European Urban Initiative Calls

European Urban Initiative – Innovative Actions Second Call for Proposals is now open.

EUI has officially launched its second Innovative Actions Call with a budget of €120 million ERDF supporting cities in three thematic areas: ‘Greening Cities’, ‘Sustainable tourism’ and Harnessing talent in shrinking cities’.

Topic 1: Greening cities Under the topic ‘Greening Cities', projects will be funded to experiment and deliver tangible innovative solutions on green infrastructure across European cities, to better address biodiversity, pollution, resource and climate challenges; highly contributing to the green and just transition under the Cohesion policy investments.

Topic 2: Sustainable tourism Under the topic ‘Sustainable Tourism’, projects will be funded to support long-term green and digital transformation and resilience of the tourism ecosystem. For this topic, the aim is primarily to improve conditions for both residents and visitors of the city.

Topic 3: Harnessing talent in shrinking cities Under the topic ‘Harnessing talent in shrinking cities’, particularly in regions identified by the European Commission in the Communication ‘Harnessing talent in Europe’s regions’, is seeking to retain and attract talent.

Each project can receive up to a maximum of €5 million ERDF co-financing and project implementation should take place within a maximum period of 3,5 years.

The European Urban Initiative principles for funded initiatives

1. Innovative

Innovative Actions support pilot projects that have never been tested anywhere else in Europe. Projects should be new, bold, creative and experimental. The proposed project must go beyond the present state-of-the-art and business-as-usual.

2. Of good quality

Projects should meet key quality standards such as clear and logical interrelation of objectives/activities/outputs, evidence of preparatory work, realistic ambitions, effective management structures and procedures, good value for money.

3. Participative

Participation and co-creation with Partners, relevant stakeholders, and target groups, are key for the development and implementation of genuinely innovative and experimental projects.

4. Measurable

Urban authorities should be able to clearly explain what the changes are that they want to achieve in the local context as a result of their projects.

5. Sustainable and scalable

Urban authorities should be able to anticipate and explain how the solution will be sustained and scaled-up once successfully tested through the identification of adequate sources of public and/or private funding.

6. Transferable

Solutions developed in the framework of the projects should be applicable and replicable by other cities across Europe, possibly by making use of the Cohesion policy funding available to them.

European Urban Initiative first call is now closed.

With a budget of €50m, European Urban Initiative calls focus on Innovative Actions in support to New European Bauhaus demonstrators regarding sustainable urban development.

European Urban Initative funded activities provide opportunities for cities as enablers of innovation, to take the risk and turn ambitious and creative ideas into pilot projects to be tested in real urban settings. The call builds on principles of New European Bauhaus (NEB), a creative and interdisciplinary initiative connecting the European Green Deal to our living spaces and experiences to achieve Europe climate-neutral by 2050. 

Explore what other calls the European Urban Initiative are upcoming. 

Up to €5m per project is available. Part of this allocation will support the transfer of innovative solutions to other cities in Europe to have an even bigger societal impact.

The European Urban Initiative principles for funded initiatives

• Innovative Actions: pilot projects never been tested anywhere else in Europe, as an evolutionary approach or as a revolutionary approach
• Participation & co-creation: partners, relevant stakeholders and target groups are key for the development and implementation of innovative and experimental projects
• Robust & measurable methodology: measure expected impacts, with clear and quantified results to capture expected change in the local situation resulting from the project
• Transferable & scalable: project lessons shared to wider policy makers and practitioners, with potential to be scaled and transferred to other urban areas in Europe
• Good quality, justified, realistic, consistent, and coherent: ready to be managed effectively, implemented swiftly, and demonstrate value for money.
• Knowledge and Capacity Building: an environment for cities to ensure easier access to knowledge and share know-how on sustainable urban development, particularly strengthening capacities in designing integrated and participative strategies