GrantWise
HORIZON EUROPE TOPIC · Cluster 2 · Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society

Towards a consolidated culture and creativity driven European innovation ecosystem

HORIZON-CL2-2027-01-HERITAGE-01 — the expected outcomes as checkable statements, what evaluators look for in this topic, and the conditions that shape the proposal.

Get the free Part B working draft for this topic ↓

ForthcomingCSA · lump sumDeadline 23 September 2027EUR 4.5 million to EUR 5 million per project

GrantWise › Horizon Europe topics › HORIZON-CL2-2027-01-HERITAGE-01

TopicHORIZON-CL2-2027-01-HERITAGE-01
StatusForthcoming
CallHORIZON-CL2-2027-01 — Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society - 2027
DestinationInnovative Research on European Cultural Heritage and Cultural and Creative Industries (2026-27)
Type of actionCoordination and Support Actions · lump sum
Opening13 May 2027
Deadline23 September 2027
BudgetEUR 4.5 million to EUR 5 million per project · 1 project expected · EUR 5 million in total
Part B page limit28 pages (standard application form; check your call)
TemplateWork Programme 2026–2027 application form

Expected outcomes

Projects should contribute to all of the expected outcomes. The topic says: “Projects should contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:”

  1. EO1 The number and impact of CCI -driven innovations in Europe are increased thanks to a wide uptake of evidence-based measures stemming from EU-funded research. These results are followed up with appropriate assessments and Key Performance Indicators.
  2. EO2 Innovation driven by the cultural and creative industries continues to be boosted beyond project funding through a long-term economically sustainable ecosystem.
  3. EO3 A vision of European CCIs as an essential engine of sustainable innovation and competitiveness is broadly established, making CCIs a natural part of European, national, regional and local innovation efforts.

Expected impacts named in the destination

The wider, long-term effects the destination seeks. Your outcomes feed them; they are not project deliverables.

  1. EI1 The full potential of cultural heritage, arts and cultural and creative industries and sectors as drivers of both sustainable innovation and a European sense of belonging is realised through a continuous engagement with society, citizens and economic sectors.

What evaluators will look for in this topic

Expected outcomes

  • Projects should contribute to all of the expected outcomes.
  • For each outcome (EO1 to EO3), name who will use or adopt your results (a specific group, not “industry” or “society”), how they get them, and the indicator that shows the change, with baseline, target and date.
  • Use the topic's own words for each outcome, so the evaluator can tick it off.

What the scope asks for

Evaluators check the proposal against these sentences of the scope. Answer each one visibly, in the call's own words.

  • “The project funded under this topic should build on and improve existing innovation ecosystems to make them effective for the CCIs.”
  • “Difficulties to properly boost CCI-driven innovation need to be overcome, such as those linked to CCIs consisting mainly of small and micro enterprises with difficulties to fit into commonly applied innovation support models based on fast-growth startups, challenges in properly valuing the IPR of CCIs, inconsistencies between cultural and innovation policies, or issues linked to the particularities of CCI entrepreneurs.”
  • “Solutions should go beyond common practice in innovation support and deploy for example portfolio approaches that make clusters of organisations investable entities.”
  • “The project does not need to seek standardised approaches that work across the full diversity of the CCIs and of EU Member States and Associated Countries but should allow for taking local contexts into account.”
  • “Nevertheless, the project should seek to establish common principles and active knowledge exchange across Europe.”
  • “To properly follow up the results of its work, the project should develop suitable Key Performance Indicators and assessment frameworks, including with a base line for the initial situation.”
  • “In order to achieve an enduring impact, the project should ensure long-term economically sustainable ecosystems.”
  • “The long-term sustainable ecosystems should therefore, as appropriate, build on existing networks and/or platforms, and should involve the key stakeholders, covering most EU Member States and Associated Countries as well as a wide range of CCIs.”
  • “Proposals should include an outline of the sustainable and adaptable economic model envisaged, but do not need to describe it in full detail.”

Conditions that shape the proposal

  • Part B, sections 1–3: 28 pages (standard application form). Text beyond the limit is not read; tables and figures count.
  • Lump sum: the budget is fixed per work package and paid when each work package is completed. Every work package needs activities and deliverables an evaluator can verify, and the effort must match the money.
  • Coordination and support action: no research is funded. Evaluators look for coordination, networking, dissemination or policy support with a clear audience.
  • 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 maximum amount to be granted to each third party is EUR 60 000”

Impact pathway and traps

  • Standardisation is mentioned. Name the committees or bodies and the partner who engages with them.
  • Keep outputs, outcomes and impacts apart: what you deliver, what changes when others use it, and the long-term effect.
  • For each destination impact you claim, show which of your outcomes feeds it. Destination impacts are long-term effects, not project deliverables.
  • Name the barriers outside the project (regulation, markets, user behaviour) that could block uptake, and what you will do if they do.
  • Section 2.3 (the summary canvas) is optional on this call; the old split into scientific, economic and societal impact is no longer required.
The scope, as published

