Unless otherwise provided for in the specific call/topic conditions, only legal entities forming a consortium are eligible to participate in Horizon Europe actions provided that the consortium includes, as beneficiaries, three legal entities independent from each other and each established in a different country as follows:

• at least one independent legal entity established in a Member State;
• and at least two other independent legal entities, each established in different Member States or Associated Countries (this includes the UK).

Our European team can help you find eligible partners to form a consortium.

There may be further eligibility conditions for specific topics. Please check the Work Programme and contact our team to ensure your eligibility before applying.

In particular, several of the topics under “Transformative change towards a nature-positive economy and society” require a multi-actor approach, involving relevant organisations from: i) researchers, ii) farmers / farmers’ groups and associations, iii) foresters / foresters’ groups and associations, iv) aquaculture producers, v) fishers / fishers’ groups and associations, vi) advisors, vii) food and bioeconomy businesses, viii) other businesses, ix) consumer associations, x) local communities, xi) citizens, xii) civil society organisations including NGOs and social economy actors, and xiii) government representatives. See the Work Programme for full details.

Proposals submitted under this call should set out a credible pathway contributing to “putting biodiversity on a path to recovery, and protecting and restoring ecosystems and their services”, and more specifically to one or more of the following expected impacts:

• the biodiversity crisis and its consequences (including on the EU competitiveness) are better understood including with improved knowledge on direct and indirect drivers, notably PFAS pollution, as well as on their combined effect on biodiversity loss, and their underlying societal values including genetic diversity level; the implementation of the EU biodiversity policy is eased with advanced methods and tools; new options for policy makers are developed and further progress is made in mainstreaming biodiversity in EU policies;
• stakeholders have at their disposal cost-effective and operational monitoring methods for policy implementation and the global ocean observation system is improved to support marine biodiversity conservation and ecosystem management;
• stakeholders implementing nature restoration activities, including farmers, foresters, and fishers, as well as policymakers, public administrations, NGOs and citizens benefit from new approaches and solutions for nature restoration, improving ecosystem health and connectivity, that also address implementation bottlenecks, financing aspects and disaster risk-resilience;
• more effective controls of wildlife trafficking and invasive alien species are possible with new technologies, leading to better protected ecosystems;
• technological and non-technological innovations, knowledge and tools are available to support private actors to better understand, anticipate and address their direct, indirect and cumulative impact on biodiversity while considering potential trade-offs and conflicting aims in climate action and providing options for nature-positive trajectories, making them more sustainable and resilient in particular for clean and digital industries;
• private actors are better equipped to comply with their legal obligations including their due diligence reporting obligations and to apply a systemic approach when analysing their activities on biodiversity; transformative change is accelerated with insights from the behavioural science;
• ecosystem health is better understood through strengthened observing systems, relevant data, analytical frameworks and through the One Health approach that in turn helps to integrate biodiversity considerations into health policies in Europe, supported by interoperable European data spaces and AI-enabled infrastructures;
• progress towards international commitments on biodiversity is made.

Single-stage calls opening 13 Oct 2026, deadline 14 Jan 2027

• HORIZON-NATURE-2027-01-01 (RIA): Understanding the nature and the extent of the effects of PFAS on biodiversity and ecosystem services. c.€5.7m per project for 2 projects.
• HORIZON-NATURE-2027-01-02 (RIA): Better understanding, anticipating and addressing the biodiversity benefits and impacts of the clean and digital industries. c.€6m per project for 3 projects.
• HORIZON-NATURE-2027-01-03 (RIA): Systemic approaches to accelerate transformative change for biodiversity. c.€4m per project for 3 projects. A multi-actor approach is required for this project.
• HORIZON-NATURE-2027-02-01 (RIA): Assessing direct and indirect drivers of biodiversity decline of invertebrates. c.€7.5m each for 2 projects.
• HORIZON-NATURE-2027-02-02 (RIA): Living labs co-creating solutions for the restoration of ecosystems addressing implementation bottlenecks and improving resilience to risks. c.€10m each for 6 projects. A multi-actor approach is required for this project.
• HORIZON-NATURE-2027-02-03 (CSA): Networking to scale up living labs for nature restoration solutions and to address bottlenecks to implementation. c.€4m for a single project. A multi-actor approach is required for this project.
• HORIZON-NATURE-2027-02-04 (IA): Innovative solutions to fight wildlife trafficking and to reduce invasion of invasive alien species. c.€13m for a single project.
• HORIZON-NATURE-2027-02-05 (RIA): Cost-effective biodiversity monitoring for EU policies. c.€5m-€6m each for 3 projects.

Single-stage calls opening 6 Oct 2026, deadline 16 Feb 2027:

• HORIZON-NATURE-2027-04-01 (IA): A stronger Global Ocean Observing System to enhance Europe’s strategic autonomy, climate resilience and biodiversity conservation. c.€50m for a single project.
• HORIZON-NATURE-2027-04-02 (RIA): Detection, monitoring, modelling, and attribution capabilities for Solar Radiation Modification activities and their impacts on Earth’s climate and ecosystems. c.€10m for a single project.

Single-stage call opening 3 Jun 2027, deadline 16 Sep 2027:

• HORIZON-NATURE-2027-03-01 (RIA): Advancing interdisciplinary, data-driven research at the biodiversity- health interface under a One Health approach. c.€20m for a single project.