Supporting sustainable and smart urban mobility in Europe (CIVITAS)

The opportunity under the Horizon Europe program is identified as HORIZON-CL5-2026-10-D6-07, focusing on promoting sustainable and smart urban mobility across Europe through the CIVITAS initiative. This initiative operates within a framework called Coordination and Support Action (CSA) and provides grant funding categorized as a lump sum.

Eligible applicants include a diverse group of stakeholders such as research organizations, universities, cities, public authorities, companies, and other entities involved in urban mobility. The geographic scope for applicants extends to EU member states and associated countries, with possibilities for some non-EU entities to participate under specific provisions.

The funding amount allocated for this specific topic is €4,000,000, intended for one grant. The application process is single-stage, with submissions accepted from June 4, 2026, until the deadline on October 8, 2026. The funding aims to support activities that enhance collaboration, capacity building, knowledge dissemination, and the deployment of innovative urban mobility solutions rather than direct research.

The call prioritizes urban mobility sectors, including sustainable transport, climate action, and digital transformation. The overarching goal is to address barriers in deploying urban mobility innovations by facilitating stakeholder collaboration, enhancing knowledge transfer, and developing community capacity.

The selected project will focus on valorization and dissemination of existing solutions, establishing capacity-building programs, supporting national networks (CIVINETs), and organizing key community events. Specific outcomes include fostering a vibrant urban mobility community, improving both technical and soft skills for local authorities, and promoting integrated mobility solutions.

In summary, the funding call aims to strengthen the urban mobility ecosystem in Europe by encouraging collaboration, knowledge sharing, and innovative solution deployment. The emphasis is on creating an inclusive approach to urban mobility that aligns with EU climate and inclusivity goals.

This is a Horizon Europe call, specifically HORIZON-CL5-2026-10-D6-07, focusing on supporting sustainable and smart urban mobility in Europe through the CIVITAS initiative. It falls under the BATTERIES and MOBILITY call within the Horizon Europe program. The action type is a HORIZON Coordination and Support Action (HORIZON-CSA), utilizing a HORIZON Lump Sum Grant [HORIZON-AG-LS] Model Grant Agreement (MGA).

The call is forthcoming with a single-stage deadline model. The planned opening date is June 4, 2026, and the deadline for submission is October 8, 2026, at 17:00:00 Brussels time.

The expected outcomes of this call are:

Valorisation, cross-fertilisation, and dissemination of innovative solutions for sustainable urban mobility, derived from EU and national projects via the CIVITAS initiative.
Contribution to the accelerated deployment of innovative urban mobility solutions, enhancing the competitiveness of European urban mobility actors while achieving European mobility policy objectives.
Equipping cities with relevant knowledge and necessary soft and technical skills for the successful deployment of smart and sustainable mobility solutions for both passenger and freight transport.
Maintaining and strengthening a vibrant community of urban innovative mobility stakeholders.

The scope of the call addresses the barriers to deploying innovative urban mobility projects' results through a comprehensive and collaborative approach, aiming to strengthen the European urban mobility innovation ecosystem. It acknowledges that effective urban mobility systems are crucial for competitive cities, especially during rapid digital, green, and social transformations where local and regional authorities have increased responsibilities. The call aims to overcome challenges such as fragmented support, lack of resources for experimentation, insufficient knowledge of research results, and difficulties in knowledge exchange among urban stakeholders.

Key aspects to be addressed include:

Harvesting and spreading innovative urban mobility solutions and accelerating the uptake of related project results by:
Setting up capacity building and a replication program to facilitate twinning, mutual learning, and peer-to-peer exchanges, including cooperation with industry, SMEs, and start-ups, while ensuring feedback to policy.
Optimising the CIVITAS project evaluation framework and supporting its implementation.
Optimising and promoting the CIVITAS website as the primary knowledge and exchange platform using digital tools and structured management for disseminating information on EU urban mobility research and innovation.
Developing and strengthening the urban mobility community in the EU and Associated Countries by:
Facilitating and supporting the Educational and Youth network.
Facilitating and optimising support to national CIVITAS networks (CIVINETS).
Supporting R&I projects’ clustering and the coordination of living lab activities.
Organising the CIVITAS Forum and supporting the organisation of Urban Mobility Days.
Organising the CIVITAS Politicians Exchange Forum under the guidance of the Commission services.
Facilitating exchange between cities, urban public transport authorities, and industry, SMEs, and start-ups.
Enlarging the CIVITAS network.

The call builds upon the CIVITAS initiative, which since 2002 has acted as an open platform for research, uptake of innovative solutions, validation of research results, and exchange of knowledge in urban mobility and transport. The selected project will provide long-term support for R&I urban mobility projects by offering governance and an organisational framework to ensure wide dissemination and take-up of project results.

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, with specific provisions for non-EU/non-Associated Countries as detailed in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.
Other eligible conditions, including the mandatory use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS for projects using satellite-based earth observation, positioning, navigation, and timing data.
Financial and operational capacity and exclusion criteria as described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Evaluation and award criteria, scoring, and thresholds as described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Submission and evaluation processes as described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual.
Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement as described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes.
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 include that no specific conditions are applicable.

Application and evaluation forms, as well as the Model Grant Agreement (MGA), are available in the Submission System. The standard application form is HE CSA, and the standard evaluation form is HE CSA. Guidance is provided in the HE Programme Guide, Lump Sum MGA, and specific call instructions.

Additional documents include:

HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 1. General Introduction
HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 8. Climate, Energy and Mobility
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
Decision authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme
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
Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement

The budget overview for the call in 2026 includes various HORIZON-IA and HORIZON-RIA topics with different budget allocations and indicative numbers of grants.

Partner search announcements can be viewed and edited by LEARs, Account Administrators, or self-registrants on the Funding & Tenders Portal.

The submission system is planned to open on June 4, 2026.

Support resources include the Online Manual, Horizon Europe Programme Guide, Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ, Research Enquiry Service, National Contact Points (NCPs), Enterprise Europe Network, IT Helpdesk, European IPR Helpdesk, CEN-CENELEC Research Helpdesk, ETSI Research Helpdesk, and the European Charter for Researchers.

In summary, this Horizon Europe call aims to foster sustainable and smart urban mobility by supporting the CIVITAS initiative. It seeks to address the fragmentation of support, promote knowledge exchange, and strengthen the urban mobility community through various coordination and support actions. The call encourages collaboration among cities, industry, SMEs, and research institutions to accelerate the deployment of innovative mobility solutions and achieve European mobility policy objectives. The funding mechanism is based on lump sum grants, and detailed guidance is provided through various documents and support services.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types are not explicitly stated, but based on the context, they could include cities, local and regional authorities, research institutions, SMEs, industry, start-ups, educational networks, urban public transport authorities, and other stakeholders involved in urban mobility. The call is open to entities from EU member states and associated countries, and potentially also to entities from non-EU/non-associated countries under specific provisions.

Funding Type: The funding type is a grant, specifically a HORIZON Lump Sum Grant, under the HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions (HORIZON-CSA) framework.

Consortium Requirement: The text does not explicitly state whether a single applicant or a consortium is required. However, the nature of the activities suggests that a consortium is more likely, as it involves coordination and support across various stakeholders and sectors.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility includes EU member states and associated countries. The opportunity also mentions that 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 sector is urban mobility, specifically focusing on sustainable and smart urban mobility solutions, including passenger and freight transport. This encompasses areas such as digital transformation, green mobility, climate-neutrality, and the competitiveness of European cities.

Mentioned Countries: The opportunity explicitly mentions the European Union, EU member states, and associated countries. It also refers to non-EU and non-associated countries that may have specific provisions for funding.

Project Stage: The project stage is focused on the valorisation, cross-fertilisation, and dissemination of existing innovative solutions for sustainable urban mobility. It aims to accelerate the deployment and take-up of research results and innovative solutions that are already developed or in the validation stage.

Funding Amount: The budget for the HORIZON-CL5-2026-10-D6-07 topic is EUR 4,000,000. Other related topics under the same call (BATTERIES and MOBILITY (HORIZON-CL5-2026-10)) have varying budgets, ranging from EUR 4,000,000 to EUR 100,000,000. The indicative number of grants for HORIZON-CL5-2026-10-D6-07 is 1.

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

Nature of Support: The beneficiaries will receive money in the form of a lump sum grant. The support also includes non-monetary services such as capacity building, access to knowledge platforms, networking opportunities, and support for implementing evaluation frameworks.

Application Stages: The application process involves a single stage.

Success Rates: The success rates can be estimated based on the indicative number of grants and the budget allocated to each topic. For the HORIZON-CL5-2026-10-D6-07 topic, with a budget of EUR 4,000,000 and an indicative number of 1 grant, the success rate is likely to be below 10%, given the competitiveness of Horizon Europe calls.

Co-funding Requirement: The text does not explicitly mention a co-funding requirement.

Summary:

This opportunity, HORIZON-CL5-2026-10-D6-07, is a call for proposals under the Horizon Europe program, specifically within the BATTERIES and MOBILITY (HORIZON-CL5-2026-10) call. It aims to support sustainable and smart urban mobility in Europe through a Coordination and Support Action (CSA). The primary goal is to address the barriers to the deployment of innovative urban mobility projects’ results by fostering collaboration, knowledge sharing, and capacity building among European cities and stakeholders.

The selected project will receive a lump sum grant of approximately EUR 4,000,000 to facilitate the valorisation, cross-fertilisation, and dissemination of innovative solutions for sustainable urban mobility, primarily through the CIVITAS initiative. The project is expected to contribute to the accelerated deployment of innovative urban mobility solutions, enhance the competitiveness of European urban mobility actors, equip cities with the necessary knowledge and skills, and maintain a vibrant community of urban mobility stakeholders.

The scope of the action includes harvesting and spreading innovative urban mobility solutions, setting up capacity building and replication programs, optimising the CIVITAS project evaluation framework, promoting the CIVITAS website as a knowledge platform, developing and strengthening the urban mobility community, facilitating educational networks, supporting national CIVITAS networks, supporting R&I projects’ clustering, organising the CIVITAS Forum and Urban Mobility Days, and facilitating exchange between cities, public transport authorities, industry, SMEs, and start-ups.

Eligible applicants may include cities, local and regional authorities, research institutions, SMEs, industry, start-ups, and other stakeholders involved in urban mobility from EU member states and associated countries, as well as potentially non-EU/non-associated countries under specific provisions. The application process is a single-stage call, with a planned opening date of 04 June 2026 and a deadline of 08 October 2026.