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Increasing riparian and coastal areas resilience to climate change, including in waterfront cities and islands.

HORIZON-MISS-2027-03-OCEAN-01 — the expected outcomes as checkable statements, what evaluators look for in this topic, and the conditions that shape the proposal.

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ForthcomingIADeadline 21 September 2027EUR 8 million to EUR 8.93 million per project

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TopicHORIZON-MISS-2027-03-OCEAN-01
StatusForthcoming
CallHORIZON-MISS-2027-03 — Supporting the implementation of the Restore our Ocean and Waters Mission
Type of actionInnovation Actions
Opening9 February 2027
Deadline21 September 2027
BudgetEUR 8 million to EUR 8.93 million per project · 4 projects expected · EUR 35.7 million in total
Part B page limit40 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: “This topic aims at directly engaging with and supporting riparian and coastal areas, waterfront cities and islands and their communities in demonstrating and accelerating the transitions needed for achieving one or several objectives of the Mission “Restore our Ocean and Waters”. The participation of relevant public bodies managing those areas and their communities as partners of the consortium…”

  1. EO1 Member States and Associated Countries are provided with cost-effective and innovative solutions to increasing riparian and coastal areas’ resilience to climate change, especially in waterfront cities and islands, contributing to reach the targets of the EU climate adaptation and water resilience strategies for 2030, but also supporting achievements of the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030, the Water Framework and the Marine Strategy Framework directives.
  2. EO2 Enhanced ecological functions of riparian and coastal areas including in waterfront cities and islands (e.g.: water quality improvement, pollution remediation, erosion control, morpho-dynamics and sediment transport, biodiversity conservation and restoration)
  3. EO3 Reduced vulnerability to climate change related risks (e.g.: lowering flood risks by increasing their natural buffer capacity; adapting to sea level rises and extreme events, and enhancing drought resilience by increasing groundwater recharge functions, carbon sequestration, reducing harmful algal blooms, etc.) with biodiversity co-benefits.
  4. EO4 Increased socio-economic benefits deriving from protecting and restoring riparian and coastal areas and from the remediation of pollution, as well as for recreational and touristic activities.
  5. EO5 Stakeholders and local competent authorities managing riparian and coastal areas, including in waterfront cities and islands (not limited only to those who are partners in the consortium), are engaged to implement and upscale innovative solutions that contribute to increasing resilience to climate change and water-related risks, including by strengthening synergies with their own programmes and resources and encouraging public and private investment.

What evaluators will look for in this topic

Expected outcomes

  • Projects should contribute to all of the expected outcomes.
  • For each outcome (EO1 to EO5), 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 proposal should build (when relevant) on previously developed or existing solutions by other projects, funded by EU and national programmes, in particular the European Union Framework programmes for Research and Innovation, the co-funded Partnership Water Security for the Planet (Water4All) as well as ERDF, INTERREG and LIFE programmes.”
  • “The proposals should take in consideration the projects to be funded under HORIZON-MISS-2025-01-CLIMA-03: Demonstrating solutions to help hotspots in coastal regions to adapt to climate change.”
  • “Each proposal should address only one basin/Mission 'lighthouse', which should be explicitly stated in the proposal, i.e.: 1.”
  • “Activities should be tailored to address regional/sea basin specificities, with strong and meaningful involvement of public administrations, including relevant island public authorities.”
  • “Proposals are encouraged to have an emphasis on Nature-based Solutions, an integrated source-to-sea approach including land-sea interactions, transboundary actions and the regeneration of the blue economy.”
  • “An action plan and roadmap needed for the replication and scale up of the solutions for improving resilience to climate change of islands and riparian and coastal areas are expected to be drawn up by the end of the project.”
  • “The project should link with the activities carried out under the Digital Twin Ocean, in particular those addressing coastal and freshwaters, and support data and knowledge sharing through the Ocean and Water Knowledge System, as well as benefiting from it to foster cross-region, pan-European approaches.”
  • “Monitoring should cover the societal acceptance of the proposed measures.”
  • “Monitoring effort should be aligned with long-term ecological and biodiversity observation programmes to ensure the resilience of islands and riparian and coastal areas tracked and understood over decadal timescales.”
  • “Projects should carry out at least 6 demonstration activities in different types of riparian and coastal areas, including in waterfront cities and islands, to prove in real conditions the operational feasibility and economic viability of innovative solutions to enhance resilience of riparian and coastal areas to climate change and provide biodiversity co-benefits.”
  • “The consortium should carry out demonstration activities in at least 3 different countries of the basin addressed by the proposal.”
  • “Regional and Local authorities, as well as inland water management bodies, are encouraged to be partners in the consortium to ensure that effective solutions are tailored to the context of each island and riparian and coastal area.”

