Calls for Funding

Check the source pages of each of these calls for more information. You can also ask the National Hub in your country to check what funding and matchmaking opportunities might be applicable to your project(idea).

startup and scalup strategy call for evidence announcement poster with text only on blue backround

Commission seeks feedback on the future EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy | Deadline 17 March

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The strategy will improve conditions for innovative startups and scaleups, enabling faster and simpler growth within the Single Market. It will address challenges such as access to finance, markets and talent, as well as regulatory and bureaucratic hurdles and market fragmentation. It will also facilitate access to state-of-the-art infrastructure, knowledge and services.

The EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy is a flagship action of the Competitiveness Compass, introduced in January 2025. It will lead to tangible measures, including the future European Innovation Act and a new EU-wide legal status, known as the ‘28th regime’, that will provide a harmonised set of rules to help innovative companies grow.

It would be particularly useful to have blue economy startups and scaleups contribute to this exercise, which is relevant for highlighting:

  • specific barriers and obstacles, including difficulties in accessing private capital, markets, and talent, as well as
  • regulatory and bureaucratic hurdles and market fragmentation in the EU.

The call for evidence is available on the Commission’s ‘Have your Say’ portal in all official EU languages.

Submissions are open until 17 March.

Interreg NEXT MED 2nd Call for Proposals on Green Transition Projects | Deadline 15 April 2025

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The Interreg NEXT MED Programme is pleased to announce the official launch of the Call for Green Transition Projects, providing €83.7 million in European Union’s funding to address climate challenges across the Mediterranean region.

The call aims to support innovative and collaborative solutions to address crucial climate challenges across the Mediterranean region. The deadline for submitting project proposals is 15th of April 2025 (1pm, CET).

Building on the success of the first call for proposals, which saw 630 projects submitted, this second call aims to drive scalable, innovative, and collaborative solutions, reflecting a collective ambition of the 15 participating countries for a low-carbon, climate-resilient Mediterranean. It addresses the region’s pressing climate challenges, as it is warming 20% faster than the global average.

The call focuses on key environmental sectors such as energy efficiency, circular economy, climate adaptation and disaster resilience, and sustainable water management. It also expands to other critical areas, including SMEs’ decarbonization, green innovation, skills for climate resilience, health system adaptation to climate change, and inclusive governance for effective climate policies.

Geographical coverage of the call extends to over 100 territories from 7 European Union and 8 partner countries, namely Cyprus, Greece, France, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Spain and Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Tunisia and Türkiye. To harness the benefits of transnational cooperation for accelerating the Mediterranean region’s green transition, each project must involve a partnership of at least three organizations from three different eligible countries, with at least one partner from a Mediterranean Partner Country.

The call is open to a wide range of stakeholders, including national and regional public authorities, municipalities, non-profit and civil society organizations, universities, research institutions, private companies, and other relevant entities.

The financial dimension of proposals ranges from €700,000 to €3.5 million, depending on the project type – green transformation or eco-youth. These latest, granted €16 million (corresponding to 20% of the budget of the call for proposals), aim to empower youth in the green transition through projects designed  by young people for young poeple and involving youth-led/oriented organizations as key project partners.

The Programmme contribution covers 89% of the total eligible costs, requiring project co-financing of the remaining 11%.

More information:  visit the call website page on the Interreg NEXT MED website

 

Innovation Fund 2024 (IF24) Call | Deadline 20 February 2025

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On 3 December 2024,  the Innovation Fund 2024 (IF24) Call was launched.

This Call aims to provide significant financial support to advance decarbonization technologies across various sectors, including maritime transport and inland navigation. The fund focuses on innovative solutions to help achieve climate neutrality by 2050, with dedicated allocations for different sectors. Total amount: €4.6 billion, including €200 million specifically allocated to support hydrogen projects in the maritime sector.

The Innovation Fund is a key funding instrument for delivering the EU’s economy-wide commitments under the Paris Agreement and the climate and energy priorities put forward in the REPowerEU Plan, the Hydrogen Bank, the Green Deal Industrial Plan and the Net-Zero Industry Act.

Project promoters for the net-zero technologies call have until 24 April 2025, 17:00 (CET), to apply to via the EU Funding and Tenders Portal. As regards the renewable hydrogen auction, bidders have until 20 February 2025 to apply via the EU Funding and Tenders Portal. Successful bidders will sign Grant Agreements within nine months after the call closure.

Find more information: here.

Join the EU Preparatory Action: Innovation for Place-Based Transformation | Deadline 16 December 2024

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The European Commission has launched the EU Preparatory Action (2024-2026): Innovation for Place-Based Transformation, an initiative designed to empower territories to support policy practitioners in tackling urgent sustainability challenges. By fostering transformative innovation approaches, this action promotes capacity building, experimentation, and policy development to drive systemic change across EU regions and beyond.

