Key European and International Funding Deadlines

The EU funding programmes for 2014 to 2020 are now pretty much all under way. In some cases, old programmes have been combined and given new names and aims.

Ambient Assisted Living (AAL)

The Ambient Assisted Living programme is an initiative involving 22 countries which funds ICT measures to help with active and healthy ageing. Innovate UK based in Swindon is the UK contact point for this funding stream. The theme for 2018 was two-fold:

1. Aimed at collaborative projects developing ICT-based solutions targeting any application area(s) within the AAL domain, with a focus on clearly targeted markets.
2. Allows for more flexibility regarding the scope, size and duration of the proposed projects (including small collaborative projects).

The AAL programme launched a new Challenge-led Call for Proposals in February 2019 entitled "Sustainable Smart Solutions for Ageing well".  Please see the website for details.

Asylum Migration & Integration Fund (AMIF)

The Asylum and Migration Fund focuses on people flows and the integrated management of migration. It supports actions addressing all aspects of migration, including asylum, legal migration, integration and the return of irregularly staying non-EU nationals. The fund has a total budget of €3.137 billion for 2014 to 2020. Around 90% is allocated to Member States to deliver national programmes and activities.

Transnational projects are:

• raising awareness on migrants' contribution to EU societies
• community building at local level for integration including through volunteering activities
• pre-departure and post-arrival support for the integration of persons in need of international protection who are being resettled from a third country including through volunteering activities
• promote the swift integration of third-country nationals into the labour market through strengthened cooperation and mobilisation of employers and social and economic partners
• integration of victims of trafficking in human beings

The Home Office is the national agency running this fund in the UK. For this type of call you do not need European partners. So far, unlike in its predecessor fund, all the money has been dedicated to national government projects.

The last closing date was May 2019.  Proposals are invited for projects to be supported for a period of up to 36 months, and to finish by 31 December 2022.

Connecting Classrooms

Connecting Classrooms is a global programme that creates partnerships between clusters of schools in the UK and others around the world. These partnerships bring an international dimension to young people’s learning, to improve their knowledge and understanding of other cultures and prepare them for life and work as global citizens.

To facilitate collaboration face-to-face, teachers in the UK can apply for a professional partnerships grant to send a teacher and a school leader to visit the partner school overseas.

Successful partnerships will be awarded £3,000.

Teachers on behalf of their school (government schools only) are eligible to apply.

Before applying, applicants must:

• complete the core skills learning journey
• identify a partner school
• gain support and permission to take part in visits alongside school leaders
• secure the support of their head teacher

The visit from the UK must consist as a minimum of the following:

• an agreed programme with the partner school of two to three days in school comparing practice and experience of implementing core skills in the classroom/school
• at least one day in school designing the detail of, or implementing while together, aspects of the pupil to pupil core skills template project
• at least one day participating in a local British Council-arranged event bringing other UK teachers and overseas teachers together to share experiences and good practice of implementing core skills within the curriculum

For all applicants under Connecting Classrooms:

• first priority will be given to partnerships that have never received funding in the past from Connecting Classrooms
• second priority will be given to partnerships that received funding for one or two years from Connecting Classrooms 2012 to 2015
• final priority will be given to partnerships that have already received funding for three years from Connecting Classrooms

The grant amount is designed to contribute towards the costs of travel for one UK teacher and one UK school leader to visit their partner school for one week. A proportion of the grant can also be allocated towards reasonable project costs to implement relevant activities to support the outcomes of their professional partnership.

The British Council suggest allocating a minimum of 5% of the total grant towards project costs.

Deadline closed. 

For further information, please phone 0161 957 7755 or send an email to schools@britishcouncil.org.

Culture Sub Programme (Creative Europe)

Creative Europe is the EU programme which supports the Cultural and Creative Sectors. It incorporates the old Culture programme, Media and Media Mundus with the majority of the money being for MEDIA funding. Cooperation projects can now run for up to 4 years and will have regular annual deadlines. Other new rules include the need to have a PIC number (Participation Identification Code) so your organisations details are stored centrally and can be used for a number of programmes including Erasmus Plus without the need to supply supporting documentation.