Conditions that shape the proposal

  • Part B, sections 1–3: 40 pages (standard application form). Text beyond the limit is not read; tables and figures count.
  • Innovation action: evaluators expect a plausible path to commercialisation and named first users or customers.
  • 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…”
  • 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…”
  • Legal and financial set-up of the grants: “Beneficiaries will be subject to the following additional obligations regarding open science practices: if projects collect in-situ data and marine observations, beneficiaries must make them openly available through the European Marine Observation and Data network (EMODnet), based on the FAIR (Findable, Accessible,…”

Impact pathway and traps

  • Users or citizens are part of the scope. Show how they take part in the design and testing, not only that they are informed.
  • The scope expects pilots or demonstration. Name the sites, the partners who run them and what is measured there.
  • The topic expects cooperation with other projects or initiatives. Reserve effort and budget for it in the work plan.
  • Policy or regulation is in scope. Name the policy owners you will reach and what you will give them.
  • Keep outputs, outcomes and impacts apart: what you deliver, what changes when others use it, and the long-term effect.
  • Link your outcomes to the destination's expected impacts in the Work Programme. 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

Riparian and coastal areas play a critical role in local climate regulation and serve as the buffer regions between land and waterways, providing a wide array of important ecosystem services such as acting as natural barriers against storm surges, flooding, and erosion, filtering pollutants from the water, regulating floods, providing habitats for species and increasing soil health. sequestering carbon. Islands, which offer invaluable natural resources that support people, cultures and livelihoods, are particularly vulnerable to climate change. The proposal should build (when relevant) on previously developed or existing solutions by other projects, funded by EU and national programmes, in particular the European Union Framework programmes for Research and Innovation, the co-funded Partnership Water Security for the Planet (Water4All) as well as ERDF, INTERREG and LIFE programmes. Proposals are also encouraged to consider -- where relevant -- the services offered by European research infrastructures. The proposals should take in consideration the projects to be funded under HORIZON-MISS-2025-01-CLIMA-03: Demonstrating solutions to help hotspots in coastal regions to adapt to climate change. Each proposal should address only one basin/Mission 'lighthouse', which should be explicitly stated in the proposal, i.e.: 1. Atlantic and Arctic sea basin or 2. Mediterranean Sea basin or 3. Baltic and North Sea basin or 4. Danube River basin (including its delta and the Black Sea). Activities should be tailored to address regional/sea basin specificities, with strong and meaningful involvement of public administrations, including relevant island public authorities. The basins / Mission “lighthouses” include the river basins flowing into the respective sea basins. Proposals should: Test and demonstrate effective solutions in riparian and coastal areas including in waterfront cities and islands to achieve the Mission’s objectives and targets and to address resilience of communities living in those areas to relevant climate change impacts. Proposals are encouraged to have an emphasis on Nature-based Solutions, an integrated source-to-sea approach including land-sea interactions, transboundary actions and the regeneration of the blue economy; Show a significant replication potential by identifying areas and locations where the proposed solutions could be replicable. An action plan and roadmap needed for the replication and scale up of the solutions for improving resilience to climate change of islands and riparian and coastal areas are expected to be drawn up by the end of the project; Monitor the impacts and effectiveness of demonstration activities at a local scale. The project should link with the activities carried out under the Digital Twin Ocean, in particular those addressing coastal and freshwaters, and support data and knowledge sharing through the Ocean and Water Knowledge System, as well as benefiting from it to foster cross-region, pan-European approaches. Monitoring should cover the societal acceptance of the proposed measures; Monitoring effort should be aligned with long-term ecological and biodiversity observation programmes to ensure the resilience of islands and riparian and coastal areas tracked and understood over decadal timescales. Work in a meaningful and very close way with and empower public authorities to accelerate the implementation of innovative solutions and encourage the active participation of citizens (e.g. through living labs); Provide recommendations and guidance to align the improvement of resilience to climate change of riparian and coastal areas including in waterfront cities and islands regarding new policy measures and green infrastructure projects and to strengthen cooperation across relevant sectors (water, navigation, fisheries, hydropower and energy, etc.); Facilitate synergies with other R&I-relevant EU, national or regional programmes, and facilitate the leveraging of funding (e.g. structural or cohesion funds such as ERDF, or LIFE) through meaningful engagement with regional/local/city authorities, and the private sector where relevant; Projects should carry out at least 6 demonstration activities in different types of riparian and coastal areas, including in waterfront cities and islands, to prove in real conditions the operational feasibility and economic viability of innovative solutions to enhance resilience of riparian and coastal areas to climate change and provide biodiversity co-benefits. The consortium should carry out demonstration activities in at least 3 different countries of the basin addressed by the proposal. Regional and Local authorities, as well as inland water management bodies, are encouraged to be partners in the consortium to ensure that effective solutions are tailored to the context of each island and riparian and coastal area. Projects are expected to work with and engage at least 5 ‘associated regions’ (represented by local/regional authorities/public bodies) to show the effectiveness of solutions to increase resilience and develop a replication plan for its uptake in an ‘associated region’ and build capacity at local level. Beneficiaries may therefore provide Financial Support to Third Parties (see the Specific Conditions table for this topic). Projects should (1) proactively reach out to the 'associated regions' to enable them to follow closely the project’s activities, (2) continuously share their outcomes and knowledge with those ‘associated regions’ and (3) provide them with technical assistance to build capacity and to implement in their territory the approach they developed. Proposals should collaborate with the Coordination and Support Action (CSA) for the relevant Mission 'lighthouse '[ [Information on the Mission Lighthouse CSAs is available at…

Other topics in HORIZON-MISS-2027-03

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.