The vision of the Partnership is to: 

• Design, steer and support a just and inclusive transition to a regenerative, resilient, and sustainable blue economy.
• Boost the transformation needed towards a climate-neutral, sustainable, productive, and competitive blue economy by 2030
• Create, enhance and sustain ocean health and the social, environmental and economic well-being of the people by 2050.

This third co-funded call aims to support transnational research and innovation projects (for a period of 36 months) addressing one of the five priority areas below (subject to funded priority areas by participating funding organisations, see Annex):

• Priority area 1: Digital Twins of the Ocean (DTOs) at sub-basin scale
• Priority area 2: Transitioning the blue economy sectors, and the development of the coexistence and the marine multi-use infrastructures
• Priority area 3: Climate-Smart Planning and managing sea-uses at the regional level
• Priority area 4: Blue Bioresources: sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, and new bio-based products
• Priority area 5: Resilient Coastal Communities and Businesses

Each of these priority areas contributes directly to one or more of the Ocean Decade Challenges, supporting actionable knowledge generation, policy uptake, capacity development, and inclusive innovation in the blue economy context.

Recommendations and eligibility criteria 

Projects in this co-funded call must be impact-driven contributions to the transformation into a blue economy for a more resilient future and towards carbon neutrality targets, following an impact pathway approach.

The proposals are strongly recommended to consider a minimum of two European sea-basins which are: the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, and to assess the project proposal impact on various basins. Proposals can target European regional seas such as Adriatic Sea, Aegean Sea, Arctic, Barents Sea, Celtic Sea, etc. 

The third co-funded call of this EU Partnership pools national and regional financial resources through the participation of 38 participating funding organisations from 28 countries combined with the contribution from the European Union. 20 Member-States, 5 Associated Countries and 1 Third Country are participating: Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Georgia, Greece, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Montenegro, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, The Netherlands, Tunisia, Türkiye, Ukraine, Slovakia. The total estimated budget is: 44,321,429€.

To be eligible, each consortium must be composed of eligible partners from at least three different countries participating in the call and requesting financial support from at least three different funding organisations participating in the call. In addition to the abovementioned condition, the projects must involve at least two independent legal entities from two different EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries¹ eligible to EU funding for this call for proposal. Self-funded partners, including partners from countries (and/or regions) not participating in this co-funded call, are allowed but do not contribute to the minimum eligible consortium size.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to involve stakeholders (i.e., small, and medium enterprises (SMEs), industries, authorities, public administrations, associations, as well as civil society organisations) as partners or self-funded partners (according to national/regional regulations) in their proposal. Stakeholder engagement in the research projects will enhance innovation, policy, and societal relevance and ultimately the impact of the projects.

Looking for a partner or a project to join?
Use the SBEP Partner Search Tool available here
 

Next steps

This co-funded call is planned to be officially launched on 15 September 2025 (15:00 CEST). Applicants will have up to 17 November 2025 (15:00 CET) to submit their pre-proposals (provisional date). A first evaluation of pre-proposals will be organised and the deadline to submit full proposals is foreseen for June 2026.

For more information: We invite you to regularly consult our website and social media channels to be kept updated on this major research funding opportunity.

Contact: sbep.call-secretariat@uefiscdi.ro

Please note that the information provided here is provisional. Changes may occur in the official call announcement. 
 

¹as recipients of the financial support, at the time of the closing of the call by 17/11/2025 and 17/06/2025