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  1. An institution, body, office or agency established by or based on the Treaty on European Union and the Treaties establishing the European Communities.

    All education and training facilities for people of different age groups.

    An intergovernmental organization having legal personality under public international law or a specialized agency established by such an international organization. An international organization, the majority of whose members are Member States or Associated Countries and whose main objective is to promote scientific and technological cooperation in Europe, is an International Organization of European Interest.

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  1. Governance, partnership: Projects aimed at increasing the application of multilevel and transnational or cross-border governance, designing and testing appropriate governance structures and mechanisms. Also cooperation between public institutions on any theme.

    Innovation capacity and awareness-raising: Actions that increase a person’s or organisation’s capacity for innovation (not innovation as such), and that establish the capacity to diffuse and apply innovation; projects that stimulate innovation in different areas and innovation capacities; strengthening and empowering of innovation networks.

    Institutional cooperation and cooperation networks: Projects working on the improvement of institutional cross-border co-operation and capacities, on renewing and simplifying administrative management through long term cooperation between institutions (e.g. Euregion), on establishing and sharing regional knowledge and intercultural understanding and cohesion. It also deals with cooperations between universities, health care facilities, schools and sports organisations, as well as with management and capacity building.

    Activities focussing on agricultural products, organic farming, horticulture, as well as forest management and wood products; furthermore the development of the food sector, food chains, organic food production, and seafood products and any topics related to animals and fishing.

    Agriculture and fisheries and forestry: Projects focussing on agricultural products (i.e. fruits, meat, olives, etc.), organic farming, horticulture, as well as forest management and wood products. Also the development of the agro-food sector, food chains, organic food production, and seafood products. Any topics related to animals (i.e. health, management) and fishing (i.e. sustainable fishery, aquaculture).

    Soil and air quality: Projects that deal with any topic against soil and air pollution, except water pollution, for example, reduction of soil and air contamination, pollution-management systems, but also prevention and eradication of soil erosion, new ways of improving air quality (also indoors) and soil/air knowledge in general.

    Climate change and biodiversity projects assisting mitigation and adaption to climate change and environmental impacts of climate change. Development of low carbon technologies and strategies, reduction of CO2 emissions from all sectors. Promotion of biodiversity, new instruments to enhance biodiversity and natural protection.

    Soil and air quality projects that deal with any topic against soil and air pollution, except water pollution, for example, reduction of soil and air contamination, pollution-management systems, but also prevention and eradication of soil erosion, new ways of improving air quality (also indoors) and soil/air knowledge in general.

    Water management projects about management and distribution of drinking water, integrated sustainable water management, monitoring systems for water supply and improving drinking water quality; also water treatment (wastewater), in particular, innovative technologies to improve wastewater, treatments in the purification of industrial and domestic wastewater and water reuse policies. Waterways, lakes and rivers: This deals with any topics on waterways, lakes and rivers, from improving water quality, protecting and developing of ecosystems or sustainable wetland management.

    Activities that protect, promote and enhance cultural and natural heritage, increase the attractiveness through preservation and valorisation of common cultural and natural heritage in a sustainable manner, and improve and develop cultural and natural heritage objects, services and products. Cultural heritage management, art and culture, (maritime) heritage routes, access to cultural and natural heritage. Also all topics on cultural services such as festivals, concerts, art workshops.

    Cultural heritage and arts projects that protect, promote and enhance cultural and natural heritage, increase the attractiveness through preservation and valorisation of common cultural and natural heritage in a sustainable manner, and improve and develop cultural and natural heritage objects, services and products. Cultural heritage management, art and culture, (maritime) heritage routes, access to cultural and natural heritage. Also all topics on cultural services such as festivals, concerts, art workshops.

    Tourism projects dealing with the promotion of natural assets, and the protection and development of natural heritage, as well as increasing the touristic attractiveness through the better use of natural, cultural and historical heritage. Also projects about improved tourist services/products, development of ecotourism models, tourism development strategies.

    Sustainable management of natural resources projects focussing on the protection, promotion and valorization, and sustainable management and conservation of natural areas (habitats, geo parks, protected areas, etc.). Also projects focussing on preserving and enhancing cultural and natural heritage and landscape, as well as protecting the marine environment.