Key objectives include:

  • Raising Awareness and understanding of transformative innovation policies.
  • Building Capacity of territories for systemic change through targeted training.
  • Innovating to address complex challenges with collaborative approaches.
  • Shaping the Future by contributing to a sustainable, future-ready EU policy framework.

Who can apply?
Public sector authorities from EU Member States, Candidate Countries for accession to the EU and Horizon Europe Associated Countries are eligible. During the registration process, applicants will choose a focus area from these seven challenges: achieving circularity, climate adaptation, improving healthcare, increasing global food security, mastering the digital transformation, reducing reliance on fossil fuels, and New European Bauhaus.

The application deadline is 16 December 2024

 

Program Highlights
Participants will engage in three stages:

  1.  Awareness-Raising (December 2024): Informative sessions with real-world case studies of innovative policies.
  2.  Capacity-Building (March 2025): Advanced training for policymakers.
  3.  Experimentation Journeys (April 2025): Peer-learning and expert guidance on transformative innovation policies.

How to Apply

EMFAF: Scientific advice for fisheries | Deadline 20 February 2025

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€ 2.6 million of EU funding to improve the scientific knowledge for the EU fisheries

The European Commission launched a new call for proposals to improve scientific knowledge to strengthen the science-basis of management decisions under the Common Fisheries Policy. The call is funded under the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF) Work programme 2024-2025 with a budget of EUR 2.6 million.

The call will support projects that aim to strengthen the scientific knowledge needed to support the design of science-based policies for fisheries conservation and management.

The actions can include (not limited to):

  • the collection of samples or data in the field, and processing of samples that fall outside the scope of national data collection programmes,
  • harmonisation or improved protocols,
  • trials, meta-analysis, modelling, developing methodologies for stock evaluations,
  • data validation or data preparation to feed into models,
  • expanding current databases,
  • link existing initiatives and develop networking activities between EU scientists and/or with the EU fishing industry.

The funded projects are expected to improve the knowledge available to the fisheries scientific communities in the European Union and at global level, which will in turn have a direct influence on improving the science base of the conservation and management measures designed in the context of the Common Fisheries Policy.

More information available on the Funding & Tenders portal from the European Commission

ProBleu, SHORE and BlueLightS: Three Funding Calls for Primary and Secondary Schools | Deadline differs per call: 15 – 21 November

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In September 2024, three sister projects under the EU Mission “Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030” — BlueLightS, SHORE, and ProBleu — will launch funding calls for schools involved with or interested in joining the Network of European Blue Schools (NEBS). These funding opportunities aim to enhance water and ocean literacy while supporting the Mission’s objectives and expanding the NEBS’s reach.

This is a fantastic opportunity for schools to secure funding for projects to enhance water and ocean literacy.

The three projects, under the EU Mission ‘Restore our ocean and waters by 2030”, are committed to increasing ocean literacy and fostering environmental stewardship in school communities. They have opened their calls with different timelines:

  • BlueLightS: Grants up to 3,000€. Opens on 15 September, closes on 15 November, with results announced on 20 January.
    BlueLightS Emphasises resilience and sustainability, BlueLightS encourages innovative approaches, requiring funded schools to participate in experimentation activities and Community of Practice meetings.
  • SHORE: Grants up to 10,000€. Opens on 18 September, closes on 20 November, with results announced in January.
    SHORE is focused on specific regions, SHORE supports projects in the Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, Baltic Sea, Danube River, and Rhine River, with the backing of Country Hubs for regional impact.
  • ProBleu: Three category grants: 2,500, 5,000 and 7,500€. Opens on 20 September, closes on 21 November 23:59h CET, with results announced on 24 January.
    ProBleu offers support for both marine and freshwater initiatives, encouraging schools to submit citizen science projects.

Visit their respective webpages for details about the calls. Below an overview for the timeline related to each call

 

blue schools funding calls 2024 indicitative calendar

Islands Fund call for proposal 2024 | Deadline 12 November 2024

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The non-profit endowment fund Blue has partnered with the Sustainable Small Islands Organisation, (SMILO), to support the Islands Fund, a fund that supports community-led solutions for small sustainable islands. The fund finances innovative, concrete field operations that advance island development while strengthening resilient marine ecosystems.

This call is open to local organisations working on islands engaged in SMILO’s labelling process or active members of SMILO islands network (valid membership).

The concrete solutions that will be supported will address one of the following themes:
• Sustainable tourism
• Biodiversity conservation and restoration in protected areas (existing or to be created), in view of favouring MPAs (Marine Protected Areas)

Grant amount
Islands certified or in the process of certification up to €15.000
Members of the network up to €7.000


Applications are open until November 12, 2024!

For more information visit the call webpage


Special thanks to Conservatoire du littoral , Agence Française de Développement and Fonds français pour l’environnement mondial (FFEM) for supporting this initiative!

EMFAF: Regional flagships projects supporting sustainable blue economy in EU sea basins – Smart Specialisation, as well Regenerative Ocean Farming and Algae Innovation | Deadline 18 February 2025

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The European Commission has launched a new call for proposals funded under the European Maritime Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF).