The new Creative Europe desk for the UK is coordinated by the British Council and the British Film Institute. You can access this support at creative.europe@britishcouncil.org.

European Year of Cultural Heritage Call - deadline closed

Small Cooperation Projects - deadline closed 

Grants of up to €200,000 with match funding being at 60% of total costs provided. This is a higher intervention rate than under the previous Culture programme.

Large Cooperation Projects - deadline closed

Grants of up to €2 million with match funding of 50% provided. You can only be the lead partner of one large cooperation project at a time.

Literary Translations Projects - deadline closed

This is for two-year projects. Grants of up to €100,000 with match funding of 50% provided.

European Networks - deadline closed

Grants of up to €250,000 with match funding of 80% of total costs provided.

Creative Europe Support to Festivals 2018

MEDIA programme announces funds available to support film festivals promoting European works. Deadline closed.

Music Moves Europe

Calls and Tenders - deadline closed.

Support for film education

Deadline closed.

i-Portunus

Supporting creative mobility. Deadline closed.

DAPHNE

DAPHNE funding is for projects targeting victims or potential victims of violence who are children, young people, women and/or other groups at risk of violence in close relationships.

You need at least two other partners from other eligible countries. Activities you can engage in include:

• training and cooperation of relevant professionals to better respond to these forms of violence, including the establishment of formal or informal procedures and support programmes to respond to cases
• development and practical implementation of educational material aimed at children and adults to help bring about attitudinal and behavioural changes. There is a budget of €3 million in total and projects are funded at 80% of costs with a project length of 18 to 30 months. The minimum amount of funding you can apply for is €75,000 meaning potentially, if not realistically, there could be up to 40 projects

Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI)

EaSI brings together three separate EU programmes, PROGRESS, EURES and Progress Microfinance. They form the three axes of the programme.

They will support:

• the modernisation of employment and social policies through the PROGRESS axis (61% of the total budget)
• job mobility through the EURES axis (18% of the total budget)
• access to micro finance and social entrepreneurship with the Microfinance and Social Entrepreneurship axis (21% of the budget)

In total the budget for 2014 -2020 is €919 million. EaSI works in a different way to other programmes by having a rolling set of deadlines related to the annual work programme and its many different activities and priorities.

Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs

The Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs exchange programme funds young entrepreneurs to gain experience working with experienced entrepreneurs in other EU member states. The exchanges can be for between 1 to 6 months. The young entrepreneurs get a monthly allowance towards travel and subsistence. The scheme is currently open and you can apply via the website either as a young entrepreneur or as a host entrepreneur.

ERASMUS +

Erasmus Plus is the name for the EU programme for education, training, youth and sport programme which runs from 2014-2020. In the UK the responsibility for this programme has moved government department from Department of Education to BIS. Like in the previous Lifelong learning Programme it will be administered jointly by The British Council and Ecorys in the UK. The British Council are responsible for school, university and youth applications whilst Ecorys manage bids for adult education and vocational training. Sport and 'Jean Monnet activities' are administered centrally from Brussels.

Big changes include that there will not be money for preparatory visits and also no more Comenius Assistants and rather than individual programmes for each education sector, there is now just one programme for all education areas with three different "key actions".

Schools Key Action 2 strategic partnerships: there is a new name for ‘schools only’ strategic partnerships, which is now called ‘school exchange partnerships’. There is a significant budget increase and a simplified application process.

Youth Key Action 1 mobility: some elements of European Voluntary Service transfer to the new European Solidarity Corps programme. We will publish information on this as it becomes available.

Key Action 1 - learning mobility of individuals

This is for individuals to take advantage of training, work shadowing etc in the field of education training and youth in other countries. Mobilities just mean you are expected to travel and stay for a period in another country and are costs related to travel, subsistence and any course fees, etc.

