Supporting the implementation of the Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities Mission

Home Funding Calls for proposals Inclusive and climate resilient multimodal passenger hubs enhancing modal shift towards sustainable transport and shared mobility Inclusive and climate resilient multimodal passenger hubs enhancing modal shift towards sustainable transport and shared mobility HORIZON-MISS-2027-04-CIT-03 Topic Call for proposal Internal navigation General information Topic description Conditions and documents Budget overview Partner search announcements Start submission Topic Q&As Get support General information Programme Horizon Europe (HORIZON) Call Supporting the implementation of the Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities Mission (HORIZON-MISS-2027-04) Type of action HORIZON-IA HORIZON Innovation Actions Type of MGA HORIZON Lump Sum Grant [HORIZON-AG-LS] Forthcoming Deadline model single-stage Planned opening date 09 February 2027 Deadline date 07 October 2027 17:00:00 Brussels time Topic description Expected Outcome: Project results are expected to contribute to all the following outcomes: Contribute to the objectives of the Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities Mission by accelerating the transition towards climate neutrality targets in cities and reducing greenhouse gas and air pollutants emissions from transport due to the improved operation of the multimodal hubs. Reduce road congestion and improve air quality to protect health of citizens and urban biodiversity, by increasing shift towards sustainable and active modes of transport for city and intercity trips. Contribute to the objectives of the TEN-T Regulation by enhancing the climate resilience of multimodal passenger hub infrastructures and services in response to both the long-term effects of climate change and extreme weather events Increase inclusivity, accessibility and improved experience for all passengers at multimodal hubs, by proposing mobility solutions that respond to the needs of transports users, irrespective of their age, gender, economic or social status, including equal access for persons with reduced mobility/disabilities. Provide guidance and best practices for national/regional/local authorities and urban transport authorities to improve the integration of walking, cycling, shared mobility and micro-mobility at and around in multimodal-hubs, and for identifying and deploying relevant monitoring and security measures related to climate impact on operations. Scope: This topic focuses on climate resilience of major multimodal passenger hubs’ infrastructures and services within and between cities as well as peri-urban and rural areas. At least three demonstrators per project are required. As defined in the revised TEN-T regulation[1], ‘multimodal passenger hub’ means a connection point between at least two transport modes for passengers, where travel information, access to public transport and transfers between modes are ensured, such as park-and-ride stations, and which acts as an interface within and between urban nodes and between urban nodes and longer-distance transport networks. Projects will complement the implementation of the above requirement for TEN-T urban nodes by demonstrating concrete solutions for improving the climate resilience of multimodal passenger hubs. Transport is responsible for a significant share of greenhouse gas emission and pollution in cities. In addition, transport infrastructures and their operation can be affected by severe disruptions and deterioration caused by extreme events (storms, heavy rains, floodings, heat waves, etc.) or prolonged climate stresses (water scarcity, changing groundwater levels, drought, extreme temperatures, sea level rise and accelerated coastal erosion in coastal cities, etc.). Preparing passenger transport systems resilience and the adaptation capacity is crucial to ensure continuity of the transport service and safety of passengers. The recently published “Support study on the climate adaptation and cross-border investment needs to realise the TEN-T network” should be considered[2]. Proposals should address all the following points: Develop and test innovative solutions that increase the number of within-hub flows and access/egress trips by public transport, active, shared and micromobility modes to/from the selected major multi-modal hubs considering improved connectivity, accessibility, fleet rebalancing operations, etc.; Identify current and future local climate-related vulnerabilities of the selected multimodal passenger transport infrastructures and services, and determine the potential safety issues and economic and social losses caused by climate change extreme events or longer-term climate stresses that may lead to interrupted or low-quality service; Develop and test innovative solutions for climate-resilient multimodal passenger hubs and related transport services for protecting existing infrastructures and/or for building/managing new critical infrastructure capable of mitigating the potential climate change risks, as well as for maintaining services continuity, accessibility and efficiency of operations. In this context: Develop nature-based solutions for increasing multimodal passenger hub’s infrastructures resilience demonstrating the respective environmental, social, and economic benefits. Integrate digital monitoring and advanced yet practical digital and/or AI-based