Towards the water infrastructures of the future

Overview

The Horizon Europe grant opportunity labeled HORIZON-CL6-2026-02-CLIMATE-02, titled "Towards the water infrastructures of the future," aims to improve European water infrastructure in response to climate change and emerging pollutants. It is part of the Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Action, with a planned opening date of January 14, 2026, and a deadline of April 14, 2026. The total funding available is €10 million, which will be awarded as two grants of €5 million each. This initiative encourages collaboration among diverse stakeholders such as universities, SMEs, water utilities, and energy companies, promoting interdisciplinary partnerships.

The eligible applicant types include universities, research organizations, SMEs, public and private entities involved in water management. The funding type is a lump sum grant, allowing for predetermined financial amounts rather than reimbursed costs, which simplifies budgeting. A consortium of multiple partners is expected, indicating a preference for diversified approaches to address complex challenges in water infrastructure.

Geographic eligibility follows Horizon Europe's standard, covering EU member states and associated countries, with the potential for participation from non-EU countries under specific provisions. The project's primary focus is on the water sector, targeting innovative solutions for drinking water supply, wastewater management, and climate resilience. The initiative emphasizes the need for advanced digital technologies, nature-based solutions, and cybersecurity measures within water systems.

Projects are expected to focus on developing, testing, and validating innovative tools and approaches for modernizing water infrastructure. Key areas of investigation include integrating modular processes, digital sensors, AI, and effective data-sharing frameworks to optimize operations and enhance resilience against various threats. The call also encourages exploration of blockchain technology for data integrity and novel financing schemes.

The application process is single-stage, allowing applicants to submit complete proposals for evaluation against established criteria. While specific success rates are not detailed, historical data suggests a competitive selection process typical of Horizon Europe grants. No explicit co-funding requirement is stated, indicating that the lump sum grants should be sufficient for project implementation.

In summary, the call seeks to transform water infrastructures to be flexible, resilient, and secure in facing future challenges. It supports innovation that enhances water systems' ability to adapt to climate variability and emerging contaminants while ensuring the sustainability of water resources through collaboration and technological advancement. Successful proposals will contribute to the overarching goals of the European Green Deal and Sustainable Development Goals, emphasizing sustainable practices and international cooperation to protect water resources for future generations.

Detail

This is a Horizon Europe call, specifically HORIZON-CL6-2026-02-CLIMATE-02, titled "Towards the water infrastructures of the future". It is a HORIZON Research and Innovation Action (RIA) with a single stage and a lump sum grant. The planned opening date is 14 January 2026, and the deadline is 14 April 2026, at 17:00:00 Brussels time. The project aims to address the lack of sufficient and continuous investment in water infrastructures across Europe, which are often inflexible, lack appropriate monitoring, and struggle with pollution load variation and new contaminants. The goal is to develop and test tools to ensure resilient water and sanitation provision for the future.

The expected outcomes of the projects are that water infrastructures should be flexible enough to face changes in hydraulic flow and pollution load from emerging or yet unknown contaminants to ensure that access to water and sanitation is protected on a long-term, recovery of safe secondary resources is secured and greenhouse gas emissions are reduced and ecosystems are protected. Water infrastructures should have integrated digital solutions (e.g., smart sensors, IoT, digital twins and artificial intelligence) as well as citizen science to optimally operate in changing conditions from climate or pollution pressures, facilitate appropriate water pricing based on reliable monitoring of water consumption, favour recovery of material and limit greenhouse gas emissions. Water infrastructures should have incorporated the necessary tools and protection to avoid cyber and/or terrorist attacks to ensure their resilience against malicious behaviour. New or renewed water infrastructures are designed following ‘good practices’ to maximise system resilience, build redundancy, and ensure ecological and social sustainability. Water infrastructures are better designed thanks to improved predictions, robust assessment of impacts and implementation of appropriate mitigation measures due to advances on the understanding of how, when and where floods and droughts occur.

