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HORIZON EUROPE TOPIC · New European Bauhaus

Enabling environments for a sustainable and circular construction sector

HORIZON-NEB-2027-01-REGEN-04 — the expected outcomes as checkable statements, what evaluators look for in this topic, and the conditions that shape the proposal.

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ForthcomingIA · lump sumDeadline 1 December 2027around EUR 4.5 million per project

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TopicHORIZON-NEB-2027-01-REGEN-04
StatusForthcoming
CallHORIZON-NEB-2027-01 — Innovative models for neighbourhoods that integrate beauty, inclusiveness and sustainability
DestinationCircular and regenerative approaches for the built environment (2026-27)
Type of actionInnovation Actions · lump sum
Opening5 May 2027
Deadline1 December 2027
Budgetaround EUR 4.5 million per project · 2 projects expected · EUR 9 million in total
TRL at the endTRL 6–8
Part B page limit45 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: “Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:”

  1. EO1 Demonstrated environments that effectively enable the testing, validation, deployment and upscaling of NEB-aligned innovative construction solutions are available to construction companies.
  2. EO2 Insights, data, evidence for replication and policy uptake, and practical blueprints are generated on the design, implementation and effectiveness of enabling environments and feed the three pillars of the NEB Academy.

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 Living and working in a health-promoting environment.
  2. EI2 Achieving global leadership in climate-neutral, circular and digitised industrial and digital value chains.
  3. EI3 Putting biodiversity on a path to recovery, and protecting and restoring ecosystems and their services.
  4. EI4 Sustainably developing rural, urban and coastal areas.
  5. EI5 Advancing the development and integration of innovative, bio-based and more circular construction materials and products in new construction and building renovations, while complying with current European standards and regulations, as well as informing them.
  6. EI6 Rethinking the way we design, build, use, renovate and disassemble our built environment over its entire life cycle to reach a more circular and sustainable built environment, better health and well-being of their occupants, better resources management, better biodiversity and regenerated ecosystems.
  7. EI7 Leveraging digital tools and technologies, local cultural identity and heritage as well as traditional and vernacular knowledge and knowhow.
  8. EI8 Developing new methods or improve existing ones to assess environmental performance and associated impacts of solutions, designs and techniques for the built environment.
  9. EI9 The built environment, including cultural heritage buildings, and its composing elements and materials in neighbourhoods are more sustainable, circular, adaptable, multi-purposed, long-lasting, and have net-zero GHG emissions (and beyond) over their entire life cycles, resulting in an overall more sustainable, and climate-neutral building stock.
  10. EI10 Neighbourhoods are more beautiful, healthier places where human beings, natural ecosystems and biodiversity can thrive.
  11. EI11 Spaces, existing buildings and resources for construction and renovation are optimally used without compromising affordability, comfort and living conditions.
  12. EI12 The solutions developed are sustainable, beautiful, user-centred and place-based, connect with local cultural identity, historical knowledge and cultural heritage, answer the needs of and are accepted by users – including minorities, underrepresented groups and groups in a vulnerable situation.

What evaluators will look for in this topic

Expected outcomes

  • Projects should contribute to all of the expected outcomes.
  • For each outcome (EO1 to EO2), 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.

  • “Accelerating the transition towards more sustainability and circularity in the construction sector thus requires supportive enabling environments that provide companies with spaces to test and validate their NEB-aligned innovative construction solutions in real-life conditions as well as appropriate regulatory, institutional, fiscal, financial and societal conditions where they can be deployed and scaled up.”
  • “This topic should therefore support the development and demonstration of enabling environments which can take the form of:.”
  • “Actions funded under this topic should contribute to bridging research, innovation and the deployment of solutions, enabling the transformation of the construction sector.”
  • “Proposals are expected to address all of the following:.”
  • “Proposals are expected to follow a participatory and transdisciplinary approach through the integration of different actors and disciplines in the development of the enabling environment.”
  • “Proposals are expected to allocate at least 0.8% of their budget for engaging with the NEB Academy and the Horizon Europe-funded 'New European Bauhaus hub for results and impact' to share their intermediate and final results, findings and learning, as well as to contribute to impact assessment.”

