Hub Data Science & AI

The objective of PoliRuralPlus is to foster a sustainable, balanced, equitable, place-based and inclusive development of rural and urban areas through improved connections, governance arrangements, and integrated territorial policies that prioritise experimentation and innovation in domains that favour bi-directional urban-rural synergies and the development of a well-being economy.

Key focus will be driven by Foresight, planning and implementation of integrated urban-rural strategies.

The PoliRuralPlus project aims to improve the quality of life for people living in urban and rural areas across the EU by promoting coordinated and collaborative development within the regions. The project will support 9 pilot projects (including 8 from the previous PoliRural project and 1 new project) that focus on developing rural-urban partnerships. The aim is to increase the resilience and interconnectedness of urban and rural areas.

In terms of financing, the project will demonstrate successful application of funding mechanisms to support these partnerships, including public-private partnerships, crowdfunding, and other innovative financing models. The goal is to find sustainable financing solutions that can support the long-term development of these partnerships.

DEADLINE : 31 juillet 2025

HUB : Data Science & AI

Open Horizons proposes a novel approach towards covering the women-led companies funding and corporate network gap, by creating a full programme, from scratch, that relies in the work done by other initiatives (Women TechEU or Empowomen).
The consortium aims to invest 1.2M in startups and is comprised by an experienced consortium of partners as PEDAL (Reputed consultancy in EU projects also specialised in public procurement), SPLORO (experts on cascade funding) and INNOVX (EIC Partner and leading Accelerator).
Corporates are also linked to the proposal as partners like Migros (retail) or associated partners like Siemens Industry Software, Repsol (energy) and Stahl (Manufacturing) and planning to expand up to 10.
The projects structured approach includes identifying and formulating corporate challenges, inclusive talent scouting across Europe, and facilitating the funding and implementation of pilot projects within real-world corporate settings. Post-pilot, the programme focuses on expanding growth opportunities for startups by connecting them with investment channels and helping negotiate commercial agreements for long-term collaborations.
This comprehensive strategy not only provides a platform for women-led startups to showcase their innovations within major corporations but also integrates them into a broader corporate and innovation ecosystem, ensuring sustained growth and significant market presence.

DEADLINE : 21 août 2025

HUB : Advanced Engineering & Computing

Ensuring a sustainable food system requires, above all other factors, re-entrusting our primary production to the guardians of our territory, the owners of small- and medium-sized farms and farm structures in rural areas. GUARDIANS focuses on understanding their challenges and empowering them with a set of digital innovative solutions that will help them to bridge the current technological gap between small and large farms.
GUARDIANS will put in place a set of cost-effective and human-centric digital solutions, which aim to support and empower the penetration, sustainability and resilience of more agroecological farming models, like regenerative agriculture, natural grazing, alternative managed grazing strategies, and the promotion of pollinators in different farm structures. To do this, a multi-actor co-creation methodology, a set of adoption pathways and 9 different technologies, combining software and hardware (i.e. drones, sensors), will be customized to cover the farmers’ needs.
These digital solutions will be tested through a total of 27 small- and medium-sized farms and farm structures with a wide range of production types (arable crops, woody crops, grassland and livestock production) in 6 pilots represented by farming cooperatives (acting as one stop shops) from 5 different countries with diverse environmental, climatic and socio-economic conditions. As a result, GUARDIANS will increase the uptake of innovative digital technologies by farmers, guaranteed by the use of a multi-actor approach, integrating farmers and agricultural stakeholders at all stages of the project, as well as scientists, technicians and SMEs.
Cascade funding and connections to specific stakeholders (agricultural cooperatives, agrifood hubs, DIHs, OGs) will be used as multipliers to allow GUARDIANS to roll up its impact throughout Europe. It is expected to roll-out and replicate GUARDIANS results up to 95 farms around Europe during the project duration.

DEADLINE : 15 juillet 2025

HUB : Data Science & AI