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European Commission

Boosting sustainable competitiveness in rural areas through innovation

Funds research consortia that test digital, technological, nature-based and social solutions to boost rural entrepreneurship and services access.

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Funding here is paid as a lump sum rather than reimbursement of actual costs, following the Commission's lump-sum decision for Horizon Europe grants. Award criteria, scoring and the pass thresholds are not set out on this topic page itself; they sit in the Work Programme's general annexes alongside admissibility, eligible-country and financial-capacity conditions. Funded projects are expected to b…

This call wants proposals that improve understanding of what helps or blocks sustainable competitiveness in rural areas, with indicators that capture social and environmental performance alongside economic ones. It is looking for projects that support young rural entrepreneurs to design, prototype and test digital, technological, nature-based or social solutions, and that improve rural communities' access to digital and hybrid education and training.

CycleiHow often this grant runs - e.g. annually, on a rolling basis, or a one-off call.No fixed schedule
Next deadlineiThe next date applications are due. Rolling means you can apply any time.-
Decision timeiTypical time from the deadline to the funder's decision.-
Project durationiHow long the funded work is expected to run.-
Award typeiThe form of funding - grant, equity, loan, tax credit, etc.Grant
Match fundingiThe share of project costs you must cover yourself. 0% = fully funded.-
Funding pooliThe total budget available across all awards in this round.€11.8M

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