The next deadlines are:

• Mobility of individuals in the field of youth: deadline closed
• Mobility of individuals in the field of higher education: deadline closed

Key Action 2 - Cooperation for innovation and exchange of good practices

The next deadlines are:

• Strategic partnerships in the field of youth: deadline closed

Key Action 3 - support for policy reform

The next deadlines are:

• Structured Dialogue: deadline closed

European Regional Development Fund (European Structural and Investment Funds - ESIF)

ERDF along with ESF and EAFRD, are three of the EU structural funds allocated to the member states. For the 2014-2020 period the Government has decided to allocate a the main proportion of these structural funds regionally in England by using the Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) network, with the LEPs aiding decisions on the priority areas for investment for their area. For Brighton & Hove, this is Coast to Capital LEP which covers Brighton & Hove, West Sussex, Lewes and parts of Surrey stretching up to Croydon. For our LEP area there is £24.4 million of ERDF allocated for projects in the region.

Under the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), there is one call open about supplying support in a variety of ways to SMEs in three separate sectors, Digital Sector, Life Sciences  and Advanced Manufacturing. The Life Sciences  being divided into two separate lots and Advanced Manufacturing being divided up into three. There is £5 million available in total. Both capital and revenue expenditure are eligible. You will be expected to provide 50% match funding for the project, this could be staff time or other sources of non-EU cash. The minimum project size would be expected to be £1 million (ie £500,000 ERDF applied for). Unlike on previous calls there is no set amount of money allocated to each sector, or to each lot.

Full details on all the calls.

European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (European Structural and Investment Funds - ESIF)

To find if your activity is in an eligible area (ie considered rural) use the government Magic website. A lot more of Brighton & Hove is eligible than you would think.

£3.25m of EAFRD funding is now available to bid for in the Coast to Capital area against 3 open EAFRD Calls published as part of the National Calls on 9 January 2017.

Call	EAFRD Value
IP2 - Food Processing	£1,299,545
IP3 - Tourism Infrastructure	£1,113,896
IP2 - Rural Business Development	£835,422

Further details on each call and for guidance on how to apply.

European Social Fund (European Structural and Investment Funds - ESIF)

European Social Fund (ESF) is the main EU fund to provide vocational training and help get people into work. For 2014 to 2020, money will be allocated to priority areas decided by the Coast to Capital LEP. There is £23.2 million available although this figure fluctuates with the euro to sterling exchange rate.

Under the 2014-2020 programme only the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) is still providing a co-financing programme at a national level in England. Coast to Capital LEP have also chosen to 'opt-in' to offers of match funding from the Skills Funding Agency, DWP and Big Lottery (Building Better Opportunities) as well as having direct calls where applicants are expected to source their own 50% match funding.

There are no calls open at the moment.

Europe for Citizens

The Europe for Citizens programme looks to bring together people from local communities across Europe to share and exchange experiences, values, to learn from history and to build for the future while reflecting on European citizenship and democracy and shared values. It is aimed at public bodies and not for profit organisations. The budget for 2014 to 2020 is €164 million.

Network of Towns

This measure aims to provide funding to municipalities and associations working together on a common theme and wishing to develop a network of towns to make their cooperation more sustainable. There are annual priority areas for projects. Funding is through lump sums and so there is no fixed match funding rate. The maximum European Commission contribution per project is €150,00. Projects can last up to 24 months. €4.5 million is available.

Town Twinning

To mobilise citizens at local and Union levels to debate issues from the European political agenda, to encourage democratic engagement and civic participation. The maximum European Commission contribution per project is €25,000. €4.6 million is available.

European Remembrance

This strand supports activities that reflect on European cultural diversity and common values. It aims to finance projects looking at the causes of the development of totalitarian regimes and commemorating the victims of their crimes. Funding is provided through lump sums with a maximum of €100,000 per project.  €3.7 million is available.

Civil Society Projects

€3.5 million is available.

Eurostars

Eurostars is a programme that supports SMEs involved in research to develop innovative products, processes and services by providing funding for joint projects. You need partners in at least one other Eurostars country. There are 26 countries eligible in the next round which includes the majority of the EU but also South Korea, Turkey and Israel. The last deadline was 13 February 2020.

Horizon Europe

The Work Programme for 2018 to 2020 has just been published with calls starting up towards the end of next year. The 2018 to 2020 Work Programme builds on the success of Horizon Europe so far, and takes account of the extensive interim evaluation of the programme. The Work Programme also responds to the European Commission's political priorities and paves the way for its successor programme.  The new features include measures to support market-creating innovation, highly integrated activities called focus areas, emphasis on better dissemination of results and a focus on open access to data. The Work Programme also includes measures to increase simplification (eg, lump sum funding), to widen participation from less performing countries, and to address skills mismatches.

The Work Programme will focus on:

• market creating innovation
• political priorities
• strengthening international research and innovation co-operation

The final Horizon Europe Work Programme will also pilot several other new features:

Lump-sum pilot constitutes a new approach to cost reimbursement from a control-based to a trust-based system. Together with a bigger number of two-stage calls, this measure will reduce administrative burden and make the programme simpler for its users.

Widening fellowships pilot adds to the range of tools that contribute to narrowing the 'innovation divide' in Europe and putting more places on the map of excellent research and innovation. Through the Spreading Excellence and Widening Participation part of the programme,specific support will now be offered to researchers to undertake a Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowship in a country that could do better in terms of participation in Horizon 2020.

A disruptive innovation pilot will offer dedicated support to exceptionally promising, high-impact clean energy technologies to make the crucial final step to the market. The first series of projects will aim to crack two specific challenges in renewable energy: photovoltaic windows and the biological conversion of CO2 and renewable hydrogen to fuels.

An ICT pilot using the mechanism of ERASMUS+ will address skills mismatches, including a shortage of specialists in information and communication technologies (ICT), that have emerged as a result of the fast-paced digital transformation. This scheme will support on-the-job learning for high education students and recent graduates and will be implemented through the mechanisms of Erasmus+.

New 50% funding rate to some innovation actions with a high technology-readiness level aims to allow larger, high-cost demonstrator projects to be funded and to leverage commitment from the industry. Replacing the standard 70% funding rate for innovation actions, this 50% funding rate is piloted on a limited number of topics in the part of the programme covering Nanotechnologies, Advanced Materials, Advanced Manufacturing and Processing, and Biotechnology.

Further details can be found.

Internal Security Fund

This fund aims to combat cross border organised crime, human trafficking,financial crime, anti radicalisation, cyber crime and other serious crimes. The UK along with Denmark and Ireland have opted out of this fund.

Interreg Va Channel Programme

Interreg Va Channel Programme is for projects in partnership with organisations in Northern France bordering on the Channel. For the 2014-2020 programme Norfolk County Council is the Managing Authority. The application process is in the process of changing  from a two stage to one stage application process, although you still need to do an 'intervention logic' which is a short form when compared with the old stage 1 form. One big difference is that you should have a decision on the suitability of your project within three weeks of the deadline.  Funding is up to 70% of project costs.

The priority areas of the programme are:

• innovation
• low carbon economy
• attractiveness of territory
• balanced and inclusive development

Please note, as of April 2021, they are no longer accepting applications for funding.

Micro Projects

From April 2017 the Channel Programme introduced their Micro Projects initiative, for smaller scale projects that run for up to two years and are funded at 80%. See FCE (Channel) website for more details.  The last call for micro projects had a total call budget of €150 million. The maximum project budget is €500,000 (80% EC grant). All five priorities are open.

Please note, as of April 2021, they are no longer accepting applications for funding.

Interreg Va Two Seas Programme

Interreg Va Two Seas Programme  is for projects in partnership with organisations in Nord-Pas de Calais (France) and parts of Belgium and the Netherlands.The Interreg Va Two Seas programme has a two step application process, firstly the submission of a concept note followed by a full application form as the second step.

The submission process is now fully electronic and must be done through the 2 Seas Electronic Exchange Platform (EEP).

Call 7: Deadline closed.

Call 8: Deadline closed.

Interreg Vb (North West Europe programme)

Interreg Vb (North West Europe programme) enabled partners from neighbouring countries to work together to provide joint solutions to similar problems they face around sustainable development and competitiveness.Brighton & Hove is eligible to take part in the North West Europe programme area, which is the most densely populated area of Europe, and project ideas are expected to reflect problems that result from this. You need at least one other partner from another country in the North West Europe area, however you do not need all your partners in place before you submit your concept note.

The programme has the three following priority areas:

• strengthening research, technological development and innovation
• supporting the shift towards a low-carbon economy in all sectors
• protecting the environment and promoting energy efficiency

Strengthening research, technological development and innovation

The programme will invest in enhancing the capacity of the north west Europe territory to generate innovation. It will try to reduce differences in innovation capacity between regions and contribute to the smart specialisation strategies of participating regions. For information the smart specialisation strategy for England is our region.

Supporting the shift towards a low-carbon economy in all sectors

The programme will invest in the area’s climate change mitigation potential, reduction of GHG emissions, energy efficiency and the share of renewable energy sources.

Protecting the environment and promoting energy efficiency

The programme will invest in eco innovation and resource efficiency. The purpose is to reduce the environmental footprint of human activity on the environment.

The application process is two stage, with the submission of a concept note in the first instance, with successful projects then submitting a fuller bid.

Deadline closed.

North West Europe Interreg programme on renewable energy launched

The North West Europe (NWE) programme is looking for projects that deal with demonstration, implementation and roll-out of renewable energy solutions. Projects must bring together partners from at least three different countries of which two from within the NWE area.  The NWE programme supports applicants from all or parts of 8 participating countries, including 7 EU Member States (Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom) and Switzerland. A wide range of bodies can take part in NWE project partnerships including national, regional and local authorities, universities, R&D agencies, non-profit organisations as well as private partners, including profit-making partners (e.g. SMEs).

The main differences from regular NWE calls are:

• the application process will be in a single step only with full application form, complete of budget, workplan, signed up partnership
• there is a ring-fenced budget of €50m

For this call the focus is on projects that can stimulate the uptake (demand) or production (supply) of renewable energy.

Innovation and Resource and Materials Efficiency

Deadline closed.

Interreg Europe

Interreg Europe is the new name for 2014-2020 for the Interreg IVc programme which is for regional co-operation across the whole of Europe. The 28 countries of the EU plus Norway and Switzerland are involved. The budget is €359 million. There are four priorities:

• strengthening research, technological development and Innovation
• enhancing the competitiveness of SMEs
• shift towards low carbon economy
• protecting the environment and promoting resource efficiency

A fourth and final call for proposals for Interreg Europe was launched in 2018.  It was reported that, to date, there have been 706 applications over the three calls with 184 projects approved involving 60 UK partners. There is €74 million left in the €359 million pot divided as follows:

• €8.7million objective 1 innovation
• €18 million objective 2 SME competitiveness
• €26 million objective 3 environment & resource efficiency
• €21 million objective 4 low carbon economy

The fourth call for project proposals received 170 project proposals from 1,262 organisations. There will be no more calls.

JUSTICE programme, 2014 - 2020

The JUSTICE programme incorporates the old Civil Justice Programme, Criminal Justice Programme and Drugs Prevention and Information Programme. The UK and Denmark have both opted out of this programme.

LEADER programme

LEADER is part of the structural fund called EAFRD (European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development) which is coordinated by DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) and is separate but complimentary to the EAFRD funds delivered as part of Coast to Capital LEP structural funds allocation. The fund is to benefit rural communities but in particular small businesses. The areas of the new LEADER programme area, the Central Sussex LAG include parts of Stanmer Park within the Brighton & Hove boundary along with areas of the city north of the A27 in the South Downs National Park. There is £1.7 million available.

Grants of £2,500 to £50,000 at a maximum 40%-80% intervention rate (depending on the measure used); it is mainly for capital items.

Projects must meet one of six DEFRA priorities:

• support micro and small businesses and farm diversification
• boost rural tourism
• increase farm productivity
• increase forestry productivity
• provide rural services
• provide cultural and heritage activities

Further details can be found on the West Sussex County Council website. Successful outlines will then be invited to submit full applications which are judged at LAG panels. 

If you are invited to make a full application the LEADER Delivery Team will advise you of the date by which your application should be returned. This will usually need to be 8 weeks before the relevant meeting date.

There are currently no dates for Local Action Group meetings.

LEFEVRE and Charles De Gaulle Funding.

These two funding streams allow schools to conduct visits to partner schools in France. Projects last up to 18 months with each partner receiving £5,000. For Lefevre, the age range is 11-19 years  and visits have to include four days of activities. Charles de Gaulle funding is for 17-19 year olds and has 8 days of activities with a strong element of vocational training. There is no call open at the moment.

LIFE

LIFE is the EU's main funding stream for environmental projects. 78% of the funding are used for project grants in Member States, with about 50% of this being dedicated to projects under the 'Nature' and 'Biodiversity' strands. At least 15% of the total allocated to project grants will fund transnational projects. DEFRA has now assigned JNCC rather than Beta Technology to provide information and guidance on UK bids to this funding stream. There should be approximately €17 million that has been allocated to the UK under the next round.

There is up to 60% match funding provided. The main funding opportunities are through 'traditional projects.' These can be best practice, demonstration, pilot or 'information, awareness and dissemination' projects.

Sustainability, transferability and replicability are expected to be increasingly important for the LIFE programme. The next LIFE Multi-Annual Work Programme (MAWP) will run from 2018 - 2020. Despite it being based on the underpinning LIFE Regulation, it is anticipated that there will be significant changes to the listed Project Topics.

Media Programme (Creative Europe)

Media Programme is the EU programme for audiovisual projects and now part of the Creative Europe programme for 2014-2020. One major change in the new programme is the move to a paperless application and reporting process. To apply for a grant you will first have to register your company or organisation through the Participant Portal and receive a Participant Identification Code (PIC).

Funding opportunities come under five different headings:

• producer support
• distribution support
• training and networks
• audiences
• other initiatives

Producer Support

• Development single project: This scheme is aimed at independent European production companies who have produced at least one previous eligible project and are looking to develop a project with international potential for cinema,television or digital platforms. Deadline closed.
• Development - slate funding: This scheme is aimed at companies that have produced at least two previous eligible projects and want to develop a slate (3-5) of projects with international potential. Deadline closed.
• TV programming: This scheme aims to help European independent production companies produce a television programme with at least three European broadcasters attached. Deadline closed.
• Development - video games: This scheme is aimed at companies that have produced at least one previous video game which has been distributed recently, and that now wish to invest in the development of a new game concept. Deadline closed.
• Co-operation Projects: Deadline closed

Distribution Support

• Selective distribution: This scheme is to encourage groups of distributors to release non-national European films that might not be economic otherwise. Deadline closed.
• Automatic distribution: This annual scheme allows distributors to generate a subsidy based on paying customers to see recent European films (not UK films). The scheme is designed in two stages. Deadline closed.
• Sales agents: This is a subsidy for Sales Agents selling non-National European films. Deadline closed.
• Promotion of Audiovisual works online. Deadline closed.
• Bridging culture and audiovisual content through digital. Deadline closed.

