Digital Innovation Hubs help companies take advantage of digital opportunities to improve their processes and products with a view to enhance their competitiveness. EU funding will be made available for hubs that are already (or will be) supported by their Member States (or regions), in order to increase the impact of public funding. The Digital Europe Programme will increase the capacities of the selected hubs to cover activities with a clear European added value, based on networking the hubs and promoting the transfer of expertise.
S+T+ARTS is driven by the idea that science and technology combined with an artistic viewpoint delivers valuable perspectives for research and business. Recent STARTS projects address the use of AI-systems and High-Performance computing for use cases such as media, disinformation, XR environments, climate change, food security, urban development, factory automation etc. through a number of dedicated sub-projects. In light of the continuing digitalisation of society, STARTS provides a holistic and human-centred approach.
Through its different pillars, S+T+ARTS offers:
Culture Moves Europe, is the new permanent mobility scheme funded by the Creative Europe Programme. It aims to foster sustainable and inclusive mobility in the cultural sector and will give particular attention to emerging artists. The scheme follows the successful I-Portunus pilot project and will award around 7000 mobility grants between October 2022 and June 2025.
The New European Bauhaus initiative aims to develop a creative and interdisciplinary movement that connects the European Green Deal to the everyday life of the EU citizens. The initiative is being co-designed through the direct involvement of citizens, experts, businesses, and Institutions and it aims to:
AMIF has a specific focus on early-integration measures, with a possibility for higher than standard co-financing rate for local and regional authorities, and civil society. The new programme predominantly focuses on early stages of integration and the overall aims are the following:
The Social Investment and Skills window facilitates: development of skills and key competences; the matching, deployment and higher skills utilisation through education, training, including on-the-job training and related activities. The window also supports projects involving social innovation, health services, ageing and long-term care, access to prevention, innovative treatments and e-health options, inclusion and accessibility, and cultural and creative activities with a social goal.
The Invest EU SME window facilitates access to and availability of finance primarily for SMEs and small mid-cap companies, including innovative ones and those operating in the cultural and creative sectors, as well as for small mid-cap companies. In addition, it offers capital support to SMEs that were not in difficulty in State aid terms already at the end of 2019, but since then face significant risks due to the crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Projects promote mobility activities for:
- Learners: pupils, students, trainees, apprentices, young people, adult learners;
- Staff: professors, teachers, trainers, youth workers, and people working in organisations active in the education, training and youth fields;
Projects mainly aim to support learners in the acquisition of knowledge, skills and attitudes, including language competences.
The LIFE Clean Energy Transition sub-programme supports the transition towards an energy-efficient, renewable energy-based, climate-neutral and -resilient economy. It provides funding for coordination and support actions that have high EU added-value, which are targeted at breaking market barriers that hamper the socio-economic transition to sustainable energy. Projects will typically engage multiple small and medium-sized stakeholders, multiple actors including local and regional public authorities and non-profit organisations, as well as consumers.
The LIFE programme co-finances projects in the areas of: • urban adaptation and land-use planning; • the resilience of infrastructure; • the sustainable management of water in drought-prone areas; • flood and coastal management • resilience of the agricultural, forestry and tourism sectors; • support to the EU's outermost regions in their preparedness for extreme weather events, notably in coastal areas. The programme provides action grants for best practice, pilot and demonstration projects that contribute to increase resilience to climate change.
A Solidarity Project is a non-profit solidarity activity initiated, developed and implemented by young people themselves for a period from 2 to 12 months. A project involves a group of minimum of five young people to focus on a clearly identified topic which they will explore through daily activities that involve all the members of the group. Solidarity Projects address key challenges within the communities, where relevant including those identified jointly in the border regions and it should also provide clear European added value.
Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs is a cross-border exchange programme, allowing aspiring young entrepreneurs to work with and learn from more experienced entrepreneurs running small businesses in other countries.
This funding opportunity supports projects within the cultural and creative sectors. A broad range of activities and initiatives, and a wide range of applicants can be supported. Support is for projects involving transnational cultural cooperation, and which contribute to strengthening the creation and circulation of European artworks and artists transnationally. There is also a focus on funding projects which support the European cultural and creative sectors to nurture talent to innovate, to prosper and to generate jobs and growth.
Every year, the European Commission implements Pilot Projects (PP) and Preparatory Actions (PA) at the request of the European Parliament. The list changes on an annual basis. These actions sometimes target the news media and creative sectors.
The following actions are expected to be launched in 2024 for support in 2025:
A Solidarity Project is a non-profit solidarity activity initiated, developed and implemented by young people themselves for a period from 2 to 12 months. A project involves a group of minimum of five young people to focus on a clearly identified topic which they will explore through daily activities that involve all the members of the group. Solidarity Projects address key challenges within the communities, where relevant including those identified jointly in the border regions and it should also provide clear European added value.
