Support to awareness raising about the Arctic communities, including Indigenous People

The European Commission (CINEA) has opened call EMFAF-2026 to fund one awareness-raising project supporting Arctic communities, including Indigenous Peoples and youth, with a strong blue economy focus. The total available budget is €300,000, funding up to 80% of eligible costs, and projects should normally run 30 to 36 months. Eligible applicants are legal entities established in EU Member States, Norway or Iceland and must apply as a consortium of at least two independent beneficiaries from different eligible countries with the coordinator established in an EU Member State. Proposals must be submitted electronically via the Funding & Tenders Portal by 20 August 2026 at 17:00 CEST and Part B is limited to 60 pages.

Call at a glance

Essential summary

Call for proposals under the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF) to fund one project that raises awareness of challenges and opportunities for Arctic communities, with focus on Indigenous Peoples and the blue economy, and to strengthen dialogue with policymakers.

Funding available:Total call budget €300000; we expect to fund 1 project; funding rate up to 80% of eligible costs ¹.

1. 1Who can apply: legal entities (public or private bodies) established in eligible countries (EU Member States including Arctic OCTs, Norway, Iceland).
2. 2Consortium rules: minimum 2 independent beneficiaries from 2 different eligible countries; coordinator must be established in an EU Member State.
3. 3Project scope: awareness raising, promotion of Indigenous and local knowledge, support to youth and entrepreneurship in blue economy, policy-relevant outputs, peer learning and events.
4. 4Project duration: normally 30 to 36 months.
5. 5Deadline: single-stage submission by 20 August 2026, 17:00 CET (Brussels).

Applications must be submitted electronically via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal. Coordinator and beneficiaries must be registered in the Participant Register and validated before signature; proposals limited to 60 pages (Part B). For help contact CINEA-EMFAF-CALLS@ec.europa.eu.

Footnotes

1. 1Call document and topic details: Support to awareness raising about the Arctic communities, including Indigenous People EMFAF-2026 available on the Funding & Tenders Portal Topic page.

Opportunity snapshot

Call identifier:EMFAF-2026. Call type: Call for Proposals — EMFAF Project Grants (Action Grant, budget-based mixed actual cost grant). Managing authority: European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA). Call opening: 19 May 2026. Submission deadline: 20 August 2026, 17:00 CET. Expected number of projects funded: 1. Available budget: €300 000. Topic objective: increase visibility and awareness of challenges and contributions of Arctic communities, including Indigenous Peoples and youth, with a strong blue economy focus, and to promote their meaningful involvement in policymaking and transnational dialogue.

Call documentation and reference:Primary call document, application templates, Model Grant Agreement (EMFAF MGA), the Online Manual and related reference documents are available on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal. Full call document and detailed rules are published in the EMFAF call fiche and associated pdf call document Call document (EMFAF-2026-PIA-ARCTIC) ¹.

Detailed eligibility and administrative requirements

Legal status and location:Eligible applicants are legal entities (public or private bodies) established in eligible countries. Eligible geographical scope focuses on the European Arctic: EU Member States (including Arctic overseas countries and territories), Arctic EEA non-EU countries Norway and Iceland, and Arctic OCTs. Natural persons are not eligible except self-employed sole traders (where legal personality is not separate). International organisations are eligible. Entities must register in the Participant Register and be validated by the Central Validation Service prior to submission.

Targeted organisations:Arctic-related organisations as defined in the call: organisations representing Arctic municipalities; Arctic youth organisations; Arctic Indigenous Peoples’ organisations; Arctic economic organisations; Arctic political organisations; Arctic civil society organisations. Other entities may participate as associated partners, subcontractors or third parties giving in-kind contributions but must respect the roles and validation rules described in the call documentation.

Consortium composition and coordinator requirements

Submission must be by a consortium of at least two independent legal entities established in two different eligible countries. The coordinator must be established in an EU Member State. Affiliated entities may participate under conditions described in the call. The consortium must be able to demonstrate operational and financial capacity; public bodies and international organisations are exempted from some checks.

Scope, objectives, eligible activities and expected impact

Overall objective:foster inclusive maritime and coastal governance by promoting dialogue and cooperation with Arctic communities (including Indigenous Peoples) and to increase visibility of their challenges, perspectives and contributions, with a strong focus on blue economy activities and sustainable, inclusive local development.