With EUR 5.7 million, the call for proposals seeks to fund regional flagships projects supporting sustainable blue economy in EU sea basins for Smart Specialisation, as well Regenerative Ocean Farming and Algae Innovation.

This call for proposals covers two topics that aim to support the development of a sustainable blue economy in the EU:

  1. Maritime regional cooperation fostering Smart Specialisation and Innovation in the Sustainable Blue Economy (Topic 1)
    This topic aims to support and animate the Smart Specialisation (S3) thematic platform for sustainable blue economy. Projects will carry out activities to set up and strengthen strategic interregional partnerships that develop and implement highly innovative solutions addressing priorities in the EU sustainable blue economy.
    The targeted blue economy sectors are the following: fisheries, aquaculture, marine renewable energy, blue biotechnology, coastal and maritime tourism.
    Geographical scope of activities: Black Sea, the Atlantic and the Western Mediterranean Sea basins as well as the EU Outermost regions marine areas.
  1. Demonstrating feasibility and environmental benefits of regenerative ocean farming and boosting algae innovation (Topic 2)
    This topic aims to prove the feasibility and viability of setting up and operating ocean farms across various EU marine regions.
    Projects should measure and quantify environmental benefits of regenerative farming of either local seaweed species or seaweed in combination with shellfish and spur algae innovation by supporting its development and bringing to market new algae-based products and services.

Geographical scope of activities: Black Sea, Baltic Sea, North Sea, the Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea basins as well as the EU Outermost regions marine areas.

More information: call webpage

 

CIHEAM Youth Innovation Award for Green and Blue Transition in the Mediterranean : Deadline 15 August 2024

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Deadline: 15 August 2024
Budget:  winner: 10.000 € / one-year scholarship for a master’s degree in open innovation and youth entrepreneurship at CIHEAM Bari; and in the form of an internship in one of the partner companies.
Information: Check CIHAEM website

 

The CIHEAM launched the Youth Innovation Award in 2022 to reward innovative solutions, designed and implemented by young people, to accelerate green and blue transition processes towards more sustainable, inclusive and equitable food systems in the Mediterranean (SFS Med).

The 2024 edition is launched with the support of three partners who share common objectives and a common vision for the Mediterranean, namely, the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), the Mediterranean Universities Union (UNIMED) and the Union of Mediterranean Confederations of Enterprises (BusinessMed).

The “CIHEAM Youth Innovation Award for Green and Blue Transition in the Mediterranean” will reward an innovative solution (scientific or entrepreneurial product/service) at least in the pilot phase, developed by a Mediterranean young woman or man aged under 39 years and implemented in a country of the region. The innovation must demonstrate its ability to contribute to the environmental, social and economic sustainability of Mediterranean food systems.

The selected awardee will receive a financial grant of 10.000 €, a CIHEAM medal and a Certificate. Other recognitions will also be awarded in the form of a one-year scholarship for a master’s degree in open innovation and youth entrepreneurship at CIHEAM Bari; and in the form of an internship in one of the partner companies.

The Award ceremony will take place on the occasion of a CIHEAM special session held during the ECOMONDO – The Green Technology Expo, one of the most important fairs in the world dedicated to green and circular economy hosted in Rimini, Italy, on 5-8 November, 2024.

The CIHEAM launched the Youth Innovation Award in 2022 to reward innovative solutions, designed and implemented by young people, to accelerate green and blue transition processes towards more sustainable, inclusive and equitable food systems in the Mediterranean (SFS Med).

Demonstrations of innovative floating wind concepts | Deadline: 4 February 2025

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Deadline: 4 February 2025
Budget:  Total €30 M
Countries: European/ All WestMED countries

 

The overall aim is to accelerate the cost-effective construction and deployment of floating wind farms, facilitating their rapid and sustainable deployment across Europe and lower their overall costs.

The transition of the energy system will rely on reducing the overall energy demand and making the energy supply side climate neutral, in current and future climate conditions. R&I actions will help to make the energy supply side cleaner, more secure, and competitive by boosting cost performance and reliability of a broad portfolio of renewable energy solutions, in line with societal needs and preferences. Furthermore, R&I activities will underpin the modernisation of the energy networks to support energy system integration, including the progressive electrification of demand side sectors (buildings, mobility, industry) and integration of other climate neutral, renewable energy carriers, such as clean hydrogen.

Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

  • Increased knowledge about design, construction, assembly and operation and maintenance of floating wind farms.
  • Improved overall constructability, reliability, installability, operability and maintainability of floating offshore wind systems.
  • Demonstrated efficient, low-cost and sustainable emerging technologies for floating wind turbines; reduction of the LCoE.
  • Reinforced European offshore wind turbine value chain and skills.
  • Data for future optimisation of industry scale commissioning of the floater, mooring and anchor system.

All information to apply can be found here!