The “ACP-EU towards a viable cultural industry” Programme, aims to boost the potential of the cultural and creative sector and its contribution to the social and economic development of the African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) countries. The programme aims to encourage entrepreneurship and cultural innovation, create new jobs and increase artists’ and cultural professionals’ revenues.
The EIT’s Knowledge and Innovation Communities are partnerships that bring together businesses, research centres and universities and which aim to strengthen their cooperation and create favourable environments for creative thought processes and innovation to flourish. The communities contribute to developing innovative products and services, starting new companies and training a new generation of entrepreneurs. The EIT Culture and Creativity community will deliver innovative solutions to help the sectors and industries become stronger and more resilient.
The Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL) is a new EU funding programme focused on bringing digital technology to businesses, citizens and public administrations. It provides strategic funding to answer the many challenges we face today with regards to digital technologies and infrastructures. The programme aims to accelerate the economic recovery and shape the digital transformation of Europe’s society and economy, bringing benefits to everyone, but in particular to small and medium-sized enterprises.
Investment activities involve research, innovation, demonstration and digital activities including investments related to launching new products and technologies in the market. They also include organisational and process innovation, including new and innovative business models in different areas. Those areas may include sectors covering energy, energy intensive industry, environment, blue economy, maritime, transport, health, life sciences, biotechnology, agri-food, defence, space and cultural and creative sectors, among others.
The activities under the ‘Widening participation and strengthening the European Research Area’ sub-programme are aimed at promoting the dissemination and exploitation of research results by reinforcing the interaction between education and research. Cultural and creative stakeholders can be involved as partners in research projects aimed at strengthening regional innovation excellence, involving ecosystems of different actors that can spread knowledge and widen participation in the research and innovation process.
Cluster 5, ‘Climate, Energy and Mobility’ supports the implementation of the Paris Agreement and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Cultural and creative stakeholders can become involved in:
Cluster 3 projects 'Civil Security for Society', will support the implementation of EU policy priorities relating to security, including cybersecurity, and disaster risk reduction and resilience.
Cultural and creative stakeholders can become involved in:
• Research projects contributing to the fight against trafficking in cultural goods;
• The assessment of disaster risks and vulnerabilities in cultural heritage sites;
• Large cultural events.
Cluster 1, 'Health' aims to creating a stronger, more inclusive and democratic European society. It focuses on the development of key digital emerging technologies, sectors and value chains.
Calls for proposals under the destination ‘Staying healthy in a rapidly changing society’ can involve cultural stakeholders as partners contributing to promote healthier lifestyles and behaviours, and can support effective solutions for health promotion and disease prevention.
Cluster 2, ‘Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society’ aims to meet EU goals and priorities linked to: • Enhancing democratic governance and citizens participation; • Safeguarding and promoting cultural heritage; and • Responding to and shaping social, economic, technological and cultural transformations. Proposals can undertake innovative research on: • Democracy and Governance; • European Cultural Heritage and the Cultural and Creative Industries; • Social and Economic Transformations.
This strand supports projects that focus on protecting, promoting and raising awareness on rights by providing financial support to civil society organisations active at local, regional and transnational level in promoting and cultivating these rights, thereby also strengthening the protection and promotion of Union values and the respect for the rule of law and contributing to the construction of a more democratic Union, democratic dialogue, transparency and good governance.
FARNET is the community of people implementing Community-Led Local Development (CLLD) under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF). This community brings together Fisheries Local Action Groups (FLAGs), managing authorities, citizens and experts from across the EU, to work on the sustainable development of fisheries and coastal areas. In the past, projects related to arts and crafts, as well as cultural heritage have often been supported by this initiative.
The Just Transition Mechanism contributes to enabling regions and people to address the social, employment, economic and environmental impacts of the transition towards the Union’s 2030 targets for energy and climate and a climate-neutral economy of the Union by 2050, based on the Paris Agreement.
The Fund is a key tool to support the territories most affected by the transition towards climate neutrality providing them with tailored support.
The European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) is Europe’s main instrument for investing in people.
With a budget of almost € 99.3 billion for the period 2021-2027, the ESF+ will continue to provide an important contribution to the EU’s employment, social, education and skills policies, including structural reforms in these areas.
ERDF is part of the EU Cohesion policy and it aims to strengthen the economic, social and territorial cohesion in the European Union by correcting imbalances between its regions, by supporting economic recovery, job creation, competitiveness, innovation, and sustainability. It delivers on the Union’s political priorities, especially the green and digital transition.
Within ERDF, the Interreg programmes support cross-border (Interreg A and IPA), transnational (Interreg B), interregional (Interreg C) and outermost regions’ (Interreg D) cooperation.