The scope of the projects should include developing and integrating modular processes and tools to improve the adaptability of drinking water and wastewater infrastructures to emerging pollutions and effects of climate change. Integrating Nature-based Solutions infrastructures to reduce the carbon footprint of water infrastructure, better manage water flows and pollutants entering sewers, and support biodiversity. Enhancing the use of digital solutions, new monitoring techniques, Earth observation tools, digital twin technology and artificial intelligence, including for predictive analytics, within drinking water and wastewater infrastructures to optimise their operation, anticipate infrastructure challenges and pollution and improve their efficiency and resilience, addressing leakages, infiltration, energy consumption, recovery of materials and carbon footprint. Developing robust data sharing framework to promote secure collaboration among stakeholders and identify interdependencies with other critical infrastructures in a resilience-based approach. Developing tools, approaches and procedures to protect both the physical and digital water infrastructures against malicious attacks.

Proposals are encouraged to explore the use of blockchain or other distributed ledger technologies to ensure data integrity, enable smart-contract–based service automation, and support novel financing or certification schemes for future water infrastructures. The projects should target a large variety of stakeholders ranging from universities, SMEs, water utilities, energy utilities, etc.

Projects should contribute to the further development of existing observing platforms and initiatives, including the evolution of Copernicus services and the future EU Digital Twin on freshwater and Destination Earth. They should also contribute to defining the bases for a FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Re-usable) sharing of data in the water sector in collaboration with the co-funded partnership Water Security for the Planet (Water4All). All in-situ data collected should follow INSPIRE principles and be available through open access repositories (e.g. Copernicus).

Proposals should build on the results of previous projects, especially those related to the cluster ICT4Water, and foster complementarities and avoid overlapping with projects funded under the Mission Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030 and the EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change. Collaboration with projects from Horizon Europe Cluster 3 in relation to security is also encouraged. The JRC may contribute with technical analysis and research on digital technologies for water management and monitoring, including real-world test cases. International cooperation is strongly encouraged.

The admissibility conditions, eligible countries, and other eligible conditions are detailed in the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes. The Joint Research Centre (JRC) may participate as a member of the consortium with zero funding or as an associated partner. 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 are described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes. Evaluation and award criteria, scoring, and thresholds are described in Annex D. Submission and evaluation processes are described in Annex F and the Online Manual. The indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement is also described in Annex F. Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum, as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021. The legal and financial setup of the grants is described in Annex G.

Application form templates are available in the Submission System, and standard evaluation form templates will be used with necessary adaptations. Guidance is provided in the HE Programme Guide, and Model Grant Agreements (MGA) are available, including a Lump Sum MGA. Call-specific instructions and a detailed budget table are also provided. Additional documents include the HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027, the HE Programme Guide, the HE Framework Programme 2021/695, the HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764, the EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509, the Decision authorising the use of lump sum contributions, Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment, the EU Grants AGA, the Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual, and the Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions and Privacy Statement.

The budget overview lists several topics, including HORIZON-CL6-2026-02-CLIMATE-01 with a budget of 6,000,000 EUR and an indicative number of 1 grant, and HORIZON-CL6-2026-02-CLIMATE-02 with a budget of 10,000,000 EUR and an indicative number of 2 grants. The opening date for these calls is 2026-01-14, and the deadline is 2026-04-14.

Partner search announcements can be viewed and edited by LEARs, Account Administrators, or self-registrants. The submission system is planned to open on the date stated in the topic header. General FAQs and support are available through 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 Partner Search.

In summary, this Horizon Europe call focuses on enhancing the resilience and sustainability of European water infrastructures by integrating innovative technologies, nature-based solutions, and robust security measures. It encourages collaboration among diverse stakeholders and international cooperation to address the challenges posed by climate change, pollution, and malicious attacks, ensuring long-term access to safe water and sanitation for all.

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Breakdown

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types for this opportunity include universities, SMEs, water utilities, and energy utilities. The call is open to a large variety of stakeholders.

Funding Type: The funding type is primarily a grant, specifically a HORIZON Research and Innovation Action (HORIZON-RIA) or HORIZON Innovation Action (HORIZON-IA) or HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions (HORIZON-CSA) under the Horizon Europe Programme. Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum.

