Apply Now: Secure up to €25K to Validate AI-Powered Rural-Urban Innovation in Europe
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PoliRuralPlus announces its ENHANCE open call, a unique opportunity for public authorities, SMEs, NGOs, educational institutions, and research organisations to validate the JackDaw GeoAI chatbot. This innovative AI tool supports natural language interaction with spatial data, promoting evidence-based decision-making in rural-urban development. The call offers funding of up to €25,000 per project for 7–15 projects. Proposals must be submitted by 1 December 2025.
About PoliRuralPlus Enhance Open Call
The ENHANCE Call is the fourth and final open call under the PoliRuralPlus Horizon Europe project. It supports validation projects that apply, test, and improve the JackDaw AI chat agent in real European contexts. Projects will demonstrate JackDaw’s usability in policy-making, planning, research, or stakeholder engagement, and provide structured feedback to shape its future development. The programme duration is 6 months (February–July 2026).
The Enhance Call is dedicated to testing and validating JackDaw, the flagship technological tool developed within PoliRuralPlus.
JackDaw is an AI-powered chat agent designed for spatially contextualised conversations. It addresses challenges in rural and urban development where traditional language models struggle with location-specific queries. Users interact with JackDaw by selecting a location on a map and submitting a natural language query. The system analyses the query, determines necessary spatial and temporal parameters, and retrieves relevant data from available sources. The enriched spatial context is then integrated into AI-generated responses, which may be presented as text, tables, charts, maps, or dashboards. JackDaw combines natural language processing with geospatial intelligence, enabling smarter, data-informed decision-making for regional development, policy analysis, and stakeholder engagement.
Under this call, applicants are expected to:
- Apply JackDaw in real-world contexts across Europe,
- Collect structured user feedback on its functionality and usability,
- Demonstrate its added value for decision-making and communication.
IMPORTANT! Other PoliRuralPlus tools are not in scope for this call.
Why Apply?
- Up to €25,000 in lump-sum funding per project
- Chance to influence the development of a cutting-edge AI tool
- Increased visibility through project promotion on PoliRuralPlus platforms
- Capacity building and digital skills enhancement
- Support inclusive, evidence-based rural-urban development
Who Can Apply?
- Any type of legal entity (e.g. SME, NGO, public authority, research organisation, self-employed natural persons) can apply, provided they have the operational and financial capacity to carry out the proposed activities.
- Single applicants only. Consortia or joint submissions are not permitted for this call. Each application must be submitted by one legal entity.
- Eligible countries: Applicants must be legally established in an EU Member State or an Associated Country as outlined by the Horizon Europe rules.
- Third parties: Subcontracting or transfer of financial contribution to third parties is not permitted.
- Only one proposal will be accepted for funding per applicant. In case of multiple submissions, only the last one received (based on system timestamp) will be evaluated, with all others declared ineligible.
- Organisations that are current PoliRuralPlus beneficiaries or their affiliated entities are not eligible to apply.
How to Apply?
Applications must be submitted via the PoliRuralPlus online portal,
through the following form.
The proposal contains two parts:
- Part A: Administrative Form – This section is designed to collect essential information about your entity and designated contacts for technical and contractual matters. Please provide accurate and complete details to facilitate smooth communication throughout the application and project implementation process.
Note: During the application and contracting process, applicants will be required to submit documentation verifying the legal status of their organisation as well as beneficial ownership information, in accordance with EU regulations and financial transparency requirements.
- Part B: Technical Description – Part B is the narrative part of the proposal and must be uploaded as a single PDF document using the provided template. It includes three sections corresponding to the evaluation criteria:
- Objectives – Describe the context in which JackDaw will be validated, the expected use case(s), and how these align with the Enhance Call objectives.
- Impacts – Outline the expected results, benefits for stakeholders, and how feedback will contribute to improving JackDaw and its adoption across Europe.
- Implementation – Provide a realistic work plan, timeline, and budget allocation, including the expertise of the team involved.
Note: The total length of Part B must not exceed 8 pages, including the page. Any content beyond this limit will be disregarded during the evaluation process.
Important Dates
Call open: 30 September 2025
Submission Deadline: 01 December 2025 at 17:00 (Brussels Time)
Results notification: January 2026
Project start date: February 2026
Project end date: July 2026
You can get acquainted in detail by visiting the Open call guidelines document.
Proposal Requirements for PoliRuralPlus Enhance Open Call
Applications must be submitted via the official online form, available on the PoliRuralPlus website. The proposal must be completed in English.
The application must include:
- Online form with eligibility declaration
- Part B technical description PDF (max 8 pages)
- Legal status documentation
- Deliverables must include:
- 2 blog posts
- 2 social media posts
- 1 external news article
- Final validation report (10–15 pages)
- Feedback forms and participation data
Evaluation & Selection Process
Proposals submitted under the ENHANCE Call will undergo a rigorous evaluation process, including eligibility checks, expert review, and final selection based on merit and relevance.
Step 1: Eligibility Check
Each proposal is first reviewed for compliance with basic eligibility criteria:
- Single legal entity submission
- Applicant established in an EU Member State or Associated Country
- Not a current PoliRuralPlus beneficiary
- All required sections completed and submitted before the deadline
Step 2: Expert Evaluation
Eligible proposals are assessed by a panel of two independent experts based on three evaluation criteria:
- Objectives (0–5 points)
- Clarity and relevance of the proposed JackDaw use case
- Alignment with ENHANCE Call objectives
- Innovative or original applications of JackDaw
- Impacts (0–5 points)
- Significance and quality of expected feedback on JackDaw
- Degree of stakeholder engagement (e.g. policymakers, SMEs, NGOs)
- Replicability or scalability of the results in other regions
- Implementation (0–5 points)
- Coherence and feasibility of work plan, milestones, and timeline
- Appropriateness and justification of the proposed budget
- Experience and capability of the applicant to carry out the work
Step 3: Scoring and Ranking
Each criterion is scored between 0 (lowest) and 5 (highest), with a minimum threshold of:
- 3 points per criterion
- 11 points overall
Proposals that do not meet these thresholds will not be considered for funding.
In the case of equally ranked proposals, priority is given to those showing:
- Stronger and broader stakeholder engagement
- Clear evidence of outcomes relevant to JackDaw validation
Step 4: Final Review
If a high volume of applications is received, an AI-based pre-screening may be used to cluster proposals and support evaluators by flagging relevance and completeness. However, final decisions are always made by human experts.
The final selection is consolidated in a panel review, and successful applicants are notified in January 2026.
Additional Support Beyond Funding
Selected projects will gain visibility on the PoliRuralPlus platform and contribute to shaping the JackDaw chatbot. Support includes networking opportunities, dissemination assistance, and access to the broader innovation ecosystem.
Final Thoughts
This final PoliRuralPlus call represents a unique chance to help shape a tool at the frontier of geospatial AI and public decision-making. Interested applicants are encouraged to visit the open call page, review the full guidelines, and join the effort to make rural-urban data more accessible and actionable.
More Information
- Call guidelines: pdf
- Project website: https://www.poliruralplus.eu
- Contact: info@poliruralplus.eu
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