The EAFRD facilitates investments in rural infrastructure. Many rural areas in the Union suffer from structural problems such as lack of attractive employment opportunities, skill shortages, underinvestment in connectivity, infrastructures and essential services, as well as youth drain. The support for cultural projects is not clearly mentioned in the programme, however the EAFRD facilitates investments in rural infrastructures which does not exclude cultural infrastructures.
The overall objective is to mitigate the socio-economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on youth, mainly through capacity building and specific measures supporting the recovery of the youth sector, as well as fostering solidarity and inclusiveness.
These projects create networks promoting regional partnerships, enabling young people across Europe to set up joint projects, organise exchanges and promote training (e.g. for youth leaders) through both physical and online activities.
The Alliances strengthen Europe’s innovation capacity by boosting innovation through cooperation and flow of knowledge among higher education, vocational education and training (both initial and continuous), and more broadly involving a socio-economic context, including research.
Programme guide available here.
Teacher Academies support European partnerships of teacher education and training providers, public authorities and stakeholders.
The Academies develop a European and international outlook in teacher education.
They can be innovative collaborations to develop and test initial teacher education and continuous professional development strategies. Academies can support the formation of networks and communities of practice, provide learning opportunities to teachers, support innovation, and inform the development of national and European teacher education policies.
This action supports the establishment and development of European platforms of Centres of Vocational Excellence, contributing to regional development, innovation, and smart specialisation strategies, as well as to international collaborative platforms.
The platforms are open for the involvement of countries with well-developed vocational excellence systems, as well as those in the process of developing similar approaches.
The platforms are aimed at exploring the full potential of VET institutions to play a proactive role in support of growth and innovation.
These are international cooperation partnerships between organisations active in the field of youth in EU Member States, third countries associated to the programme, and third countries not associated to the programme.
Projects support the international exchanges, cooperation and policy dialogue in the field of youth and non-formal learning, to enhance the sustainable socio-economic development and well-being of young people.
They will:
• Provide young people with opportunities to engage with, and learn to participate in civic society.
Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters (EMJM) are high-level, integrated transnational study programmes at masters level. They enhance the attractiveness and excellence of European higher education in the world and attract talent to Europe.
Small-scale Partnerships aim to widen access to the Erasmus+ programme for small-scale actors and individuals who are hard to reach in the fields of school education, adult education, vocational education and training and youth.
Grants are for low levels of finance, for projects of short duration.
There are simple administrative requirements Grants are particularly relevant for newcomers to Erasmus+, particularly for organisations with smaller organisational capacity.
Cooperation Partnerships allow organisations to
- increase the quality and relevance of their activities
- develop and reinforce their networks of partners
- increase their capacity to operate jointly at a transnational level
- boost the internationalisation of their activities
- exchange and develop new practices and ideas
Projects aim to develop innovative practices, and implement joint initiatives promoting cooperation, along with peer learning and exchanges of experience at the European level.
Virtual exchanges are online people-to-people activities.
They promote intercultural dialogue and soft skills development amongst individuals from third countries not associated to the programme, EU Member States or third countries associated to the programme.
They take place in small groups and are always moderated by a trained facilitator.
Programme guide available here.
Projects implement non-formal learning activities that promote youth participation in Europe's democratic life.
Projects will aim to:
Volunteering Teams in high priority areas are large scale, high impact projects. They involve young people from at least two different countries and will be short-term interventions that address common European challenges in policy areas defined each year at the EU level.
Applications can:
Volunteering projects offer opportunities for young people to take part in solidarity activities that address the needs of their local communities.
Volunteering can take place in the country of a volunteer’s residence, or in another country (cross-border). Projects can focus on a wide range of areas, such as environmental protection, climate change mitigation, or greater social inclusion.
Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument’s (NDICI) thematic programmes support actions linked to the implementation of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals at global level. Priority themes include: human rights and democracy, civil society, stability and peace, as well as on global challenges such as health, education and training, women and children, work, social protection, culture, migration and climate change.
The Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI) funds the EU’s external action, allowing the EU to effectively uphold and promote its values and interests worldwide.
NDICI’s geographical programmes promote cooperation with partner countries in the following regions:
Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) is a regional network, a one-stop-shop for SMEs seeking to improve their competitiveness. To do this, EEN provides SMEs with business support and advises them on opportunities on the internal market. EEN cooperates with regional initiatives such as Smart Specialisation Platforms, Digital Innovation Hubs, Knowledge and Innovation Communities and Key Enabling Technology Centres (KETs).
The Creative Innovation Lab will incentivise players from all cultural and creative sectors to design and test innovative digital solutions with potential positive long-term impact on multiple cultural and creative sectors.
The Lab will facilitate the creation of innovative solutions (e.g. tools, models and methodologies) that can apply to the audiovisual sector and at least another creative and/or cultural sector. Solutions should be easily replicable and have potential for market penetration.