    Projects on waste management (innovative services and strategies), ecological waste treatment, treatment techniques/systems; waste disposal and recycling (improvement of recycling, innovative recycling technologies, recovery of organic waste, repair & re-use centres and networks); also prevention of pollution and pollution control (ecological and circular economy, marine littering, etc.).

    Labour market and employment: creating employment opportunities and/or optimising jobs, academic (un)employment and job mobility, workforce attraction and improvement of employment conditions for different groups.

    SME and entrepreneurship: strengthening SME capacities, boosting entrepreneurial activities in different sectors and for different groups, supporting social entrepreneurship, creating business support/advisory systems for start-ups/spin-offs/incubators, improving the competitiveness of SMEs, and promoting new business processes.

    Community integration and common identity projects that build identity, create a more cohesive society, promote positive relations through an increased provision of shared spaces and services.

    Demographic change and immigration is about projects tackling major societal challenges like demographic change in different areas and migration, in particular, aging society (active aging, best agers, silver economy strategies) and related new public services (adaptation of key services and infrastructure), social and spatial segregation, and brain drain. Also all topics on migration (policy tools, strategic planning, integration).

    All projects where ICT has a significant role, including tailor-made ICT solutions in different fields, as well as digital innovation hubs, open data, Internet of Things; ICT access and connecting (remote) areas with digital infrastructure and services; services and applications for citizens (e-health, e-government, e-learning, e-inclusion, etc.); services and applications for companies (e-commerce, networking, digital transformation, etc.).

    This is about the mitigation and management of risks and disasters, and the anticipation and response capacity towards the actors regarding specific risks and management of natural disasters, for example, prevention of flood and drought hazards, forest fire, strong weather conditions, etc.. It is also about risk assessment and safety.

    Education and training projects on expanding educational opportunities, reducing barriers in the field of education, improving higher education and lifelong learning, training and labour mobility, educational networks, higher vocational education, common learning programmes.

    Topics on energy management, energy-saving methods, evaluating energy efficiency measurements, energy rehabilitation/efficiency in buildings / public infrastructure, promotion of energy efficiency, cooperation among experienced energy efficiency firms, institutions and local administrations, co-generation.

    Projects focussing on wind, solar, biomass, hydroelectric, geothermal and other renewable energy, increasing the production of sustainable renewable energy and improving research capacities in biomass. Also projects focussing on storage and management of renewable energy, new technologies, sustainable regional bioenergy policies and financial Instruments for investments on renewable energy.

    Social projects concerning people with disabilities and excluded groups; enhancement of the capacity of children, young people, women and elderly; creation of infrastructure to improve access for disabled people, integration of socially vulnerable people; innovate in the care of victims of gender violence, social inclusion of women, etc.

    This deals with the development of health and social services and improved accessibility and efficiency for different groups (elderly, children, etc.). It is also about new healthcare models and medical diagnosis and treatments (dementia, cancer, diabetes, etc.), hospitals, care management, and rare diseases, as well as improving wellbeing and promoting sports.

    Projects about (organised) crime, efficient and secure borders, such as enhancing the effectiveness of the police in the prevention of drug crimes, the development of safety services, or tackling security and organised crime issues.

    Activities related to:

    • Transport and mobility covering all sorts of transport (incl. urban transport) and mobility.
    • Improving transport connections dealing with traffic and/or transport connections, rehabiliation/modernisation, better connectivity, improving accessibility/connections, but also public transport.
    • Multimodal transport and logistics and freight transport focusing on using different means of transport, developing multimodal connections, optimising intermodal transport chains; offering multimodal logistics solutions and providing access to clean, efficient and multimodal transport corridors and hubs; establishing cooperation among logistic centres and developing multimodal mobility strategies.

    Activities related to:

    • urban development, such as planning and design of cities and urban areas, urban renewal, urban-rural links (climate, sustainable mobility, water efficiency, participation, sustainable land use, smart cities, public urban areas, regeneration)
    • regional planning and development, such as the implementation of regional development policies/instruments and programmes, sustainable land use management plans, integrated regional action plans, spatial planning, and marine protected area management.
    • rural and peripheral development, referring to remote, sparsely populated areas, rural community development, and rural economics, in particular access to remote areas and policies for rural areas.
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Call key data

European Urban Initiative - Innovative Actions - 3rd Call

Funding Program

European Urban Initiative - Innovative Actions

Call number

EUI-IA-2023-03

deadlines

Opening
06.05.2024

Deadline
14.10.2024 14:00

Funding rate

80 %

Call budget

€ 90,000,000.00

Estimated EU contribution per project

max. € 5,000,000.00 Co-funding

Link to the call

www.urban-initiative.eu

Link to the submission

connect.urban-initiative.eu

Call content

short description

The third EUI-Innovative Actions (EUI-IA) Call for Proposals is launched now and has an allocated indicative budget of EUR 90 million ERDF. For the third Call for Proposals, applicants can submit project proposals focussing on one of the two topics: Energy transition and Technology in cities.

