WATER4ALL - 5th Joint Transnational Call
Funding transnational R&I projects that advance sustainable water management through integrated monitoring, nature-based approaches, smart water infrastructures and inclusive governance.
TYPE OF PROJECTS TO BE FUNDED: Transnational Research, Development and Innovation projects that contribute to long-term water security and sustainable water management. Projects may develop new knowledge, monitoring and modelling approaches, digital and data-driven tools, nature-based and hybrid solutions, smart and adaptive water infrastructures, decision-support systems, and governance approaches, with pathways towards scientific, technical, policy and societal impact.
SECTORS / DOMAIN: Sustainable water management, including integrated water resource management, river-basin and groundwater management, water resilience, monitoring and data use, water-positive solutions, nature-based approaches, water infrastructures and water governance. Extreme events and circularity are excluded from the call scope as standalone themes.
INDIVIDUAL OR CONSORTIUM: Consortium applications are mandatory. Each consortium must include at least 3 eligible partners requesting funding from participating Funding Partner Organisations from 3 different countries. It must also include at least 2 independent legal entities from 2 different EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries as recipients of financial support. The standard maximum is 7 partners, including a maximum of 1 self-funded partner; this may increase to 8 where at least 1 partner from an undersubscribed Funding Partner Organisation is included.
SPECIFIC ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS: Funded partners must comply with both the general call eligibility criteria and the national or regional rules of their respective Funding Partner Organisation. Participating countries include Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, the Slovak Republic, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Tunisia, Türkiye and the United Kingdom. Applicants from other countries may participate with their own secured funding but do not count towards the minimum requirement for funded partners and countries. The Consortium Coordinator must be eligible for funding from a participating Funding Partner Organisation. The call also includes an Early Career Researchers modality, under which the coordinator must normally have obtained their PhD less than 10 years before the call launch, subject to national or regional rules and permitted exemptions.
SPECIFIC TOPICS OR CHALLENGES: Proposals must address at least 1 of 4 main topics and may combine several where relevant: (1) Integrated Monitoring and Assessment for Sustainable Water Management; (2) Nature-Based Approaches for Resilient Water Management at Hydrological and Hydrogeological System Scale; (3) Smart, Secure and Adaptive Water Infrastructures for Sustainable Water Management; and (4) Resilient Water Systems Through Systemic Change, Policy Coherence and Inclusive Governance. Cross-cutting considerations include climate change and environmental pressures, socio-economic and participatory aspects, digitalisation and data-driven approaches, and innovation uptake and implementation.
PROJECTS DURATION: 36 months. Funded consortia must agree on a coordinated project start, no later than 31 March 2028.
BUDGET, FUNDING RATES AND PAYMENT CONDITIONS:
Funding rate: Funding rates vary between Funding Partner Organisations and are governed by their respective national or regional funding rules.
Budget conditions / limitations: Approximately €34 million has been provisionally allocated to the 2026 Joint Transnational Call and its modalities. There is no call-wide minimum or maximum total budget per proposal. Maximum amounts available to individual partners and/or projects depend on the applicable national or regional Funding Partner Organisation rules.
Payments: Grants are awarded on a national or regional basis by the relevant Funding Partner Organisation according to its own terms and conditions.
Links
Closes
10/11/2026
Max funding per project
2.500.000€