methods for assessing, preventing and managing adverse climate impacts that may affect the multimodal hub operation. Develop and test solutions to ensure or improve the inclusivity and accessibility of multimodal passenger hubs, accounting for both within-hub flows and access/egress trips, considering that climate change may particularly affect most marginalised populations[3] or those in a vulnerable situation; Establish co-designing process and engaging with the relevant stakeholders to ensure the successful uptake of the proposed and tested solutions, incl. and economic model, contributing to climate neutrality, climate adaptation and enhanced governance of the multi-modal passenger hubs. Proposals should include activities promoting the New European Bauhaus principles (sustainability, aesthetics, and inclusion) among national, regional, and local authorities, citizens, and stakeholders through dedicated local initiatives (e.g. events, contests, citizens’ dialogues, living labs). Proposals should be implemented within the framework of a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) or equivalent plan of the participating cities. Collaboration with the Cities Mission Platform is essential and should take place through the CIVITAS initiative[4]. Proposals should ensure that appropriate provisions for activities and resources aimed at enforcing clustering activities and cooperation with the Cities Mission Platform and the CIVITAS initiative are included in the work-plan[5]. Proposals should plan for an active collaboration amongst the projects selected under this topic - for dissemination, evaluation and coordination - facilitated by and within the CIVITAS initiative. This topic requires the effective contribution of social sciences and humanities (SSH) disciplines and the involvement of SSH experts, institutions as well as the inclusion of relevant SSH expertise, in order to produce meaningful and significant effects enhancing the societal impact of the related research activities. null Activities and pilot demonstrations of technological nature of the proposed solutions in operational environment are expected to be at minimum TRL 8 by the end of the project – see General Annex B. [1] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32024R1679 [2] https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/26731a63-b904-11ef-91ed-01aa75ed71a1/language-en [3] IPCC 2023 [4] https://civitas.eu/ [5] The CIVITAS initiative should establish, through a collaboration agreement set up together with the Cities Mission Platform, clear links with the Mission portfolio for synergies and complementarities. Show more Topic conditions and documents 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 The following additional eligibility criteria apply: At least three cities, represented by a local authority or by an entity with an explicit consent from the local authority, each from a different Member State or Associated Country, must participate as beneficiaries. At least one of the three cities must be one of the 112 cities selected for the EU Mission on Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities[[The EU Mission on Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities aims to deliver 100 climate-neutral and smart cities by 2030 and ensure that these cities act as experimentation and innovation hubs to enable all European cities to follow suit by 2050. On 28 April 2022, the Commission announced the 100 EU cities that will participate in the Mission. In addition, 12 cities have been selected from countries associated or expected to be associated the Horizon Europe programme.]] and one of them as urban node on the TEN-T network[[https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32024R1679]]. Subject to restrictions for the protection of European communication networks. 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 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 Grants awarded under this topic will be linked to the following action(s): HORIZON-MISS-2021-CIT-02-03 Collaboration with the Cities Mission Platform[[Set up by Horizon 2020 project NetZeroCities - Accelerating cities' transition to net zero emissions by 2030, Grant Agreement n. 101036519, and scaled up through topic HORIZON-MISS-2021-CIT-02-03: Framework Partnership Agreement (FPA) for the Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities Mission Platform.]] is essential and projects must ensure that appropriate provisions for activities and resources aimed at enforcing this collaboration are included in the work plan of the proposal. The collaboration with the Cities Mission Platform must be formalized through a Memorandum of Understanding or a collaboration agreement to be concluded as soon as possible after the project starting date. Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2021-2027) – and in actions under the Research and Training Programme of the European Atomic Energy Community (2021-2025) [[This decision is available on the Funding and Tenders Portal, in the reference documents section for Horizon Europe, under ‘Simplified costs decisions’ or through this link: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/horizon/guidance/ls-decision_he_en.pdf]]. described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes. Specific conditions Not applicable. Application and evaluation forms and model grant agreement (MGA): Applic [... συνέχεια στην επίσημη πρόσκληση]