Call objectives

Energy Transition

Under the topic ‘Energy transition’, the EUI aims at supporting the testing of transferable and scalable innovative solutions in real-life settings for economically viable, smarter and more integrated local energy networks, zero carbon and demand driven while empowering citizens and stakeholders to accelerate the transition.

The topic ‘Energy transition’ contributes to and has interconnections with a number of EU policies and initiatives such as the EU Green Deal, REPowerEU Plan, EU Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change, EU’s Strategic Energy Technology Plan, EU Zero Pollution Action Plan, New European Bauhaus Initiative, EU Renovation Wave Strategy, Affordable Housing Initiative, New European Mobility Framework, EU Missions on Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities and Adaptation to Climate Change, European Partnership Driving Urban Transitions of Horizon Europe, EU Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, and Intelligent Cities Challenge.

It also builds on the achievements from the Urban agenda for the EU thematic partnership on ‘Energy transition’ and the actions developed for better regulation, funding and knowledge in the area.

The European Commission aims at reaching a balanced portfolio of projects meeting the highest quality standards while reflecting the geographical, spatial and demographic diversities of European cities. Project proposals are expected to be highly experimental, consequently not likely to be funded by traditional or mainstream sources of funding.

Project proposals on the ‘Energy transition’ topic should not be elaborated in isolation from medium to long term action aimed at tackling in a holistic way the socio-economic and environmental challenges of the energy transition and are expected to be embedded into existing strategic and systematic approaches towards greening and/or climate neutrality and resilience of a city. Such approaches may, for example, include Sustainable Urban Development Strategies of Cohesion policy, Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans (SECAPs) developed under the EU Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs), Local Green Deals of the Intelligent City Challenge or Climate City Contracts prepared by the cities involved in or adhered to the EU Mission on Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities. Such an embedding in relevant urban strategies and plans will be weighted in project proposals’ Strategic Assessment.

Technology in Cities

Cohesion funds contribute to the development of an inclusive digital society where citizens, research organisations, businesses and public administrations take full advantage of the opportunities that digitalisation offers. Effective e-government at national, regional and local level involves developing tools as well as rethinking organisation and processes, in order to deliver public services more effectively, easily, quickly and at a lower cost. In particular, digital and telecommunication technologies can be used to enhance traditional networks and services for the benefit of local communities through developing projects such as smart cities and villages.

Special attention is given by Cohesion policy to tackling environmental and climate challenges, in particular the transition towards a climate-neutral economy by 2050, to harnessing the potential of digital technologies for innovation purposes, and to support the development of functional urban areas.

Cohesion policy has been contributing to Europe’s efforts to deploy digital technology to reach growth and sustainability goals for over a decade. For the 2021-2027 period, Cohesion policy has planned more than EUR 40 billion of investments in digitisation through the 2021-2027 programmes funded by ERDF, ESF+, the Cohesion Fund, Interreg and the Just Transition Fund.

Under the topic ‘Technology in cities’ the EUI aims at supporting the testing of innovative solutions powered by new technologies in real life settings for better services to citizens and/or for boosting local authorities’ capacities to offer these services, via experimentations that could be replicated at a wider scale with the help of the Cohesion policy investments.

The topic ‘Technology in the cities’ contributes to and has links with a number of EU policies and initiatives such as the EU Green Deal, EU fit for the Digital Age, EU Mission on Climate-neutral and Smart Cities, EU Security Union Strategy, EU Cybersecurity Strategy, New European Bauhaus Initiative, Harnessing Talent in Europe’s Regions, European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing.

It also builds on the achievements from the Urban agenda for the EU thematic Partnership on “Digital transition” and the actions developed for better regulation, funding and knowledge in the area.

The European Commission aims at reaching a balanced portfolio of projects meeting the highest quality standards while reflecting the geographical, spatial and demographic diversities of European cities. Project proposals are expected to be highly experimental, consequently not likely to be funded by traditional or mainstream sources of funding.