1. 1Priority themes: 1) Competitiveness and entrepreneurship for sustainable development and circular economy in the Arctic with emphasis on small and Indigenous businesses and youth economic initiatives, focusing on blue economy activities. 2) Promoting the value of local and Indigenous knowledge to advance innovation, circular economy practices and sustainable development across the Arctic.
2. 2Eligible activities (non-exhaustive): business support and coaching (particularly for youth and Indigenous people), awareness-raising campaigns, communication and dissemination, support to prepare targeted regional/local funding proposals, peer-learning and structured dialogues (workshops, stakeholder fora), policy‑oriented research and production of policy briefs and knowledge products, showcasing community-led sustainable blue economy initiatives, and activities enhancing recognition and integration of Indigenous and local knowledge into policy-making.
3. 3Expected outcomes: increased awareness (events, publications, stakeholder reach), strengthened dialogue and cooperation between Arctic communities and policymakers (number and quality of structured dialogues/workshops), improved integration of Indigenous/local knowledge into policy outputs (co-created recommendations, policy briefs), enhanced uptake of sustainable blue economy opportunities and increased Arctic youth participation in governance and advocacy.

Project geographical focus and waters:Projects should focus on the European Arctic (Arctic EU Member States, Arctic EEA countries, Arctic OCTs). Activities must relate to the Arctic Ocean and the northern part of the Baltic Sea (Arctic–Baltic nexus). Activities may extend into neighbouring waters if necessary for implementation.

Financial conditions, eligible costs and award

Form of funding and funding rate:Budget-based mixed actual cost grant combining reimbursement of eligible actual costs with unit cost and flat-rate elements where applicable. Funding rate: 80% of eligible costs (to be fixed in the Grant Agreement). Maximum available call budget: €300 000; the call expects to fund one project. Grants must not produce a profit; revenues must be declared and any profit deducted from the final grant.

Eligible cost categories:A. Personnel costs (employees, natural persons under direct contract, seconded persons; SME owners and natural person beneficiaries may be charged using unit costs where applicable). B. Subcontracting (limited and must follow procurement rules and best value for money). C. Purchase costs: travel and subsistence (unit costs for travel/accommodation/subsistence per Decision C(2021)35 or actual costs in line with usual practices), equipment (depreciation), other goods, works and services. D. Other cost categories (financial support to third parties is NOT allowed for this call). E. Indirect costs: flat rate 7% of eligible direct costs (A–D except volunteers and exempted categories).

Specific financial features:VAT that is non-deductible/non-refundable is eligible except VAT paid by public bodies acting as public authority (not eligible). In-kind contributions free of charge are permitted but cost-neutral (cannot be declared as eligible costs). Kick-off meeting costs limited to travel for two persons to Brussels are eligible if meeting occurs after project start date. Project websites via participant websites are eligible; standalone project websites are not.

Available budget, project duration and deliverables

Available budget:€300 000 for the call. Project budget requested cannot exceed the available call budget; the granting authority reserves the right not to award all available funds. Project duration: normally 30 to 36 months (extensions possible via amendment, if justified). Mandatory deliverables: policy brief at the end of each reporting period and a project factsheet at the beginning of the project; milestones and deliverables will be set in Annex 1 of the Grant Agreement and managed through the Portal.

Application process, templates and submission

Submission procedure:single-stage electronic submission via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal Electronic Submission System. Paper submissions are not accepted. Applicants must prepare and submit Part A (administrative forms) directly online and upload Part B (technical description) as PDF using the Portal template. Mandatory annexes and supporting documents must be uploaded in the Submission System slots.

Application templates and format:Standard EMFAF Application Form consists of: Part A — online administrative information including participants, summary budget and declarations; Part B — technical description (download mandatory Word template from Submission System, complete and re-upload as PDF). Part B page limit: maximum 60 pages for Part B (evaluators will not consider additional pages). Required annex templates and guidance (detailed budget table, MGA, Online Manual, AGA Annotated Grant Agreement) are available on the Portal Reference Documents. Standard formatting rules apply (A4, min font size Arial 9, margins at least 15 mm).

1. 1Application structure: Part A (administrative) + Part B (technical) + annexes.
2. 2Part B recommended structure: Project summary, Relevance (background, needs, EU added value), Quality (methodology, consortium, management), Impact (dissemination, sustainability), Work plan (work packages, deliverables, timeline), Risks and ethics/security if applicable, Declarations.
3. 3Annexes: detailed budget table (will be requested at grant preparation if selected), CVs (if required), declaration of honour at grant preparation, legal entity validation documents via Participant Register.

Submission notes:proposals must be complete and submitted before the deadline. Applicants must confirm the mandate to act for all applicants. All participants must be registered in the Participant Register and validated. Ensure readability and accessibility of uploaded documents. Use the Portal topic page to access submission button and to find call updates and Topic Q&A.

