Pre-Announcement: Water4All 2026 Joint Transnational Call “Sustainable Water Management”

Funding Organisations from 30 countries all over Europe and beyond are pleased to pre-announce a Joint Transnational Call (JTC) for research and innovation projects on “Sustainable Water Management (excluding extreme events and circularity)”.

The 2026 Joint Transnational Call within the Water4All Partnership is aiming at research and innovation to contribute to water security in the long term. In line with the strategic objectives of Water4All, the results should contribute to the implementation of evidence-based, global, EU and national water management policies and strategies, within the frameworks of the European Green Deal, the zero-pollution action plan, the Water Framework Directive and the two so-called daughter directives on groundwater and quality of surface water, the Just Transition Mechanism, the European Water Resilience Strategy and the Sustainable Development Goals. Proposals should show cognisance of appropriate legislation and policy frameworks that are relevant for the call at national and international levels.

Call topics:

The context for the general call topics is described in Theme III of the Water4All Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda, “Integrated water management”.

The Water4All 2026 Joint Transnational Call focusing on Sustainable Water Management (excluding extreme events and circularity) invites proposals that address critical challenges related to Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM), River Basin Management, Groundwater Management, Water Resilience, Integrated Water Monitoring and data management, Water-positive solutions.

Research and innovation proposals submitted under the Water4All 2026 Joint Transnational Call are required to address at least one of the following topics:

• Topic 1: Integrated monitoring and assessment for sustainable water management
• Topic 2: Nature-based approaches for resilient water management at hydrological and hydrogeological system scale
• Topic 3: Smart, secure and adaptive water infrastructures for sustainable water management
• Topic 4: Resilient water systems through systemic change, policy coherence and inclusive governance

The call topics are overlapping and non-exclusive. Thus, proposals must address at least one of the following topics and may integrate multiple topics where relevant. Additionally, proposals are encouraged to explore links to other Water4All SRIA themes, particularly the SRIA theme V “Infrastructures for Water” (excluding extreme events, circularity and health).

In addition, this call will include an additional modality aiming at Early Career Researchers holding a PhD since less than 10 years ago (obtained after 8 September 2016)

Composition of consortia

Each consortium must be composed of at least a minimum of three (3) eligible partners that request funding from participating Funding Partner Organisations (FPOs) from three different countries and involve at least two independent legal entities from two different EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries.

Pending confirmation, the participating countries are:  Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malta, Moldova, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovak Republic, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Tunisia, Turkey, United Kingdom.  

Details will be published in the Water4All 2026 Call Announcement document at the official launch of the call on 8 September 2026. A provisional timeline, main information regarding the consortium composition, eligibility criteria, participating countries and the call topics are published on the Water4All call webpage.