Local authorities should focus on finding new place-based, citizen-centric solutions that address the community needs and respond to economic, social and environmental local challenges, while ensuring data privacy and security. These technologies used in urban context will need to work together seamlessly and be inclusive to benefit all citizens.

Issues of public control and ownership of local data accumulated via new technologies should be carefully and transparently assessed, particularly in cases where services are externalised to third parties that could potentially misuse such information. Applications created for the benefits of the community should be free, open source and user-friendly. Technologies in themselves are neutral – but the way they are managed will determine the real impacts on city life.

Project proposals on the ‘Technology in cities’ topic should therefore not be elaborated in isolation from medium to longer term goals of applicant cities, as expressed for instance, in Sustainable Urban development strategies of Cohesion policy or any other city-level strategic document. Such an embedding in relevant urban strategies and plans will be weighted in project proposals’ Strategic Assessment.

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Expected effects and impacts

Energy Transition

Cohesion Policy Targets:

  • Specific objective 2.1 for a greener Europe by “promoting energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions”,
  • Specific objective 2.2 for a greener Europe by “promoting renewable energy in accordance with Directive (EU) 2018/2001, including the sustainability criteria set out therein”,
  • Specific objective 2.3 for a greener Europe by “developing smart energy systems, grids and storage outside the Trans-European Energy Network (TEN-E)”,
  • Specific objective 2.6 for a greener Europe by “promoting the transition to a circular and resource efficient economy”,
  • Specific objective 2.8 for a greener Europe by “promoting sustainable multimodal urban mobility, as part of transition to a net zero carbon economy”,
  • Specific objective 5.1 for a Europe closer to citizens by “fostering the integrated and inclusive social, economic and environmental development, culture, natural heritage, sustainable tourism and security in urban areas”.

Technology in Cities

Cohesion Policy Targets:

  • Specific objective 1.1 for a more competitive and smarter Europe by “developing and enhancing research and innovation capacities and the uptake of advanced technologies”.
  • Specific objective 1.2 for a more competitive and smarter Europe by “reaping the benefits of digitisation for citizens, companies, research organisations and public authorities”.
  • Specific objective 1.4 for a more competitive and smarter Europe by “developing skills for smart specialisation, industrial transition and entrepreneurship”.
  • Specific objective 1.5 for a more competitive and smarter Europe by “enhancing digital connectivity”.
  • Specific objective 2.4 for a greener Europe by “promoting climate change adaptation and disaster risk prevention and resilience, taking into account eco-system based approaches”.
  • Specific objective 4.1 for a more social and inclusive Europe by “enhancing the effectiveness and inclusiveness of labour markets and access to quality employment through developing social infrastructure and promoting social economy”.
  • Specific objective 4.2 for a more social and inclusive Europe by “improving equal access to inclusive and quality services in education, training and lifelong learning through developing accessible infrastructure, including by fostering resilience for distance and on-line education and training”.
  • Specific objective 4.3 for a more social and inclusive Europe by “promoting the socioeconomic inclusion of marginalised communities, low-income households and disadvantaged groups, including people with special needs, through integrated actions, including housing and social services".
  • Specific objective 5.1 for a Europe closer to citizens by “fostering the integrated and inclusive social, economic and environmental development, culture, natural heritage, sustainable tourism and security in urban areas”.

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Expected results

Energy Transition

Without being prescriptive in terms of response expected, that may vary significantly from one city to the other in view of their size, inner characteristics and challenges, applicants are invited to consider the themes and issues listed below when preparing their project proposals. Testing measures linked to more than one of these themes and issues, in an integrated manner, is also possible and highly recommended for the topic of this Call.

