers, land/water managers, SMEs, local authorities, and civil society representatives. The call encourages a multi-actor approach and transdisciplinary collaboration, with a focus on co-design, co-development, and co-implementation of locally adapted solutions. Proposals should address challenges related to scaling up and transferring solutions, developing sustainable business models, and disseminating newly developed practices. The call targets various ecosystems, including transitional interfaces, urban-rural gradients, mosaic agricultural landscapes, biodiversity corridors, and dryland/arid ecosystems. The funding is provided through HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions (RIA) and Innovation Actions (IA), with a two-stage submission process.
Funding Type: The funding type is primarily a grant, specifically HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions (HORIZON-RIA) and HORIZON Innovation Actions (HORIZON-IA) under the Horizon Europe program. Beneficiaries may provide financial support to third parties in the form of grants.
Consortium Requirement: The opportunity requires a consortium of multiple applicants, as indicated by the need for multi-actor approach and the encouragement of transboundary living labs involving multiple EU Member States and/or Associated Countries.
Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility includes EU Member States and/or Associated Countries. Transboundary living labs are encouraged and expected to be in at least three different EU Member States and/or Associated Countries, with some of them including outermost regions, islands or remote areas. 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 program targets the following sectors: biodiversity, environment, agriculture, climate action, and innovation, with a focus on ecosystem restoration. It also requires the effective contribution of Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) disciplines. The program also touches on circular bioeconomy and zero pollution.
Mentioned Countries: The opportunity explicitly mentions EU Member States and Associated Countries. It also refers to non-EU and non-Associated Countries that have specific provisions for funding participants in Horizon Europe projects.
Project Stage: The expected maturity of the project is at the demonstration and validation stage, with a focus on setting up living labs for testing and demonstrating innovative solutions to restore ecosystems.
Funding Amount: The funding amounts vary depending on the specific topic:
HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-BIODIV-01-two-stage: EUR 14,000,000 (around EUR 7,000,000 per grant, 2 grants)
HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-BIODIV-02-two-stage: EUR 12,000,000 (around EUR 3,000,000 per grant, 4 grants)
HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-BIODIV-03-two-stage: EUR 10,000,000 (around EUR 5,000,000 per grant, 2 grants)
HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-BIODIV-04-two-stage: EUR 18,000,000 (around EUR 6,000,000 per grant, 3 grants)
HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-CIRCBIO-01-two-stage: EUR 10,000,000 (around EUR 5,000,000 per grant, 2 grants)
HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-CIRCBIO-02-two-stage: EUR 18,000,000 (around EUR 6,000,000 per grant, 3 grants)
HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-ZEROPOLLUTION-01-two-stage: EUR 23,000,000 (EUR 7,000,000 to EUR 8,000,000 per grant, 3 grants)
Application Type: The application type is an open call with a two-stage submission process.
Nature of Support: Beneficiaries will receive money in the form of grants. They may also provide financial support to third parties, with a maximum amount of EUR 60,000 per third party.
Application Stages: The application process involves two stages.
Success Rates: The success rates can be estimated based on the indicative number of grants and the total budget allocated to each topic, but the exact success rate is not explicitly mentioned.
Co-funding Requirement: The need for co-funding is not explicitly mentioned, but applicants should review the general conditions and specific conditions of the Work Programme to determine if co-funding is required.
Summary: This Horizon Europe call focuses on establishing and supporting living labs for co-creating innovative solutions for ecosystem restoration. The call aims to empower stakeholders, assist authorities in implementing the EU Nature Restoration Regulation, and demonstrate the co-benefits of nature restoration. Projects should support the setup of living labs with experimental sites across multiple EU Member States and/or Associated Countries, involving a wide range of actors, including researchers, land/water managers, SMEs, local authorities, and civil society representatives. The call encourages a multi-actor approach and transdisciplinary collaboration, with a focus on co-design, co-development, and co-implementation of locally adapted solutions. Proposals should address challenges related to scaling up and transferring solutions, developing sustainable business models, and disseminating newly developed practices. The call targets various ecosystems, including transitional interfaces, urban-rural gradients, mosaic agricultural landscapes, biodiversity corridors, and dryland/arid ecosystems. The funding is provided through HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions (RIA) and Innovation Actions (IA), with a two-stage submission process.
Short Summary
Impact Empower stakeholders to implement viable ecosystem restoration measures and demonstrate the co-benefits of nature restoration activities for climate action. | Impact | Empower stakeholders to implement viable ecosystem restoration measures and demonstrate the co-benefits of nature restoration activities for climate action. |
Applicant A diverse consortium including researchers, land/water managers, industry representatives, local authorities, civil society representatives, and investors. | Applicant | A diverse consortium including researchers, land/water managers, industry representatives, local authorities, civil society representatives, and investors. |
Developments Establishment and operation of transnational living laboratories for testing and demonstrating innovative ecosystem restoration solutions. | Developments | Establishment and operation of transnational living laboratories for testing and demonstrating innovative ecosystem restoration solutions. |
Applicant Type Consortiums of multiple applicants including research organizations, public bodies, SMEs, and civil society organizations. | Applicant Type | Consortiums of multiple applicants including research organizations, public bodies, SMEs, and civil society organizations. |
Consortium A consortium of multiple applicants is required, adopting a multi-actor approach. | Consortium | A consortium of multiple applicants is required, adopting a multi-actor approach. |
Funding Amount €7,000,000 per project, with a total budget of €14,000,000 for 2 expected grants. | Funding Amount | €7,000,000 per project, with a total budget of €14,000,000 for 2 expected grants. |
Countries EU Member States and Associated Countries, with emphasis on transboundary cooperation. | Countries | EU Member States and Associated Countries, with emphasis on transboundary cooperation. |
Industry Biodiversity, ecosystem restoration, environment, climate action, and innovation. | Industry | Biodiversity, ecosystem restoration, environment, climate action, and innovation. |
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