Evaluation, award criteria and process

Evaluation procedure:single-stage submission + one-step evaluation by an evaluation committee. Admissibility and eligibility checks are followed by evaluation against award criteria. Successful proposals are invited to grant preparation; invitation is not a formal commitment to award until legal checks are completed (legal entity validation, financial capacity, exclusion checks).

1. 1Award criteria and scoring (total maximum 30 points): Relevance (10 points), Quality (10 points), Impact (10 points). Individual thresholds: 6/10 per criterion. Overall threshold: 21/30. Proposals must pass individual and overall thresholds to be considered for funding.
2. 2Ranking and tie-break: prioritisation of projects addressing uncovered themes/priorities, then by relevance score and impact score, and finally portfolio balance and synergies.
3. 3Evaluation timeline (indicative): Evaluation September 2026; result information October 2026; Grant Agreement signature January 2027.

Number of evaluation stages:The formal application process includes initial admissibility and eligibility checks, expert evaluation of Part B, panel review/ranking and then grant preparation (legal and financial checks and possible project fine-tuning). For applicants, this is experienced as two main stages: evaluation (technical evaluation and ranking) and grant preparation (legal/financial validation and finalisation).

Operational, ethical and administrative conditions

Operational capacity:Applicants must demonstrate sufficient operational capacity, experience in projects of comparable size and nature, and provide information on key staff and consortium composition. Financial capacity: Applicants must have stable and sufficient resources to implement the project; financial checks are carried out unless exempted (public bodies, international organisations or low requested amounts under threshold). Exclusion: EU exclusion decisions and other exclusion grounds (bankruptcy, fraud, grave professional misconduct, etc.) bar participation.

Ethics and security:Projects must comply with highest ethical standards, applicable EU, international and national law, and ensure environmental protection, animal welfare and human health protection where relevant. Specific ethics or security rules may be included in Annex 5 of the Grant Agreement and the Call Document. Projects involving ethics-sensitive activities may be subject to additional rules.

Administrative and financial implementation after award

Form of Grant Agreement:EMFAF Model Grant Agreement (EMFAF MGA) will be used. The grant is budget-based and may include unit cost elements and flat-rate elements as specified in the Grant Agreement and Annex 2/2a. Prefinancing (typically up to 40% of maximum grant) is foreseen; prefinancing guarantee may be required depending on financial capacity assessment. Payments to the coordinator; distribution to beneficiaries without undue delay. Reporting: continuous reporting through Portal tools and periodic reports (technical and financial) as indicated in Data Sheet. Certificates (CFS) and audits: may be required depending on final grant amount and thresholds in the Grant Agreement.

Reporting and payments schedule (indicative / standard):Submission deadline: 20 August 2026. Evaluation: September 2026. Information to applicants: October 2026. Grant preparation and signature: January 2027. Prefinancing: normally within 30 days from entry into force/receipt of prefinancing guarantee (if required). Interim payments and final payment modalities and deadlines will be set in the Grant Agreement (Data Sheet Point 4).

Key risks, restrictions and points to note

1. 1Financial support to third parties: explicitly NOT allowed under this call (D.1 is listed but call conditions state financial support to third parties is not allowed).
2. 2No paper submissions: all proposals must be submitted via the Portal Submission System.
3. 3Language: proposals may be submitted in any official EU language but summary must be in English; use of English for full proposal is strongly recommended.
4. 4Page limits and formatting: Part B max 60 pages; follow template and formatting rules (A4, Arial 9 minimum, margins).
5. 5Procurement/subcontracting: must follow best-value-for-money principles and national procurement rules if contracting authority; subcontracting should normally be a limited part of total eligible costs and must be justified if >30%.
6. 6Double funding: strictly prohibited. The action may not receive duplicative EU funding for the same costs and activities.

Structured extraction of eligibility and administrative facts

Practical help and contacts

Submission and technical questions:use the Portal Online Manual, Portal FAQs and the IT Helpdesk for access and technical support. For call-specific questions contact CINEA at CINEA-EMFAF-CALLS@ec.europa.eu. For legal, financial and grant preparation questions the granting authority will contact successful applicants during grant preparation. Topic page and Portal Topic Q&A should be consulted regularly for updates.

Important operational reminders:register organisations early to obtain PIC codes and LEAR appointments; allow time to validate legal entities; do not wait until the last day to submit; all partners must be validated before grant signature; ensure compliance with ethics, data protection and exclusion rules; consortium agreement recommended.

