Fourth joint transnational co-financed call of the Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership (SBEP): Building a sustainable and innovative Blue Economy: mastering digital opportunities and fostering resilience

Composed of over 30 countries, the Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership is a Research and Innovation Partnership started in 2022 under the Horizon Europe Programme, and is part of the Cluster 6 (Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment). The vision of the Partnership is to design, steer and support a just and inclusive transition to a regenerative, resilient, and sustainable blue economy. It aims to boost the transformation
needed towards a climate-neutral, sustainable, productive, and competitive blue economy by 2030 while creating and supporting the conditions for a sustainable ocean for the people by 2050.

This fourth co-funded call aims to support transnational research and innovation projects of 36 months duration, addressing one of the four priority areas below (subject to funded priority areas by participating funding organisations, see Annex):

• Priority area 1: Transitioning the blue economy sectors for sustainability and strategic autonomy
• Priority area 2: Managing sea-uses by advancing digital and ecosystem-based approaches
• Priority area 3: Promoting sustainable blue bioresources through innovation in production and harvesting
• Priority area 4: Building resilience in coastal communities with infrastructure and businesses

Projects in this co-funded call must be impact-driven contributions to the transformation into a blue economy for a more resilient future and towards carbon neutrality targets, following an impact pathway approach.

The proposals are recommended to consider a minimum of two European sea basins and to assess the project proposal’s impact on various basins. Proposals can target European regional seas such as Adriatic Sea, Aegean Sea, Arctic, Barents Sea, Celtic Sea, etc. however the recommended sea basins to address are: the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.

The fourth co-funded call of this EU Partnership pools national and regional financial resources through the participation of 33 funding organisations from 28 countries combined with the contribution from the European Union. 20 Member-States, 7 Associated Countries and 1 Third Country are participating: Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Montenegro, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, The Netherlands, Tunisia, Turkiye, Ukraine. The total estimated budget is about EUR 37 million.

To be eligible, each consortium must be composed of eligible partners from at least three different countries participating in the call and requesting financial support from at least three different funding organisations participating in the call. In addition, the projects must involve at least two independent legal entities from two different EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries eligible for EU funding in this call for (pre-)proposal. Self-funded partners, including partners from countries (and/or regions) not participating in this co-funded call, are allowed but do not contribute to the minimum eligible consortium size.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to involve stakeholders (i.e., small, and medium enterprises (SMEs), industries, authorities, public administrations, associations, as well as civil society organisations) as partners or self-funded partners (according to national/regional regulations) in their proposal. Stakeholder engagement in the research projects will enhance innovation, policy, and societal relevance and ultimately the impact of the projects.

Applicants must submit their pre-proposals before November 16th (15H00 CET). A first evaluation of pre-proposals will be organised and the deadline to submit full proposals is foreseen for June 2027.

This R&I call is co-branded as part of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, which is coordinated by UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC/UNESCO) on behalf of the UN system, with the aim that the selected funded research and innovation projects are endorsed as Ocean Decade projects.

Applicants are invited to look at the documents listed below and consult the call announcement as well as its annexes including the national/regional regulations on the SBEP website.