SoS2LearnDBS’s Open call for Community-Led Actions to restore Danube-Black Sea Waters (OC-CLed-SoS2LearnDBS-2025)

Description

Expected Outcomes Projects funded under this call are expected to contribute to the following outcomes in the Danube-Black Sea region: 1. Stronger community leadership and capacity for long-term water protection. Danube-Black Sea region’s communities gain the skills, confidence and resources to lead restoration and pollution-reduction efforts in their rivers, lakes, seas and coastal areas. Local communities build lasting capacity to manage and protect their water environments well beyond the project period. 2. Proven innovative solutions delivering measurable environmental and societal improvements in Danube-Black Sea region. Projects test and demonstrate practical, community-led solutions (integrating technological, nature-based, social, cultural, regulatory, financial or governance innovations) that provide verifiable evidence of effectiveness, usability, environmental and societal impact under real conditions in the Danube-Black Sea region. 3. Enhanced multi-stakeholder collaboration and knowledge exchange. Projects bring together diverse actors (communities, local authorities, researchers, SMEs, civil society organisations, underrepresented stakeholders, etc.) to cooperate, build a shared understanding of sustainable water management practices, and foster collective capacity to address complex water challenges. Projects effectively integrate Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) expertise and social innovation to match innovative solutions with real community needs, ensuring sustainable engagement, behaviour change and long-term impact on community practices and values. 4.   Increased readiness for regional deployment and transferability of solutions. Projects generate practical results, methods, and tools that can be replicated or adapted in other communities across the Danube-Black Sea basin, with community-led monitoring and local data supporting evidence-based decision-making. Projects develop deployment plans that outline clear pathways, technical requirements, institutional arrangements, funding attraction and timelines for replication and upscaling beyond the project period and geographical scope. 5.   Strengthened verifiable contribution to the Mission Ocean and Waters’ objectives and targets. Projects deliver quantifiable progress towards one or more objectives and targets of the Mission Ocean and Waters, contributing with examples, stories, data, methodologies and lessons that strengthen the Mission-wide monitoring framework and inspire further community-driven action across Europe. Scope This call supports Community-led projects (with 18-30 months duration) that demonstrate, test, deploy, or scale innovative solutions addressing key environmental challenges in the Danube River Basin and the Black Sea region. Activities must fall under at least one of the three Mission priority areas: Habitat Restoration & Ecosystem Protection Pollution Prevention, Reduction & Remediation Sustainable Blue Economy & Circular Resource Use Projects must take place in one of the five eligible regions: Upper Danube, Middle Danube, Lower Danube, Danube Delta, or Black Sea and should combine technological, nature-based, governance, social, cultural and/or educational approaches, with strong participation from local communities. WHO CAN APPLY: Consortia of 3 to 7 independent legal entities located in EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries. The consortium leader shall be based in the Danube-Black Sea region and at least one partner must represent local communities. FUNDING: Two funding tiers: €200,000-€400,000 OR €500,000-€1,000,000 per project Maximum per organisation: €500,000 Type of grant: lump sum SUPPORT TO BE PROVIDED BY SOS2LearnDBS: Up to €1,000,000 EUR each project; Capacity building and engagement: Regular meetings; cooperative learning; study visits and staff exchanges; Networking and knowledge exchange: Network establishment; joint events. Dedicated Technical Assistance, with real-time advice on day-to-day challenges, from local and thematic experts; Regular check-Ins & mentoring; Assistance in monitoring KPIs; Deep-dive workshops & field visits on demand; Peer-learning & cross-fertilization; Assistance in developing a transition plan to help sustain results, scale successful interventions, and explore follow-on funding opportunities; Networking and promotion opportunities. SoS2LearnDBS (Source to Sea: Leveraging community knowledge and action for restoring the Danube River basin and the Black Sea region) is a Research and Innovation Action funded under the Horizon Europe Programme by the European Commission (Grant Agreement No. 101217667)[1]. It is implemented by 12 partners: INOVA+ (coordinator), STEINBEIS, ADRM, UNIZAG-FSB, GEOECOMAR, BOKU, DDNI, UB, PKS, IAD, VSC-DA, MUNBUD. The project operates within the framework of the EU Mission “Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030”[2]. [1] https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101217667 [2] https://missionoceanwaters.eu/#/ 

Beneficiary & submission

Proposals must be submitted through the following link: https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/OC_CLed_SoS2LearnDBS_2025 After the call closure, all applications will pass an eligibility check. Proposals must meet ALL the eligibility criteria, as described in the call guidelines. Proposals marked as non-eligible (for not meeting one or more of the eligibility criteria) will get a rejection letter with a justification. No additional feedback on the process will be given. Applications meeting the eligibility criteria will move on to the next evaluation phases, where applications will be assessed considering the following criteria: EvC1 - Advancement beyond current practice; EvC2 - Community-led and Participatory approach; EvC3 - Social innovation and societal impact; EvC4 - Dissemination and communication; EvC5 - Feasibility and implementation capacity; EvC6 - Commitment to the Charter of Mission Restore our Ocean and Waters; EvC7 - Quality and relevance of the expected outcomes; EvC8 - Sustainability and scaling potential.

Further information

Applicants must carefully read all the open call documents and follow all the guidelines when preparing their proposals for the SOS2LearnDBS CLed Open Call. Failure to adhere to these instructions may result in ineligibility. Call documents available at SOS2LearnDBS website CLed Open Call page. Applicants are strongly encouraged to follow SOS2LearnDBS in social media to not miss any updates in the open call: SOS2LearnDBS LinkedIn SOS2LearnDBS Instagram SOS2LearnDBS Facebook Two info sessions will be organised to present the Open Call, in the indicative dates below: 13th of January 2026 at 10h30 CET 24th of February 2026 at 10h30CET More information about the Open Call and info sessions will be available at SOS2LearnDBS website. For questions, applicants may contact the SoS2LearnDBS support team: [sosdbs@inova.business]