The transition towards a consolidated culture- and creativity-driven European innovation ecosystem represents a strategic imperative for Europe's future competitiveness and societal resilience. In an era where technological advancements alone no longer guarantee competitiveness, the CCIs emerge as essential drivers of transformative change and prosperity. It is necessary to unlock the innovative power of Europe’s cultural and creative industries both in themselves and as drivers of innovation in other economic sectors. CCIs shape new technologies and can contribute to user-driven innovation, open innovation, cross-sectoral innovation and to creative entrepreneurial ecosystems for regional development. CCIs are often the first to find productive uses for new technologies and establish meaningful connections between different technologies, thus paving the way for wider uptake that improves productivity and competitiveness in the wider economy. Europe’s CCIs can thus act as a crucial technology incubator, in addition to their wider societal contributions such as to cultural wealth, social cohesion and resilience. Significant research and innovation efforts have been made to boost CCIs and strengthen them as engines of innovation. Notably, Horizon Europe’s Cluster 2 has launched more than 30 R&I projects with the collective objective to boost a culture and creativity driven European innovation ecosystem, establishing a collaborative platform for this purpose. Furthermore, the European Institute for Innovation and Technology has established a Knowledge and Innovation Community for the Cultural and Creative Sectors and Industries, and a Large-Scale Partnership for the Cultural and Creative Industries Ecosystem has been set up under the EU Pact for Skills. The challenge is to build on, consolidate and complement, as appropriate, the key results such as technologies, solutions, methods, networks and platforms developed by these R&I projects and initiatives as well as by other relevant actions, with the objective to achieve long-term impact in terms of thriving CCIs that proactively engage in innovation and achieve significant economic growth. The project funded under this topic should build on and improve existing innovation ecosystems to make them effective for the CCIs. Difficulties to properly boost CCI-driven innovation need to be overcome, such as those linked to CCIs consisting mainly of small and micro enterprises with difficulties to fit into commonly applied innovation support models based on fast-growth startups, challenges in properly valuing the IPR of CCIs, inconsistencies between cultural and innovation policies, or issues linked to the particularities of CCI entrepreneurs. Solutions should go beyond common practice in innovation support and deploy for example portfolio approaches that make clusters of organisations investable entities. The project does not need to seek standardised approaches that work across the full diversity of the CCIs and of EU Member States and Associated Countries but should allow for taking local contexts into account. Nevertheless, the project should seek to establish common principles and active knowledge exchange across Europe. To properly follow up the results of its work, the project should develop suitable Key Performance Indicators and assessment frameworks, including with a base line for the initial situation. In order to achieve an enduring impact, the project should ensure long-term economically sustainable ecosystems. To be effective, it is important that the project, as appropriate, builds on previous work as well as complements and links to ongoing related initiatives. The long-term sustainable ecosystems should therefore, as appropriate, build on existing networks and/or platforms, and should involve the key stakeholders, covering most EU Member States and Associated Countries as well as a wide range of CCIs. Proposals should include an outline of the sustainable and adaptable economic model envisaged, but do not need to describe it in full detail. In order to engage entities which are not part of the project consortium, such as important innovation support actors or CCIs, projects may award financial support to third parties. Such support can only be given in the form of grants. The Commission estimates that a project duration of at least 5 years is appropriate, in order to be able to achieve the expected long-term impacts. CCIs as defined in the European Parliament Resolution ‘A coherent EU policy for cultural and creative industries’: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52016IP0486&from=EN See for instance Open Method of Coordination report ‘ The role of public policies in developing entrepreneurial and innovation potential of the cultural and creative sectors ’ Including projects funded under the call topics HORIZON-CL2-2021-HERITAGE-01-03, HORIZON-CL2-2022-HERITAGE-01-04, HORIZON-CL2-2022-HERITAGE-01-05, HORIZON-CL2-2022-HERITAGE-01-06, HORIZON-CL2-2022-HERITAGE-01-09, HORIZON-CL2-2022-HERITAGE-02-01, HORIZON-CL2-2023-HERITAGE-01-02, HORIZON-CL2-2023-HERITAGE-01-06, HORIZON-CL2-2024-HERITAGE-01-02, HORIZON-CL2-2024-HERITAGE-01-03, HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-HERITAGE-04, HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-HERITAGE-05, HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-HERITAGE-06. https://www.eit.europa.eu/eit-community/eit-culture-creativity https://pact-for-skills.ec.europa.eu/about/industrial-ecosystems-and-partnerships/creative-and-cultural-industries_en

Other topics in HORIZON-CL2-2027-01

Source and attribution

Topic text from the official topic page on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal, retrieved 19 October 2026. © European Union, reused under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU (CC BY 4.0). Changes: the expected outcomes and impacts are split into numbered statements, long passages are shortened, and the evaluator checklist is GrantWise's own commentary. Your call and the Work Programme always win; check them before you submit. GrantWise is independent and not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of the European Commission.