  • Minimizing the energy demand in cities through:
    • retrofitting of public buildings and of the housing sector, and other energy measures encouraging real estate companies, businesses and/or individuals to make such types of investments, with a particular focus on deprived neighbourhoods and/or vulnerable households, to tackle energy poverty and the costs of the accelerated energy transition.
    • decarbonisation of urban public transport as an alternative to passenger cars, using the combined potential of electrification (in particular sourced by renewable energy), of connectivity, automation or smart fleets, road traffic and energy management. Emerging solutions in the field of micromobility and Mobility as a Service (MaaS), new technologies and logistic hubs aimed at accelerating the modal shift to cleaner and more affordable mobility modes (walking, cycling), with additional benefits in terms of health, congestion, accidents, noise and growing transport urban poverty could also be explored, same as coordinated decarbonisation measures and incentives at functional urban area’s level to allow commuters from outside city’s administrative boundaries to contribute to, and benefit from, the shift to cleaner mobility modes.
  • Diversifying local energy sources, by maximising endogenous potential for the production and use of renewable energy (wind, water, ocean, solar, geothermal, biomass) or of local secondary energy sources, including through the recovery and use of diverse range of waste and/or secondary heat sources available in the city and its surroundings, removing the barriers of circularity and resource efficiency.
  • Deploying smart and integrated local energy systems, by fostering innovative approaches to energy storage and supply to reduce reliance on external sources, and/or increasing the interaction between buildings and transport energy systems through smart (power or thermal) grids, or by further testing and expanding the model of Positive Energy Districts (PED).
  • Maximizing multi-stakeholder and citizens’ engagement by developing incentives and/or innovative supporting schemes and/or business models to develop energy communities and any other formula of the kind to enable various customers to become energy ‘prosumers’, i.e. both consumers and producers of energy on the local market. Digital solutions (smart apps, data sharing) to accelerate co-participation and behaviour changes could also be considered.
  • Boosting jobs and skills for the energy transition by identifying and addressing existing gaps in local labour markets in terms of qualified staff for clean transport and energy sectors and/or exploring the potential for new sustainable products, innovative jobs and upgraded knowledge and skills that the transition can enable. In particular, social innovation, leading to the employability of the most vulnerable and/or flourishing of proximity services, start-ups (including micro-enterprises) based on repair, reuse and/or commercialisation of high-quality recycling of products could be considered.

Technology in Cities

Without being prescriptive in terms of response expected, that may vary significantly from one city to the other in view of their size, inner characteristics and challenges, applicants are invited to consider the themes and issues listed below when preparing their project proposals. Testing measures linked to more than one of these themes and issues, in an integrated manner, is also possible and highly recommended for the topic of this Call.

  • Ensuring better and adapted public services by facilitating the access to quality services, lowering the administrative burden for citizens, creating new adaptive services, improving the management of the public infrastructure, enhancing the transparency and efficiency, ensuring real time exchange of information with users, reducing costs transaction time and errors. Emphasis must be placed on cost reduction, automation, acceleration, and simplification of administrative procedures. To combat the digital divide, support to the most vulnerable in the digital transition must be part of any proposed change.
  • Consolidating the multilevel and multistakeholder governance, ensuring an effective participatory democracy and stimulate innovation and competitiveness by increasing the number of local stakeholders and citizens actively and structurally involved in the strategic planning and decision-making process but also enhancing the co-design and co-creation approaches for instance, to build gender equality into urban planning; by developing the organisational, regulatory and governance structure that provides the environment and conditions to support a culture of innovation and facilitate partnerships between cities, universities and local businesses, to create/enhance the innovation and smart specialisation dynamics. Smart Communities AR/VR digital twinning could also be used for enabling informed decision-making processes through advanced modelling techniques and natural immersive interfaces empowering city stakeholders and citizens (CitiVERSE).
  • Mastering the digital transformation, local data collection and sharing while ensuring the highest standards for data privacy by exploring how cities can collect, use, store, share sub-city level data, with increased granularity, in order to facilitate and to improve the delivery of services to their citizens, to help to the decision-making process based on data management, to contribute to the local economic development and innovation, to the skilling and reskilling of the most vulnerable, to promote jobs and new businesses creation and to attract and retain talents.
  • Perfecting the spatial planning and land use and industrial zoning by using technologies in the strategic and spatial planning, for ensuring harmonious and optimal urban and peri-urban development. Cities need to find innovative ways in using new technologies to optimise the balance between the needs of various land uses such as housing, spatial activation of industrial zones, brownfield remediation and redevelopment, public space, social services.
  • Ensuring better services, digital and physical accessibility, and inclusion of persons with disabilities and older population by increasing active participation in the governance system of the city, by collecting and analysing specific data on the local specific needs and experiences, in order to create/adjust local policy, allocate resources, improve services and create adapted smart street and/or infrastructure equipment/furniture for the sake of equal access to urban spaces, public transport and/or buildings; by developing free and open source, user-friendly mobile applications that cater to various disabilities (e.g. screen readers, voice commands, large fonts). The proposed projects should support the integration of persons with disabilities and an active ageing policy, with a specific attention on measures for labour market inclusion, lifelong  learning, and retaining talent.
  • Safe, secure and resilient cities by redesigning urban spaces for the citizens to be less exposed to climate change and other threats based on vulnerability assessment and scenarios, by proposing new innovative services, infrastructure and equipment contributing also to the resilience of critical infrastructures and public spaces, by elaborating and using prevention and crisis management plans and techniques, accompanied by specialised trainings for local practitioners and raising awareness techniques among citizens; by enhancing capacities of local administrations in cooperation with citizens and stakeholders to fight organised (cyber)crime. Among the various areas to be explored to make EU cities safer, secure and more resilient, applicants could consider:
    • Strengthening prevention and mitigation of natural and man-made disasters (industrial risks, extreme weather, wildfires, earthquakes, public health risks, security threats) in urban areas by integrating technologies in predictive and preventive policies, plans and projects used as new ways to build diverse scenarios, to anticipate environmental and climate challenges and economic risks as well as associated social transformations and health concerns.
    • Ensuring food security in urban and functional areas: considering the increased impacts of climate change and the biodiversity crisis, cities have a key role in shaping "food environments”. New technologies could be used in urban areas in a way that may create innovative, inclusive, and integrated ways to connect with local farmers, with the aim of creating functional areas for sustainable and resilient food systems.
    • Cybersecurity: by including strategic foresight and proactive cybersecurity risk management processes in their plans and designs for integrating new technologies into their infrastructure systems; by proactively managing the ICT supply chain risk of any new technology used in cities’ infrastructure and/or services. Ensuring cybersecurity in cities while actively involving citizens requires a multifaceted approach with due account of education and awareness raising with a focus on most vulnerable publics.

