All calls are closed. Future calls will be launched by the European Partnership Driving Urban Transitions to a Sustainable Future
JPI Urban Europe Calls
Innovations for Managing Sustainable Urban Accessibility (2022)
ERA-NET Cofund Urban Accessibility and Connectivity Sino-European call (2022)
ERA-NET Cofund Urban Accessibility and Connectivity Knowledge Hub (2022)
Positive Energy Districts and Neighbourhoods for Climate Neutrality (PED) (2021)
ERA-NET Cofund Urban Transformation Capacities (ENUTC) (2021)
Positive Energy Districts and Neighbourhoods Pilot Call (PED/PEN) (2020)
Urban Migration (2019)
ERA-NET Cofund Urban Accessibility and Connectivity (ENUAC) (2019)
Sustainable and Liveable Cities and Urban Areas (2018)
Making Cities Work (2017)
Sustainable Urbanisation Global Initiative (SUGI)/Food-Water-Energy Nexus (2016)
ERA-NET Cofund Smart Urban Futures Call (ENSUF) (2015)
ERA-NET Cofund Smart Cities and Communities (ENSCC) (2014)
Second Pilot Call (2013)
First Pilot Call (2012)
Calls to Research and Innovation
In order to achieve the aim of transnational research coordination and cooperation, we prepare and facilitate calls for research and innovation projects. The calls are developed according to the multi-annual call agenda and implemented by the Funding Agencies Working Group (FAWG). In line with our principles of fostering inter-and transdisciplinary research and innovation, we aim to include in the resulting projects the participation of a wide spectrum of actors, such as researchers, practitioners, entrepreneurs, municipalities, companies, NGOs, and other stakeholders dedicated to the development of European urban areas.
The multi-annual call agenda
JPI Urban Europe develops multi-annual call agendas based on the priorities defined in the JPI Urban Europe Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA). The multi-annual call agenda takes an integrated view on urban development, with the ambition to foster cross-fertilisation of the thematic priorities. At the same time, the agenda sets priorities clearly defined and focused call topics.
Based on the call agenda specification, call topics are defined with consideration to results from earlier calls, the latest scientific developments, external cooperation opportunities and newly identified research needs. For different calls, tuned to the call topics and aims, specific participation conditions and criteria might apply.
Our call success so far
We are proud to say that we have funded over 100 research and development projects have been selected with project partners from research institutes, municipalities, entrepreneurs and citizen platforms. The projects are financed by funding agencies sometimes with top-up funding from the European Commission.
The JPI Urban Europe ERA-NET Cofunds
Over time we have been able to expand the scope of our calls by developing ERA-NET Co-funded calls. The ERA-NET Co-funds provide European Commission top-up funding and enable the connection of the JPI Urban Europe programme to various societal challenges of H2020 and generate added value through initiating cooperation with EU policies and activities, such as the European Innovation Partnership Smart Cities and Communities or structural funds. The ERA-NET Cofunds also facilitate the widening of participation of EU Member States or Associated States and support international cooperation (e.g. with Belmont Forum and China).
In the ERA-NET Cofund Smart Cities and Communities (ENSCC) call 17 projects were granted approval with a total budget of €21.9 million including €5.5 million in European Commission top-up funding.
In the ERA-NET Cofund Smart Urban Futures (ENSUF) call, 15 projects were granted a total amount of public funding of 23.8 M€ provided by national and regional funding agencies from 18 European countries, including support from Horizon 2020.
In the Sustainable Urbanisation Global Initiative (SUGI)/Food-Water-Energy Nexus 15 projects have been funded in order to bring together actors to find innovative new solutions to the Food-Water-Energy Nexus challenge. The ultimate goal is to increase the access and the quality of life.
The ERA-NET Cofund Urban Accessibility and Connectivity (ENUAC) call for proposals aims at creating and testing new solutions and approaches for sustainable urban mobility. With this shared ambition, countries are pooling resources to implement a series of calls for research and innovation projects as well as accompanying measures to create highest impact. The first ENUAC call was launched in 2019 and in 2020, the 23 national funding agencies, from 16 countries, agreed on a list of 15 projects recommended for funding to start beginning of 2021.
In the ERA-NET Cofund Urban Transformation Capacities (ENUTC) Call, 16 national research and innovation funding agencies, from 14 European countries (namely members of the Joint Programming Initiative Urban Europe), with the European Commission, have earmarked a global budget of about 18.4 M€, in order to support transnational R&I projects. The call opened in February 2021 and funding decisions will be announced December 2021 – March 2022.
The JPI Urban Europe pilot call
In 2012 and 2013 we carried out two pilot calls that supported the start-up phase of JPI Urban Europe. Ten and then sixteen funding agencies joined forces respectively, and started collaboration on urban matters. National budgets were pooled together to initiate transnational projects on topics such as urban governance, urban systems and networks, urban vulnerability or urban diversity. 20 projects were funded in these two calls.
Requirements for project consortia
Our calls aim to boost international collaboration, knowledge development and application. Therefore, the calls usually ask for the participation of eligible applicants from at least three different participating countries, and ask for a variety of types of participants. The specific topics of the call determine the specific eligibility and selection criteria. As our calls are based upon multi-lateral cooperation, applicants need to comply with their respective national and funding agency related eligibility criteria and funding rates that are tuned to country specific uses and conditions (but might differ between the participating funding agencies).
Participants that aren’t eligible for funding through JPI Urban Europe are still very welcome to join a project (proposal), however, they will be responsible for arranging their own funding sources.
Improving the call instruments
We seek to become ever more effective and efficient in our operation. For this reason we have put in procedures which use experiences from past calls in order to improve future calls regarding setting the aims, ambitions and the related proposal selection criteria. Feedback has helped us set priorities such as extending the time frame between a call announcement and deadlines for proposals or improving the project requirements to foster a strong contribution of various urban stakeholders, such as local initiatives, municipalities or entrepreneurs.