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 strengthen multi-disciplinary networking and collaboration amongst all actors of local and regional construction ecosystems and reinforce European value chains.

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Expected Outcome

Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

• Expansion and strengthening of the Built4People network of Construction Innovation Clusters.
• Increased awareness and improved access at a local or regional level to research outcomes for sustainable built environment construction and renovation.
• Increased engagement and participation of the whole value chain in local and regional construction innovation clusters.
• Strengthened, long-lasting and multi-disciplinary networking and collaboration on locally rooted, bottom-up innovative holistic solutions for a sustainable built environment.
• Enhanced engagement amongst communities, businesses, local and regional governments, and the construction industries and associated supply chains.
• Establishment and reinforcement of European value chains in sustainable construction and renovation.
• Creation of new business opportunities with reduced risk for investment in innovative built environment construction and renovation.
• Reduced time from research to market of innovative sustainable construction and renovation solutions.
• Increased public and private co-financing of innovation in the field of innovative sustainable built environment.

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Scope

For effective fast-tracking and promotion of built environment construction and renovation innovation with local value chains, nascent construction innovation clusters need to link with regional/national innovation hubs and clusters. This will strengthen multi-disciplinary networking and collaboration amongst all actors of local and regional construction ecosystems and reinforce European value chains.

A long-term network structure is needed, based on an appropriate business model and governance, to support these clusters and give them capacity to nurture and help deliver public and private investments in sustainable construction and renovation innovation also supporting digitalisation of the value chain.

Proposals are expected to address all of the following:

• Delivery of a long-term network structure for the Built4People construction innovation clusters.
• Support adoption of the enabling conditions (technological, social, and policy) that can boost innovation and reduce time from research to market of sustainable renovation solutions.
• Deliver methods and tools for the reliable assessment of innovation maturity and potential impacts (e.g. potential of replication).
• Monitor growth of Built4People construction innovation clusters and assess their effectiveness for reducing the time from research to market of sustainable renovation solutions.
• Stimulate co-financing of innovation in the field of innovative sustainable built environment.
• Disseminate exemplary practices for fast tracking of cost-effective standardisation and certification of innovative sustainable renovation solutions.
• Prepare the value chain at a local/regional level for uptake of innovative sustainable construction and renovation solutions in support of the Renovation Wave and the increased rate and depth of renovation, also post 2030, in order to reach EU-wide climate neutrality by 2050.
• Stimulate engagement in Built4People innovation clusters of the stakeholders that can lead the transformation of the building stocks at local and regional level (e.g. cooperative and social housing developers).
• Promote design solutions that address inclusion and accessibility and leading to documented improvements in comfort and health aspects, whilst reducing emissions from the built environment and enhancing climate adaptation resilience.
• Ensure the project’s dissemination activities include actions that contribute to the activities of the NEB Community, and to sharing information, best practices and results within the NEB Lab.
• Seek to ensure consistency and complementarity of action with the project funded under the HORIZON-CL5-2021-D4-02-03 topic.

This topic requires the effective contribution of SSH disciplines and the involvement of SSH experts, institutions as well as the inclusion of relevant SSH expertise (including social innovation), in order to produce meaningful and significant effects enhancing the societal impact of the related research activities.

This topic implements the co-programmed European Partnership on ‘People-centric sustainable built environment’ (Built4People). As such, projects resulting from this topic will be expected to report on results to the European Partnership ‘People-centric sustainable built environment’ (Built4People) in support of the monitoring of its KPIs.

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Eligibility

To be eligible for funding, applicants must be established in one of the following countries:

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

See the full list in the General Annexes.

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Consortium composition

Unless otherwise provided for in the specific call conditions, only legal entities forming a consortium are eligible to participate in actions provided that the consortium includes, as beneficiaries, three legal entities independent from each other and each established in a different country as follows:

• 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 available

The total indicative budget for the topic is EUR 2.00 million.