Funding programme

Horizon Europe is the EU’s key funding programme for research and innovation.

Read more about the Horizon Europe programme here.

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Call overview

This call aims to establish a network of researchers in democracy together with practitioners of civic participation and deliberation and of citizenship education across Europe.

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Expected outcome

The project should contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

• The establishment and development of a European network of practitioners and researchers in the field of democracy and civic deliberation and participation and citizenship education.
• Prioritised recommendations for European policy on strengthening and renewing European democracy across a broad range of areas, including digital democracy, education programmes, civic education and awareness raising, including via cultural and creative approaches, enhancing diversity and inclusion in democratic processes, and participatory and deliberative democracy.
• Support to policy makers in the EU and associated countries through networking events, and platforms, databases, knowledge repositories, advice and capacity building on enhancing diversity, civic participation, civic and citizenship education and innovative and experimental deliberation processes in a broad range of policy areas, including EU level decision making.
• Strengthen and structure cooperation between researchers in democratic theory, including rule of law, and practitioners in civic participation and deliberation, and between European policy-makers at all levels of government and legislative bodies, resulting in an ongoing mechanism for knowledge-sharing and linking up to relevant piloting and testing actions under Horizon Europe, Horizon 2020 and other EU programmes, such as the Citizen, Equality, Rights, and Values programme, in view of establishing innovative open democratic practices.
• Facilitate and strengthen the impact of democracy and governance related research and innovation on EU policies through contemporary innovative formats and promote their systematic accessibility to EU policy makers and other interested stakeholders.

The goal is to establish a network of researchers in democracy together with practitioners of civic participation and deliberation and of citizenship education across Europe, bringing together a critical mass of such actors in Europe, from Member States and Associated Countries representing the different parts of Europe with their diverse policy contexts, challenges as well as historical and cultural backgrounds. Such a network should contribute to Europe’s future policy to strengthen and renew democracy in Europe, in line with the Commission’s priority “A new push for European democracy” and the follow-up to the Conference on the future of Europe.

The project should have a minimum duration of 36 months.

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Scope

Democracy is not a constant in human history, but rather an exception to various forms of autocracy across space and time. We know that it thrives in the presence of representation, the protection of fundamental rights and the rule of law, participation, openness, pluralism, tolerance, the effectiveness of public policy, non-discrimination, and civic engagement. All of these reflect the European Union’s values as defined in Article 2 of the EU Treaty. But a drift towards majoritarianism, unilateralism, nationalism, populism and polarisation is in effect in Europe and the world. Such challenges are addressed in the European Democracy Action Plan, which will be supported by the proposal funded under this topic.

Researchers in democratic theory and empirical democracy studies and practitioners in democratic innovation and civic participation all bring different bricks to the edifice of democracy strengthening and renewal: from the fundamental values to the subtleties of the legislative process and public policy actions. In terms of democratic innovations, deliberative democracy in particular appears as an antidote to polarization of societies, while broader use of civic participation can build dialogue and close a gap of mistrust between populations and governments.

‍Read more in the Work Programme , page 37.

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Eligibility

To be eligible for funding, applicants must be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e.:

• the Member States of the European Union, including their outermost regions;
• the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) linked to the Member States;
• eligible non-EU countries including countries associated to Horizon Europe and low- and middle-income countries.

Any legal entity, regardless of its place of establishment, including legal entities from non-associated third countries or international organisations (including international European research organisations 1) is eligible to participate (whether it is eligible for funding or not), provided that the conditions laid down in the Horizon Europe Regulation have been met, along with any other conditions laid down in the specific call topic.

A ‘legal entity’ means any natural or legal person created and recognised as such undernational law, EU law or international law, which has legal personality and which may, acting in its own name, exercise rights and be subject to obligations, or an entity without legal personality.

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Consortium composition

Unless otherwise provided for in the specific call conditions, legal entities forming a consortium are eligible to participate in actions provided that the consortium includes:

• at least one independent legal entity established in a Member State; and
• at least two other independent legal entities, each established in different Member States or Associated Countries.

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Budget

EUR 3,000,000.