Pioneering Destination Earth for a Sustainable Future: Large-Scale Pilots and Demonstrators

The HORIZON-INFRA-2027-TECH-01-02 funding opportunity, part of the Horizon Europe program, emphasizes supporting large-scale pilot projects that leverage the Destination Earth initiative, a digital twin of the Earth, to tackle climate change adaptation and disaster risk management. Eligible applicants include research institutions, universities, SMEs, startups, AI developers, and public sector entities, with a specific encouragement for collaboration among SMEs and startups engaged in AI and deep tech. Financial support is provided as a grant through a Research and Innovation Action with lump sum contributions ranging from 7 million to 12 million euros per project.

Proposals must consist of a consortium involving at least three Member States or Associated Countries, ensuring geographic distribution and collaboration. The call seeks to address complex issues exacerbated by climate change across various sectors, such as energy, health, urban planning, and biodiversity, with an aim to develop practical, scalable solutions through real-world testing.

The project stages focus on demonstration, validation, and the pilot phases, testing adaptation and risk mitigation measures in concrete settings. The application submits in a single stage, with the call opening on March 9, 2027, and a deadline on June 15, 2027. The estimated success rate for funding proposals is between 10 to 39%, reflecting competitive levels typical in Horizon Europe funding.

Collaborators must effectively combine expertise from research scientists, AI developers, and policy experts to ensure that solutions are viable and address existing policy needs, aligning with broader European strategies such as the European Green Deal. The initiative also promotes integration with existing frameworks and encourages leveraging data and insights from other related Horizon Europe projects. Overall, this funding opportunity aims to foster innovation through collaboration, aiming to create data-driven, actionable solutions addressing climate adaptation and risk in Europe.

This is a summary of the EU funding opportunity "Pioneering Destination Earth for a Sustainable Future: Large-Scale Pilots and Demonstrators" under the Horizon Europe (HORIZON) program, specifically the Research Infrastructures 2027 call (HORIZON-INFRA-2027-01). The topic ID is HORIZON-INFRA-2027-TECH-01-02. This opportunity seeks to fund projects that create actionable and widely tested pilot solutions addressing complex, cross-sectoral problems related to climate change, with an emphasis on the innovative use of AI and multi-country collaboration.

The program aims to leverage the Destination Earth system for widespread societal use through innovative methods, practices, tools, and services. It also aims to leverage the AI Continent Action Plan and the development of data lab infrastructure by federating data from different AI Factories and linking to Common European Data Spaces.

Key aspects that proposals should cover include:

Planning, designing, and overseeing large-scale experimental pilots and demonstrators using Destination Earth capabilities in critical impact sectors linked to public policy areas. These pilots should tackle real-world challenges related to climate change adaptation and risk mitigation at European, national, regional, and local scales.

Improving models and enabling the coupling of models used in different sectors to combine cross-sectoral research and practice. Projects should consider the complex interrelationships emerging from climate change challenges, such as health effects or changes in energy, agri-food, or mobility sectors. They should propose, test, and analyze adaptation and risk mitigation measures in real-life scenarios.

Contributing to the data infrastructure around Destination Earth for new AI-enabled digital twins by using the Data Labs of the AI Factories and integrating them into the DestinE system. Involvement of SMEs and/or startups active in AI and/or deep tech is strongly encouraged.

Co-designing and experimenting with pilots and demonstrators in at least three Member States and/or Associated Countries, involving research scientists, AI developers, public sector policy experts, and decision-makers.

Demonstrating sustainable setups, including through interactivity with digital twins, adapting to changing data and on-demand visualization capabilities, and addressing existing and emerging socio-environmental and socio-economic challenges using AI.

Integrating place-based governance, socio-economic and identity characteristics, and other context-specific data to ensure tailored, effective, and actionable responses. This will enable authorities to implement targeted, data-driven measures that enhance resilience, preparedness, and decision-making in their respective territorial contexts.

Adhering to the standards and best practices set by the Destination Earth initiative to enable interoperability with the Destination Earth system. The Destination Earth platform should be used to facilitate the deployment and scalability of proposed solutions, enhancing their accessibility and impact across multiple sectors and user communities across Europe.

