44 million euros have been allocated for this European call regarding the sustainable use of the sea in relation to economic activities. The full name of this call is: Digitalisation and Innovation for Resilient Marine Ecosystems Businesses, and Communities to Strengthen the EU Blue Economy’s Competitiveness.
The Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership (SBEP) is a European collaboration under Horizon Europe involving 28 countries. This partnership has several transnational calls planned. The third call aims to support transnational research and innovation and focuses on five priority areas:
- Digital Twins of the Oceans (DTO) at regional basin scale
- Transition of blue economy sectors, development and coherence of multifunctional marine infrastructure
- Climate-friendly planning and management of sea use at regional level
- Blue biological resources: sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, and new bio-based products
- Resilient coastal communities and businesses
Proposals must relate to the following areas: Baltic Sea, Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea, North Sea, Atlantic Ocean.
Budget and deadlines
A total of over 44 million euros is available for research. For Dutch participation, 2 million euros is available. In addition to NWO, Rijkswaterstaat and the ministries of I&W and LVVN also co-finance this call from the Netherlands. For each application, a maximum of 400,000 euros can be requested from NWO if there is one national main applicant, and a maximum of 600,000 euros if there is a national main and co-applicant.
The deadline for submitting a pre-registration is November 17, 2025, at 15:00 CET. Submission does not go through ISAAC but through the online system of SBEP.
Meeting
The European joint call secretariat itself organizes a webinar. This will take place on September 24, at 14:00 CEST. You can view the webinar via this website.
If you have specific questions for NWO, you can also come to the online information meeting on September 30 at 14:00 CEST. Registration can be done via the meeting page below.
Consortium
Researchers must form a consortium with partners from at least three different participating countries. The list of participating countries can be found on the SBEP website. Here you will also find a tool to search for partners. This can be done via the B2match making platform.
About European partnerships
The European co-funded partnerships are part of Horizon Europe, the European program for research and innovation (2021-2027). The partnerships focus on complex societal challenges and aim for actual impact. The calls that arise from the European partnerships lead to thematic research.