Conditions that shape the proposal

  • Part B, sections 1–3: 45 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.
  • TRL: the topic expects TRL 6–8 by the end of the project. State where you start and the evidence for it.
  • Innovation action: evaluators expect a plausible path to commercialisation and named first users or customers.

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.
  • Standardisation is mentioned. Name the committees or bodies and the partner who engages with them.
  • Market uptake is part of the scope. Evaluators look for a credible route to market with named first adopters.
  • 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.
  • 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 construction sector plays a central role in delivering on the EU’s climate, environmental, economic and social objectives. Accelerating its transition towards more sustainability and circularity is key to strengthen the competitiveness of the European construction industry and enhance global leadership. However, the uptake and deployment of innovation in the traditional and offsite construction sector is hampered by regulatory, institutional, fiscal, financial and societal barriers such as inadequate fiscal incentives, fragmented value chains, limited access to finance, insufficient standardisation, skills gaps, or low societal acceptance. In addition, access to real-life testing and demonstration environments remains insufficient, further constraining the validation and market uptake of innovative solutions. Accelerating the transition towards more sustainability and circularity in the construction sector thus requires supportive enabling environments that provide companies with spaces to test and validate their NEB-aligned innovative construction solutions in real-life conditions as well as appropriate regulatory, institutional, fiscal, financial and societal conditions where they can be deployed and scaled up. This topic should therefore support the development and demonstration of enabling environments which can take the form of: Physical innovation spaces, such as living labs or testbeds, where solutions can be tested and validated in real-life conditions; Frameworks providing supportive regulatory, institutional, fiscal, and financial conditions, such as regulatory sandboxes or innovations deals, to generate evidence on how existing conditions can be adapted to enable the deployment and scale-up of NEB-aligned construction solutions; Or a combination of both. Actions funded under this topic should contribute to bridging research, innovation and the deployment of solutions, enabling the transformation of the construction sector. By doing so, they will be an integral part of the NEB Academy, the NEB’s core infrastructure for capacity building and skills development, knowledge and research, and innovation and business development in the built environment. This topic contributes to and aligns with the Communication on the New European Bauhaus and the accompanying proposal for Council Recommendation, the Clean Industrial Deal, the Strategy for a Competitive and Sustainable EU Bioeconomy, the European Strategy for Housing Construction, the Affordable Housing Plan, the Innovation Act) and the Circular Economy agenda and future Act. Proposals are expected to address all of the following: Develop and demonstrate at least one enabling environment(s), supporting at least two different companies – including at least one start-up – in developing a NEB-aligned construction solution(s). The enabling environment(s) will: Facilitate the interaction and actively involve relevant actors across the construction value-chain including industries, companies, researchers, designers, public authorities, investors, and civil society to ensure alignment; Develop a place-based approach taking into account local ecosystems, governance structures, regulatory frameworks and specific opportunities and risks. Ensure the NEB-aligned innovative construction solution is co-designed with end-users and answers societal needs. Contribute to the NEB Academy by proposing and applying structural feedback loops, ensuring, among others, that the results of the project inform the identification of potential skills policy as well as policy and regulatory learning. Proposals are expected to follow a participatory and transdisciplinary approach through the integration of different actors and disciplines in the development of the enabling environment. Proposals are expected to allocate at least 0.8% of their budget for engaging with the NEB Academy and the Horizon Europe-funded 'New European Bauhaus hub for results and impact' to share their intermediate and final results, findings and learning, as well as to contribute to impact assessment.

Technology readiness, as published

Activities are expected to achieve TRL 6-8 by the end of the project – see General Annex B. Activities may start at any TRL. “Construction solutions” include solutions related to renovation, retrofitting, and refurbishment, the latter being understood as changes to space plan or of function to new use, not typically covered by renovation, in line with the standards set by the European Committee…

Other topics in HORIZON-NEB-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.