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    HORIZON-MISS-2026-03-OCEAN-01

    Large-scale demonstration for mapping the distribution and condition of marine habitats to implement the Nature Restoration Regulation

    Closing soon · 29 daysLive official EU data

    Supporting the implementation of the Restore our Ocean and Waters Mission · HORIZON-IA · Needs partners

    23 Sep 2026
    Deadline
    €7M–€7.8M
    Indicative, per project
    ~4
    Grants expected
    92
    Past winners in this family

    What this call funds

    This call funds large-scale, real-world demonstration projects that map and assess the condition of marine habitats (like seagrass beds, coral, sponge beds) to help EU countries meet new nature restoration laws. Projects test and scale up mapping and monitoring tools in real ocean areas, help national authorities plan restoration, and share data through EU marine data platforms. Each project focuses on one major sea/river basin and works directly with public authorities and regional partners.

    environmental monitoring · biodiversity · ocean marine · climate adaptation · regional development

    Who wins this

    A consortium including public authorities and research/technology organisations working in one EU sea basin, ready to demonstrate marine habitat mapping at scale and support regional replication.

    Could you win this call?

    We read your site to see what you build.

    The call in detail

    Indicative grant size
    €7M–€7.8M
    Funding model
    Budget-based — reimbursement of actual eligible costs
    Submission
    Single-stage submission (full proposal at once)
    Type of action
    HORIZON Innovation Actions
    Partners
    Required. The call asks for a consortium — a group applying together, typically 3+ organisations from 3+ countries.
    Eligible applicants
    public body, research organisation
    Support to third parties
    Beneficiaries may provide grants to local/regional public authorities as Financial Support to Third Parties, up to EUR 100,000 per third party, to support replication in an 'associated region'; each recipient may benefit only once per project.
    Also required
    Each proposal must address only one of four Mission basin-scale lighthouses (Atlantic/Arctic, Mediterranean, Baltic/North Sea, Danube/Black Sea) and demonstrate activities in at least 4 large areas; funding is balanced across all four basins with at least one top-ranked proposal per basin funded.
    Eligible countries (45)
    Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Switzerland, United Kingdom, IL, TR, UA, RS, MK, ME, AL, BA, XK, GE, AM, MD, TN, NZ
    Read the full conditions from the official call ›

    General conditions 1. Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes. Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System. 2. Eligible Countries described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide. 3. Other Eligible Conditions If projects use satellite-based earth observation, positioning, navigation and/or related timing data and services, beneficiaries must make use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS (other data and services may additionally be used). described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. 4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes. 5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds To ensure a balanced portfolio covering the 4 different Mission basins[[For the purposes of Mission Ocean and waters, Member States/Associated Countries, are considered to be part of a given sea/river basin if they have a coast/riverbank on the relevant sea/river or contain river basins flowing into the relevant sea]] (1. Atlantic and Arctic sea basin, 2. Mediterranean Sea basin, 3. Baltic and North Sea basin, 4. Danube River basin, including Black Sea), grants will be awarded to applications not only in order of ranking but at least also to one proposal that is the highest ranked within each sea basin, provided that the applications attain all thresholds. are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes. 5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual. 5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes. 6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants Beneficiaries may provide financial support to third parties. The support to Third Parties can only be provided in the form of grants. The Financial Support to Third Parties may only be awarded to local and/or regional authorities (established as public bodies by public law and governed by public law), which are not already involved in as beneficiaries in a demonstration site of the same project and which are located in Member States/Associated Countries. The maximum amount to be granted to each Third Party is EUR 100,000, aiming at showcasing the effectiveness of solutions demonstrated by a project and develop a replication plan for their uptake in an ‘associated region’[[Regional or local authorities established as public bodies by national law and governed by public law.]]. A recipient may only benefit from this Financial Support to Third Parties once within the entire duration of the project. Beneficiaries will be subject to the following additional obligations regarding open science practices: if projects collect in-situ data and marine observation, beneficiaries must make them openly available through the European Marine Observation and Data network (EMODnet), based on the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) principles. described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes. Specific conditions described in the topic conditions

    Who has won calls like this

    Organisations that most often win this call family · 92 past winners

    AGENCIA ESTATAL CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS · ES
    19 wins
    led 3
    CONSIGLIO NAZIONALE DELLE RICERCHE · IT
    17 wins
    led 1
    VLAAMS INSTITUUT VOOR DE ZEE · BE
    16 wins
    led 3
    NORSK INSTITUTT FOR VANNFORSKNING STI · NO
    15 wins
    led 4
    SUBMARINER NETWORK FOR BLUE GROWTH EWIV · DE
    14 wins
    led 6
    DANMARKS TEKNISKE UNIVERSITET · DK
    12 wins
    led 1

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