Training and Networks

• Training: This scheme aims to help training providers to deliver continuous vocational training activities for film and television industry professionals in the areas of new technologies, economic, financial and commercial management and project development. Call currently closed. Deadline closed
• Access to markets: This scheme supports organisations that propose annual events and activities designed to facilitate access to markets for European professionals and promote their audiovisual works. Deadline closed.
• International co-production funds: This is a new scheme for the programme to support organisations that help European and International co-production partners to meet and/or provide them with access to international co-production funds. Deadline closed.

Audiences

• Film festivals: To support film festivals that include at least 70% European films (or 100 feature films) from at least 15 countries in their programme. At least 50% of the films have to be from outside the UK. Deadline closed.
• Cinema networks: This scheme supports networks of cinemas that aim to boost the programming of European films. Deadline closed.
• Audience Development: This is no longer active
• Film education: Deadline closed.

Cultural and Creative Sector Guarantee Facility Cross-Sector sub-programme - deadline closed..

Rights, Equalities & Citizenship Programme (REC) 2014 - 2020

The Rights, Equalities & Citizenship programme has a budget of around €389 million and brings together Fundamental Rights and Citizenship, Daphne III and "Anti discrimination and Diversity" and "Gender Equality" of the Programme for Employment and Social Solidarity (PROGRESS). There are no alerts so you need to keep checking the website for planned calls. The general feature of calls under this programme is the following:

• 2 year projects
• 80% co-financing
• pre-financing (funds up front) of 80% final 20% on production of effective delivery and reporting
• work programme is set at beginning of year – have been delayed on delivering this
• 2 months between publication date and call deadline
• high rate of success for projects
• needs to have ACTIVITIES – pure research will not be funded as previous programmes have been

URBACT III

URBACT supplies funding for networks of cities to work together on common issues and work with local partners on devising and implementing action plans to combat the problem.

There are the following three strands:

• action planning - best practice networks. This is for working with partner cities on designing action plans for your individual city. In 2015, successful applicants were given funding for six months to work up their work plan and bring in more partners. There were 99 applications to the first round for which 20 are expected to be approved. 27% of these were looking at social inclusion and 25% were around environmental issues of cities. Italy is one of the main countries to be involved in the programme, providing the lead partner in 21 of the bids
• implementation network - call closed. 7 networks were approved
• transfer networks - this is around sharing best practice from one organisation to its project partners - this call is now closed

The programme sought up to 23 new Action Planning Networks in 2019 and 62 applications were submitted.

Urban Innovative Actions

This new programme, Urban Innovative Actions, is based on the EU Urban Agenda and is for cities with over 50,000 population and the maximum project size is expected to be €5 million. Funding is at 80% match funding. There will be one call per year and the first deadline has four topic areas.

• Energy Transition, Urban Poverty (with a focus on deprived urban neighbourhoods), Investment in the Integration of Migrants and Refugees, Jobs & Skills in the local economy

The call was massively oversubscribed with 18 projects out of 378 selected.

In the 2017 call, the European Commission selected the three topics that will be included in the call: sustainable urban mobility, the circular economy and the integration of migrants and refugees. More details are on the website.

The third call for proposals is open with a budget of between €80 million - €100 million. The four topics are air quality, climate adaptation, housing and jobs and skills in the local economy. It is 80% match funded and you do not need EU partners.  However, actions need to be innovative. The calls tend to be very oversubscribed - the first call received 378 applications, this dropped to 206 to round 2. Hastings applied under round 1 for the jobs and economy theme. In total 33 have been successful. Fuller details are here.

The fourth call for Urban Innovative Actions closed on 31 January 2019. 

The topics selected are as follows:

• digital transition
• sustainable use of land and nature-based solutions
• urban poverty
• urban security

The fifth call for proposals closed on 12 December 2019.  The topics of the call include air quality, circular economy, culture & cultural heritage and demographic change. 

The next call is planned for the end of 2021 or beginning of 2022.