Including a scalability plan in the work plan to drive the widespread adoption of innovative uses and solutions powered by Destination Earth, latest technologies, and scientific developments. This plan should be developed in close collaboration with relevant public authorities and outline a clear, actionable pathway aiming to secure long-term commitments, including funding, governance, and policy frameworks.

Demonstrating a clear and credible pathway towards collaboration with the implementing entities of the Destination Earth initiative (ESA, ECMWF, and EUMETSAT) and other key initiatives active in the intended impact sectors, such as Mercator Ocean International.

Leveraging the knowledge and solutions generated in relevant Horizon Europe projects, particularly those selected from HORIZON-INFRA-2021-TECH-01, HORIZON-INFRA-2024-TECH-01, and HORIZON-INFRA-2025-TECH-01. Strong links with the aims, actors, and projects serving the Horizon Europe missions, especially the Climate Adaptation Mission, are encouraged. Synergies with the Common European Data Spaces and the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) are also encouraged.

Aiming to address the possible use of project outcomes in existing or new service offers by the Member States, Associated Countries, or the European Union, such as the relevant Copernicus services.

The call is a HORIZON Research and Innovation Action (HORIZON-RIA) with a HORIZON Lump Sum Grant [HORIZON-AG-LS] type of Model Grant Agreement (MGA). It is a single-stage submission process. The planned opening date is 09 March 2027, and the deadline for submission is 15 June 2027 at 17:00:00 Brussels time.

General conditions for participation include:

Admissibility conditions related to proposal page limits and layout, as described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes and Part B of the Application Form.

Eligibility of countries as described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. Specific provisions may exist for non-EU/non-Associated Countries.

Other eligibility conditions, including restrictions for the protection of European communication networks and the mandatory use of the European Commission’s Destination Earth system. If projects use satellite-based earth observation, positioning, navigation, and/or related timing data and services, they must use Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS.

Financial and operational capacity and exclusion criteria as described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.

Evaluation and award criteria, submission and evaluation processes, and indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement as described in Annex D and Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual.

Legal and financial setup of the grants, with eligible costs taking the form of a lump sum as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021.

Specific conditions as described in the specific topic of the Work Programme.

Application and evaluation forms and model grant agreement (MGA) templates are available in the Submission System. Standard application forms (HE RIA, IA and HE CSA) and evaluation forms will be used with necessary adaptations.

Additional guidance and documents include the HE Programme Guide, HE MGA, Lump Sum MGA, Framework Partnership Agreement FPA, call-specific instructions, detailed budget table (HE LS), information on financial support to third parties (HE), information on clinical studies (HE), guidance on lump sums, HE Main Work Programmes, HE Framework Programme, HE Specific Programme Decision, EU Financial Regulation, decision authorising the use of lump sum contributions, rules for legal entity validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment, EU Grants AGA, Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual, and Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions and Privacy Statement.

The budget overview indicates several topics under the Research Infrastructures 2027 call, each with its own budget, type of action, opening date, deadline, and indicative number of grants. The topic HORIZON-INFRA-2027-TECH-01-02 has a budget of 30,000,000 EUR and aims to award 3 grants with contributions ranging from 7,000,000 to 12,000,000 EUR. The opening date is 09/03/2027 and the deadline is 15/06/2027.

This funding opportunity is designed to foster innovation in climate change adaptation and risk mitigation by leveraging the Destination Earth system and AI technologies. It encourages collaboration among researchers, AI developers, policymakers, and public authorities to create actionable solutions that can be scaled up and integrated into real-world policies and services across Europe. The emphasis on multi-country pilots, data infrastructure development, and sustainable setups underscores the EU's commitment to addressing climate change challenges through advanced research and technological innovation.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types are not explicitly stated, but based on the context, they likely include researchers, expert users, non-expert users, decision-makers, SMEs, startups, AI developers, public sector policy experts, research scientists, and entities from Member States and Associated Countries. The call encourages involvement of SMEs and/or startups, active in AI and/or deep tech and working in close collaboration with scientific research community.

Funding Type: The funding type is a grant, specifically a HORIZON Research and Innovation Action (HORIZON-RIA) with a HORIZON Lump Sum Grant [HORIZON-AG-LS] mechanism. There are also HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions (HORIZON-CSA) and HORIZON Programme Cofund Actions.

Consortium Requirement: The proposals should be co-designed and experimented in at least three Member States and/or Associated Countries in close collaboration between research scientists, AI developers, public sector policy experts and decision-makers, indicating a consortium is required.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility includes Member States and Associated Countries of the European Union. 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 broad, focusing on climate change adaptation and risk mitigation in key socio-environmental and socio-economic sectors. This includes areas such as health, energy, agri-food, mobility, AI, and deep tech. The program also targets research infrastructures and the development of AI-enabled digital twins.

Mentioned Countries: The opportunity mentions Member States and Associated Countries of the European Union.

Project Stage: The project stage is focused on large-scale pilots and demonstrators, implying a stage of development, validation, and demonstration. The projects should deliver actionable and widely tested research-to-action pilot solutions.

Funding Amount: The funding amounts vary depending on the specific topic within the call, ranging from €8,000,000 to €105,000,000 in total budget, with individual contributions ranging from €1,500,000 to €40,000,000 per project.
HORIZON-INFRA-2027-01-EOSC-01 - HORIZON-COFUND: around 40,000,000 EUR
HORIZON-INFRA-2027-01-EOSC-02 - HORIZON-CSA: 2,500,000 to 4,000,000 EUR
HORIZON-INFRA-2027-DEV-01-01 - HORIZON-CSA: 1,500,000 to 3,500,000 EUR
HORIZON-INFRA-2027-DEV-01-02 - HORIZON-RIA: 2,000,000 to 5,000,000 EUR
HORIZON-INFRA-2027-DEV-01-03 - HORIZON-RIA: 3,000,000 to 4,500,000 EUR
HORIZON-INFRA-2027-SERV-01-01 - HORIZON-RIA: around 35,000,000 EUR
HORIZON-INFRA-2027-SERV-01-02 - HORIZON-RIA: around 6,000,000 EUR
HORIZON-INFRA-2027-SERV-01-03 - HORIZON-RIA: around 3,000,000 EUR
HORIZON-INFRA-2027-TECH-01-01 - HORIZON-RIA: 10,000,000 to 15,000,000 EUR
HORIZON-INFRA-2027-TECH-01-02 - HORIZON-RIA: 7,000,000 to 12,000,000 EUR

Application Type: The application type is an open call with a single-stage submission process.

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

Application Stages: The application process involves a single stage.

Success Rates: The success rates are not explicitly mentioned, but the indicative number of grants for each topic provides some insight into the potential success rate.

Co-funding Requirement: The need for co-funding is not explicitly mentioned in the provided text.

Summary:
This Horizon Europe call, Research Infrastructures 2027 (HORIZON-INFRA-2027-01), focuses on "Pioneering Destination Earth for a Sustainable Future: Large-Scale Pilots and Demonstrators." It seeks to fund projects that develop and test research-to-action pilot solutions for complex, cross-sectoral problems related to climate change. The call emphasizes the innovative use of AI, the development of data lab infrastructure, and a multi-country approach with real end-user engagement. Projects should plan, design, and oversee large-scale experimental pilots and demonstrators using Destination Earth capabilities, improve models by enabling coupling of models used in different sectors, contribute to the data infrastructure around Destination Earth for new AI-enabled digital twins, and be co-designed and experimented in at least three Member States and/or Associated Countries. The funding is provided as a lump sum grant, and the application process is a single-stage open call. Collaboration with the Destination Earth implementing entities (ESA, ECMWF, EUMETSAT) and leveraging knowledge from relevant Horizon Europe projects are strongly encouraged. The overall goal is to foster solutions that address clearly specified needs at European, national, regional, and local scales, enhancing resilience, preparedness, and data-driven decision-making in the face of climate change.