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Eligibility Criteria

Regions / countries for funding

EU Member States

eligible entities

Public Body (national, regional and local; incl. EGTCs)

Mandatory partnership

Yes

Project Partnership

The following authorities may apply for support to undertake the EUI-IA:

  • First category: Any urban authority of a local administrative unit defined according to the degree of urbanisation (DEGURBA) of Eurostat as city, town or suburb (corresponding to DEGURBA code 1 or DEGURBA code 2 of Eurostat) comprising at least 50 000 inhabitants.
  • Second category: An association or grouping of urban authorities with legal status of organised agglomeration composed by Local Administrative Units, where the majority (at least 51%) of inhabitants lives in Local Administrative Units defined according to the degree of urbanisation (DEGURBA) of Eurostat as cities, towns or suburbs (corresponding to DEGURBA code 1 or DEGURBA code 2) and where the total combined population is at least 50 000 inhabitants.
  • Third category: An association or grouping of urban authorities without legal status of organised agglomerations where all the urban authorities involved (Main Urban Authority and Associated Urban Authorities) are Local Administrative Units defined according to the degree of urbanisation (DEGURBA) of Eurostat as cities, towns or suburbs (corresponding to DEGURBA code 1 or DEGURBA code 2) and where the total combined population (Main Urban Authority and Associated Urban Authorities) is at least 50 000 inhabitants.

Within the EUI-IA, the Main Urban Authority is expected to be directly involved in the experimentation and to play a strategic leading role in the development of the EUI-IA project by establishing and chairing a strong Project Partnership to make it technically, scientifically, and financially viable.

Project Partnership involves:

  • Delivery Partners – key institutions and organisations able to contribute to the implementation of the project, having an active role in the implementation and funding of the project activities by providing financial contribution to the project (the share of the budget ensured by a Project Partner, i.e. co-financing rate);
  • Transfer Partners – cities interested in learning from the experimentation and replicating the innovative solution, following the project implementation and providing the Main Urban Authority with an external perspective related to the transferability and replicability of the experimented innovative solution;
  • (if applicable) Associated Urban Authority(ies).

other eligibility criteria

In addition to the principles outlined above for each specific category of eligible urban authorities, the following principles apply to all eligible urban authorities in the framework of the EUI-IA:

