Driving Urban Transitions Partnership – Joint Call 2026

Cooperative R&D projects are eligible for funding. Applicant organizations from Austria can participate in one of the following funding topics:

15-Minutes City Pathway 

• 15mC topic 1: Adaptive reuse of existing urban structures and spaces
• 15mC topic 3: Nurture neighbourhood economies – activate innovation in local everyday offers
• Important: 15mC topic 2 will not be funded by FFG.

Circular Urban Economies Pathway

• CUE topic 1: Adaptive reuse of existing urban structures and spaces
• CUE topic 2: Innovative maintenance of urban green and blue spaces
• CUE topic 3: Rethinking urban production for circular and resilient cities

Positive Energy Districts Pathway

• PED topic 1: Adaptive reuse of existing urban structures and spaces 
• PED topic 2: PED solutions in private housing across different urban contexts
• PED topic 3: Sustainable PEDs, flexibility in energy systems, and integrated technologies 

Further information on the topics of the call can be found in section 2.3 "Call topics" of the transnational call text.

Urban actors from different European and international countries are invited to submit their interdisciplinary and stakeholder-inclusive projects in a two-stage process. The list of participating countries will be published at a later date.

Austrian companies, research institutions, municipalities, and other non-profit organizations may receive funding in this transnational call for proposals.

The economic viability of companies, such as creditworthiness and liquidity, will be assessed by FFG internal experts. Companies in difficulty do not receive funding.

The maximum funding for Austrian participants in a cooperative R&D project is a total of EUR 400,000 (industrial research) or EUR 500,000 (experimental development), and the minimum funding is EUR 100,000.

The submitted projects must comply with the national requirements (see download center for national call text, instrument and cost guidelines) and the transnational call for proposals.

• In cooperative R&D projects, the transnational consortium must include at least one funded company.
• All Austrian partners in a project must select the same research category in their application.
• The project duration must not exceed 36 months.

To facilitate networking and knowledge transfer, participation in the Mission Klimaneutrale Stadt learning environment is another criterion for project eligibility, in order to leverage synergies and avoid redundancies. This process may take place through e.g. participation in the Mission Klimaneutrale Stadt networking meetings.

The involvement of a municipal partner from Austria (municipality, city, municipal company, etc.) is encouraged.

More information will follow at a later date.

In addition to the transnational submission via the transnational submission system, a national submission is also required.

For the national submission, you will need the following in the first stage:

• Online form (cost plan, partners, etc.) in eCall
  • Note: In the first stage of this call, a detailed cost plan is not required in eCall. Only a breakdown by cost categories is needed and must be entered into the corresponding online form.
• The pre-proposal, as submitted transnationally, must be included as a mandatory attachment.

The transnational application must be submitted via the transnational submission system by 13:00 CET on November 17, 2026. The additional required national application must be submitted via eCall by 12:00 CET on November 19, 2026.

For the second stage, you will need the following for the national submission:

• Online form (work plan, detailed cost plan, partners, etc.) via eCall
• The full proposal, as submitted transnationally, as a mandatory attachment

The transnational application must be submitted via the transnational submission system by 13:00 PM CEST on April 15, 2027. The additional required national application must be submitted via eCall by 12:00 CEST on April 20, 2027.

The evaluation results for the first stage will be available in early March 2027, and those for the second stage in July 2027. The funding decision is expected in July/August 2027.