Summary: What is this opportunity about and how to approach it

This EMFAF call finances a single project to raise awareness about Arctic communities, including Indigenous Peoples, and to strengthen their meaningful participation in maritime, coastal and ocean governance with a strong blue economy and circular economy emphasis. It targets community-level capacity building, youth engagement, promotion of Indigenous and local knowledge, competitiveness and entrepreneurship support, policy-relevant research and structured dialogues between communities and policymakers. Eligible applicants are legal entities established in the European Arctic area (EU Member States including Arctic OCTs, Norway, Iceland), participating as a consortium of at least two independent entities with an EU-based coordinator. The call supports implementation-type projects (30–36 months), with a total available budget of €300 000 and an expected single grant award. Applicants must submit a single-stage application via the Funding & Tenders Portal using the EMFAF Part A and Part B templates, respect the Part B 60-page limit, and meet eligibility and award-criteria thresholds (Relevance, Quality, Impact). Financial rules follow the EMFAF Model Grant Agreement: budget-based mixed grant with an 80% funding rate, eligible cost categories defined in the MGA, indirect costs reimbursed at a 7% flat rate. The selection process includes admissibility/eligibility checks, expert evaluation and ranking; successful proposals enter grant preparation where legal and financial validation is completed prior to award. Applicants should emphasise demonstrable links to Arctic communities, clear participatory approaches, concrete deliverables (policy briefs, factsheet, structured dialogues), synergies with existing EU Arctic initiatives, capacity building for Indigenous and youth-led activities, realistic budgets and a credible plan for sustainability and policy uptake. For application support, use the Portal guidance documents and contact CINEA-EMFAF-CALLS@ec.europa.eu for call-specific enquiries.

Footnotes

1. 1Call fiche and full call document EMFAF-2026 and templates are available on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal: ec.europa.eu

Key Opportunity Details

The European Commission has launched call EMFAF-2026 under the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF) to support awareness-raising initiatives focused on Arctic communities, including Indigenous Peoples and youth. The call aims to promote dialogue between Arctic communities and policymakers while raising awareness of challenges related to the rapidly changing Arctic environment and blue economy development ¹.

Total Call Budget:€300,000 available for one project, with a maximum EU contribution of €300,000 per project ².

Funding Rate:Up to 80% of total eligible costs, with the grant awarded potentially lower than the amount requested ².

Submission Deadline:20 August 2026 at 17:00 CEST (Brussels time), with proposals submitted electronically via the Funding & Tenders Portal ³.

Who Should Apply

Applicants must be legal entities (public or private bodies) established in EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories), Norway, or Iceland. Crucially, beneficiaries must be Arctic-related organisations representing Arctic municipalities, youth organisations, Indigenous Peoples' organisations, economic organisations, political organisations, or civil society organisations ⁴.

1. 1Consortium must include at least two independent beneficiaries from two different eligible countries
2. 2The coordinator must be established in an EU Member State
3. 3Natural persons are not eligible except for self-employed persons (sole traders)
4. 4Public bodies and international organisations are exempt from financial capacity checks

Project Scope and Priorities

The project must have a strong blue economy component and address two key themes:competitiveness and entrepreneurship for sustainable development in the Arctic (focusing on small/Indigenous businesses and youth), and promoting the value of local/Indigenous knowledge in advancing innovation and circular economy practices ³.

Funded Activities Include:Business support services (coaching, investment planning), awareness campaigns about funding opportunities, tailored proposal development for regional/local funding, advocacy of Indigenous/youth perspectives (fairs, exhibitions, social media), policy-oriented research producing briefs and recommendations, peer-learning initiatives, and structured dialogues/workshops with policymakers ³.

Project Requirements and Timeline

Projects should normally range between 30 and 36 months, with extensions possible through amendment if duly justified. The call opens on 19 May 2026, with evaluation in September 2026, results in October 2026, and Grant Agreement signature expected in January 2027 ³.

1. 1Mandatory deliverables: policy brief at end of each reporting period and project factsheet at project start
2. 2Maximum 60 pages for Part B (technical description) of the application
3. 3Consortium agreement is required for practical and legal reasons
4. 4No financial support to third parties allowed under this call
5. 5Indirect costs calculated at 7% flat rate of eligible direct costs

Evaluation Criteria

Proposals are evaluated on three criteria with maximum 10 points each:Relevance (clarity, alignment with call objectives, European added value), Quality (methodology, consortium setup, cost effectiveness, risk management), and Impact (contribution to expected impacts, dissemination plan, sustainability). Individual thresholds are 6/10 per criterion, with an overall threshold of 21 points required for funding consideration ³.

Footnotes

1. 1Official call details available at CINEA Call Page
2. 2Budget and funding rate confirmed in Call Fiche PDF
3. 3Timeline, priorities, and activities detailed in Full Call Document
4. 4Eligibility criteria and consortium requirements specified in Euro-Access Summary