  • All urban authorities shall be located in an EU Member State.
  • Only eligible urban authorities as defined above may submit an Application Form in the framework of the EUI-IA Call for Proposals. An Application Form submitted by a Delivery Partner will be declared ineligible.
  • Urban authorities (as defined above) can be listed in a project proposal only as Main and/or Associated Urban Authorities. The category of Delivery Partners is reserved only to institutions and/or organisations that are not recognised as urban authorities in the framework of the EUI-IA.
  • If innovative solutions require an urban-rural interface or functional area approach, it is possible to include Local Administrative Units defined as rural according to their degree of urbanization (DEGURBA code 3 of Eurostat) as Delivery Partners. Please note that their number of inhabitants does not count to reach the minimum eligibility threshold of 50 000. The reason for including Local Administrative Units defined as rural must be clearly presented and justified in the Application Form.
  • An urban authority or an organised agglomeration can be involved in only one project proposal in the framework of each Call for Proposals (even if these project proposals are submitted under different topics in the same Call for Proposals). The rule applies also to the Associated Urban Authorities (a municipality can be involved in only one project proposal whether it is as Main Urban Authority or as Associated Urban Authority).
  • Urban authorities already supported in an approved project by the EUI-IA in the framework of a previous Call for Proposals cannot submit a new Application Form on the same topic over the entire duration of the Initiative.
  • Urban authorities must comply with the requirements on exclusion from access to funding (more details are provided below in the Section 8.5 “Exclusion criteria for grant applicants” and in the EUI-IA Guidance, Chapter 3.3 “Exclusion criteria for grant applicants”).

Agencies and companies (e.g.: in the field of energy/waste management, economic development, touristic promotion, etc.) fully or partially owned by the municipality/city council are not considered as Local Administrative Units and therefore cannot be recognised as eligible urban authorities. Nevertheless, these organisations can be involved in the Partnership as Delivery Partners (more details on the roles and responsibilities of Delivery Partners are provided in the EUI-IA Guidance, Chapter 2.1.2 ”Typology of the European Urban Initiative – Innovative Actions Partners”).

Please note that, in the case of associations or grouping of urban authorities with legal status of organised agglomerations (second category of eligible authorities – see above for the details), the institution, including all the other urban authorities involved, is considered as a single urban authority in the framework of the EUI-IA and therefore the agglomeration shall be listed as the Main Urban Authority. In the case of associations or groupings of urban authorities without legal status of organized agglomeration (third category of eligible authorities – see above for the details), the urban authorities involved are requested to identify one municipality as Main Urban Authority and the other municipalities as Associated Urban Authorities.

Additional information

Topics

Administration & Governance, Institutional Capacity & Cooperation, 
Air Quality, Biodiversity & Environment, Climate & Climate Change, Water quality & management, 
Circular Economy, Natural Resources, 
Digitalisation, Digital Society, ICT, 
Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy , 
Rural & Urban Development/Planning

Relevance for EU Macro-Region

EUSAIR - EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region, EUSALP - EU Strategy for the Alpine Space, EUSBSR - EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, EUSDR - EU Strategy for the Danube Region

UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs)

project duration

max 3.5 years

Additional Information

The application consists of:

  • Application Form: The Application Form must be filled in using the online EEP platform. It is composed of sections presenting the project idea and the rationale (including information on the innovativeness of the proposal), the Partnership (including the Main Urban Authority, the Delivery Partners, Transfer Partners, and if relevant the Associated Urban Authorities), the main objectives and expected results, the proposed Work Plan and budget. Editing and submission is only possible during an open Call for Proposals. The application includes a number of automatic links, formulas and checks. These features mean that error messages appear in the form if it is not properly filled in (including missing Confirmation Sheet), and it cannot be submitted. This helps to significantly reduce the risk of submitting ineligible applications.
  • Annex: Applicants can upload one annex in the EEP system that will be attached to the Application Form. This could be a map presenting the area of intervention, a graph, an infographic, etc. The type and size of the file to be annexed are specified in the EEP Guidance.
  • Confirmation Sheet: The Confirmation Sheet is automatically generated by the online platform when the Application Form is being completed or after its completion. It must be printed signed by a legal representative of the Main Urban Authority, scanned and uploaded in the Application Form Part H “Confirmation Sheet”. The Application Form cannot be submitted without the Confirmation Sheet.

Call documents

Terms of Reference EUI-IA Call 3Terms of Reference EUI-IA Call 3(509kB)

Contact

European Urban Initiative (EUI) Permanent Secretariat
+33 (0)3 61 76 59 34
info@urban-initiative.eu
Website

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