Green Deal Funding Alert - January 2025

Welcome to the latest edition of the Green Deal Funding Alert, a monthly newsletter that keeps you informed about funding opportunities and initiatives that support sustainable development and the transition to climate neutrality. This edition highlights opportunities to win monetary prizes in one of the two European Bauhaus Prizes 2025, points you to resources for support in accelerating your city's transition to a circular economy, offers a chance to showcase sustainability efforts through the Green Capital and Green Leaf Awards 2027, and presents funding opportunities for regional decarbonisation projects.

1. New European Bauhaus: Prizes 2025 and Boost for Small Municipalities

Your municipality is home to innovative projects that embody the New European Bauhaus (NEB) values of sustainability, inclusivity and beauty? Then apply to be considered in of the two distinct awards running in parallel this year to celebrate forward thinking ideas.

The New European Bauhaus Prizes 2025 will award 22 winners and runners-up that will receive prizes of up to EUR 30 000. In total, four categories guided by the aspired NEB transformation exist, namely "Reconnecting with nature", "Regaining a sense of belonging", "Prioritising the places and people that need it the most" and "Shaping a circular industrial ecosystem". In each category a competition for existing and completed projects will take place as well as another strand among "rising stars" dedicated to concepts submitted by young talents aged 30 or less.

Also, the Boost for Small Municipalities aims to support small players in overcoming early barriers to develop projects guided by the New European Bauhaus principles. Target are municipalities in either rural settings or with a population below 20 000 inhabitants to honour their vital contributions in the NEB and recognize that their involvement is key to making the movement more inclusive and accessible. Proposals must focus on the built environment, such as construction, renovation and adaptation of buildings and public spaces. 20 winners will receive a prize of EUR 30 000 and additionally benefit from a communication package provided by the European Commission.

Click here for more information.

Deadline for applications: 14 February 2025

2. The Circular City Centre's advisory programmes: Get support for your city's circular transition!

Are you looking for hands-on support in transitioning your city towards a circular economy? C3's programmes might be exactly what you need.

The Circular City Centre (C3) is a competence and resource centre led by the European Investment Bank and co-funded by the European Commission as part of the Circular Cities and Regions Initiative (see also below). They offer support to EU cities during their circular economy transition through two different services. The Circular City Advisory Programme is structured as a series of workshops over a period of approximately four to six months, designed to provide cities with support individually adapted to their level of transition in identifying and preparing circular projects and securing financing for their implementation. Additionally, the Circular Project Advisory programme offers technical assistance from concept towards investment and implementation of relatively mature and sizeable urban investment projects in the field of circular economy.

Register here for the information session on 19 February.

Deadline to express interest: 28 February 2025

3. European Green Capital and Green Leaf Awards 2027

Do you want to shed more light on your city's achievements in becoming greener and cleaner? Then showcase your city's best practices by participating in the European Green Capital and Green Leaf Awards 2027 and inspire others across Europe to become more sustainable and improve the quality of life for their inhabitants.

The winner of the Green Capital Award, which is available for cities with over 100 000 inhabitants, will receive EUR 600 000, and up to two Green Leaf Award winners, which is open to towns and cities with more than 20 000 inhabitants will receive EUR 200 000 each. They will be chosen based on a panel of independent urban sustainability experts' assessment of seven environmental indicators, such as air and water quality, green areas and climate change adaptation. The winners will increase their international profile, benefit from intense media coverage, boost the local feeling of belonging, and have access to new opportunities in terms of successfully exporting their green products, processes and services. Additionally, all applicants will receive personalised feedback on their applications.

Apply here for the European Green Capital and Green Leaf Awards 2027.

Deadline for applications: 15 April 2025

4. Innovation Fund 2024: Funding for decarbonisation projects

Do you want to position your region at the forefront of the transition to net-zero emissions and accelerate the EU's transition to renewable energies? Then take a look at the two latest funding opportunities from the Innovation Fund.

The Innovation Fund allocates money raised through the European Emissions Trading System. Its purpose is to support efforts to make renewable energies cost-competitive and to accelerate the EU's transition to net-zero emissions. The European Commission has launched two new calls with a total budget of EUR 3.4 billion.

The general call for net-zero technologies, worth EUR 2.4 billion (IF24 Call), supports decarbonisation projects of various scales and in various sectors, including cleantech manufacturing, maritime, renewables including hydrogen, energy storage and energy-intensive industries. In addition, for the first time, a call worth EUR 1 billion has been launched for electric vehicle battery cell manufacturing (IF24 Battery), which support projects that can produce innovative electric vehicle battery cells or deploy innovative manufacturing techniques, processes and technologies.

Click here for more information on the two Innovation Fund Calls.

Deadline for applications: 24 April 2025 (17.00 CET)

Any questions? 

Please contact our Green Deal team at greendeal@cor.europa.eu. They will be happy to help.

If you missed the last edition of the Funding Alert, you can catch up here.

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