Consortium Requirement: A consortium of multiple applicants is required, as the call encourages a large variety of stakeholders. The Joint Research Centre (JRC) may participate as a member of the consortium.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility includes EU and non-EU/non-Associated Countries. 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 the water sector, focusing on water infrastructures for drinking water supply and wastewater collection and treatment. It also targets climate, digital technologies, security, and biodiversity. The call also touches upon energy, agriculture/food (Farm to Fork strategy), and communities.

Mentioned Countries: The opportunity focuses on Europe, with specific mention of EU and non-EU/non-Associated Countries.

Project Stage: The project stage appears to be focused on development and testing of tools, integration of solutions, enhancement of digital solutions, and development of frameworks and procedures, suggesting a focus on development, demonstration, and validation stages.

Funding Amount: The funding amounts vary depending on the specific topic within the call, ranging from €2,000,000 to €14,000,000. Specific amounts for each topic are:
HORIZON-CL6-2026-02-CLIMATE-01: €6,000,000
HORIZON-CL6-2026-02-CLIMATE-02: €10,000,000
HORIZON-CL6-2026-02-COMMUNITIES-01: €11,800,000
HORIZON-CL6-2026-02-FARM2FORK-01: €11,800,000
HORIZON-CL6-2026-02-FARM2FORK-02: €12,000,000
HORIZON-CL6-2026-02-FARM2FORK-03: €12,000,000
HORIZON-CL6-2026-02-FARM2FORK-04: €12,000,000
HORIZON-CL6-2026-02-FARM2FORK-05: €12,000,000
HORIZON-CL6-2026-02-FARM2FORK-06: €12,000,000
HORIZON-CL6-2026-02-FARM2FORK-07: €3,000,000
HORIZON-CL6-2026-02-FARM2FORK-08: €14,000,000
HORIZON-CL6-2026-02-FARM2FORK-09: €11,800,000
HORIZON-CL6-2026-02-FARM2FORK-10: €2,000,000
HORIZON-CL6-2026-02-FARM2FORK-11: €11,000,000
HORIZON-CL6-2026-02-FARM2FORK-12: €2,000,000
HORIZON-CL6-2026-02-FARM2FORK-13: €12,000,000
HORIZON-CL6-2026-02-FARM2FORK-14: €11,000,000

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

Nature of Support: 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 is provided for each topic, allowing for an estimation based on the number of expected applications.

Co-funding Requirement: The need for co-funding is not explicitly mentioned, but it is common in Horizon Europe projects, so it should be verified in the specific call documents.

This Horizon Europe call focuses on enhancing the resilience and sustainability of water infrastructures across Europe. It addresses the challenges posed by climate change, emerging pollutants, and security threats by encouraging the development and integration of innovative solutions. These solutions include modular processes, nature-based approaches, digital technologies like smart sensors and AI, and robust data-sharing frameworks. The call aims to foster collaboration among diverse stakeholders, such as universities, SMEs, and water and energy utilities, to ensure the long-term protection of water resources, the recovery of valuable materials, and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. By promoting international cooperation and building on previous research efforts, this initiative seeks to transform water infrastructures into resilient, efficient, and ecologically sustainable systems that can withstand future challenges. The funding is provided as a lump sum, and the application process consists of a single stage, with the submission system opening on January 14, 2026, and closing on April 14, 2026.

Short Summary

Impact
The funding aims to enhance the resilience and sustainability of European water infrastructures to address climate change, emerging pollutants, and security threats, ensuring long-term access to safe water and sanitation.
Applicant
Applicants should possess expertise in water management, digital technologies, climate adaptation, and interdisciplinary collaboration, including stakeholders from universities, SMEs, and utilities.
Developments
The funding will support innovative research and development solutions for modernizing water infrastructure, focusing on climate adaptation, digital integration, and cybersecurity resilience.
Applicant Type
This funding is designed for universities, SMEs, water utilities, energy utilities, and other legal entities involved in water management and infrastructure.
Consortium
A consortium of multiple applicants is required, encouraging collaboration among diverse stakeholders.
Funding Amount
The total funding available is €10,000,000, with individual project grants of €5,000,000 each for two expected projects.
Countries
The funding targets the broader European research and innovation community, including EU member states and associated countries.
Industry
This funding targets the water infrastructure sector, focusing on climate adaptation, digital technologies, and environmental resilience.

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