Research and development for a healthy planet
The European strategic plan for Cluster 6, "Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment",’ expects the following impacts:
- Climate neutrality and adaptation to climate change;
- preservation and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems;
- sustainable and circular management of natural resources; combating environmental pollution; bioeconomy;
- food and nutrition security for all through sustainable food systems from farm to fork;
- balanced development of rural, coastal and urban areas;
- innovative governance models that enable sustainability and environmental monitoring.
Calls for proposals
To achieve these objectives, annual calls for proposals with specific themes will be published in the following seven areas:
- Environmental monitoring
- Biodiversity and natural resources
- Agriculture, forestry and rural areas
- Seas, ocean and inland waters
- Food systems
- Bio-based innovation systems in the EU bioeconomy
- Circular economy
The first calls for proposals in the 2026/27 work program are open. A total budget of around 677 million Euro in 2026 and around 632 million Euro in 2027 is available for your project proposals. The submission deadlines are in April 2026 (for single-stage applications or the first stage of two-stage applications). The deadline for the second stage is in September 2026. The deadlines will be similar in 2027.
[Listen now] EC Horizon Europe Info Days – Cluster 6 (22/23 January, hybrid)
During this two-day online event, the European Commission provided comprehensive information on all call topics and the submission and evaluation process. The recordings are available online.
Still looking for partners? The Matchmaking is still open until the submission deadlines – take this opportunity to find the right partners for your project idea!
All calls for proposals, full details, exact submission deadlines and the opportunity to submit proposals will also be available on the ‘Funding & Tender opportunities’ portal of the European Commission.
European partnerships in Cluster 6
In addition to the annual calls in Cluster 6, there will be funding opportunities within the framework of public-public and public-private partnerships, which will be financially supported by Horizon Europe funds. The following eight European partnerships are assigned to Cluster 6:
Missions in Cluster 6
A new approach from Horizon Europe is research and innovation missions (missions) with the aim of developing solutions to some of the world's biggest challenges within a defined timeframe. Two of the five missions are thematically linked to Cluster 6: