Introducing circular economy models in the construction sector, from buildings to city scale
European Commission · Horizon Europe Framework Programme (HORIZON)
Posted 4 Feb 2026 · 8 days left
In plain terms
The European Commission funds projects that introduce circular economy models in the construction sector at building, district and city level to reduce emissions and resource use. Consortia must include at least three cities from different EU or associated countries (with at least one from the EU Mission's 112 selected cities), requesting 6 to 10 million euros, with applications due by 8 October 2026.
A generated summary of the donor's text; the original wording is below.
Summary
Expected Outcome:
Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:
Measurable increase in the number of tools and solutions at district or city level that are supporting the application of circular economy models by public and private stakeholders active in the construction sector;
Measurable reduction of material use and an increase of reuse and recycling in the construction sector as a result of the introduction of new and replicable business models;
Measurable reduction in the energy and other resources use and the whole life-cycle GHG emissions of buildings[1] and building stock (residential and non-residential) by introducing circular economy activities at building, district and city level.
Scope:
Applying circularity principles in the construction sector at building, district and city level can reduce the whole life-cycle GHG emissions and support more efficient resource use of the building stock, and help deliver climate-neutral, smart and circular cities, and a more sustainable built environment. To achieve this, there is a need for tools, solutions and associated business models with market potential that facilitate the adoption of…
Excerpt from the donor's page. The full text, annexes and forms are on the original call.
Eligible regions
- eu_only
Who can apply
- ngo_cso
- academia_research
- private_company
- government
- consortium_required
Eligibility and conditions
Show the eligibility text from the source
">General conditions
1. Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout
described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes.
Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System.
2. Eligible Countries
described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.
A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.
3. Other Eligible Conditions
The following additional eligibility criteria apply:
At least three cities, represented by a local authority or by an entity with an explicit consent from the local authority, each from a different Member State or Associated Country, must participate as beneficiaries. At least one of the three cities must be one of the 112 cities selected for the EU Mission on Climate-neutral and Smart Cities[[ The EU Mission on Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities aims to deliver 100 climate-Neutral and smart cities by 2030 and ensure that these cities act as experimentation and innovation hubs to enable all European cities to follow suit by 2050. On 28 April 2022, the Commission announced the 100 EU cities that will participate in the Mission. In addition, 12 cities have been selected from countries associated or expected to be associated the Horizon Europe programme.]].
described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.
4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion
described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.
5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds
are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes.
5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes
are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual.
5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement
described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes.
6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants
Grants awarded under this topic will be linked to the following action(s):
HORIZON-MISS-2021-CIT-02-03
Collaboration with the Cities Mission Platform[[Set up by Horizon 2020 project NetZeroCities - Accelerating cities' transition to net zero emissions by 2030, Grant Agreement n. 101036519, and scaled up through topic HORIZON-MISS-2021-CIT-02-03: Framework Partnership Agreement (FPA) for the Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities Mission Platform.]] is essential and projects must ensure that appropriate provisions for activities and resources aimed at enforcing this collaboration are included in the work plan of the proposal. The collaboration with the Cities Mission Platform must be formalized through a Memorandum of Understanding to be concluded as soon as possible after the project starting date.
Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2021-2027) – and in actions under the Research and Training Programme of the European Atomic Energy Community (2021-2025) [[This decision is available on the Funding and Tenders Portal, in the reference documents section for Horizon Europe, under ‘Simplified costs decisions’ or through this link: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/horizon/guidance/ls-decision_he_en.pdf]].
described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Specific conditions
Not applicable.
Application and evaluation forms and model grant agreement (MGA):
Application form templates — the application form specific to this call is available in the Submission System
Standard application form (HE RIA, IA)
Evaluation form templates — will be used with the necessary adaptations
Standard evaluation…