Originally published in February 2024, updated on 7 August 2026
Horizon Europe is the EU’s main funding programme for research and innovation. Its collaborative projects are usually led by universities, research organisations, companies and other institutions with substantial experience in European projects.
Nevertheless, NGOs, municipalities and other public authorities can also play an important role in Horizon Europe consortia. They may contribute knowledge of particular communities or territories, involve citizens and end users, test solutions in real-life settings, support policy implementation or help ensure that research and innovation respond to societal needs.
Participation is therefore not primarily determined by the size or legal form of an organisation. What matters is whether your organisation can fulfil a clearly defined role required by a specific Call for Proposals and whether it has the expertise, staff and operational capacity to deliver it.
This article explores where relevant opportunities may arise and what smaller organisations should consider before seeking to participate.
Horizon Europe primarily funds projects designed to respond to specific European research and innovation priorities.
Each Call for Proposals sets out the challenge to be addressed, the expected outcomes to which funded projects should contribute and the types of research, innovation, demonstration or implementation activities that may be supported.
This means that participation needs to start with a specific Call for Proposals rather than with a general search for funding for your organisation.
Horizon Europe is also highly competitive. A credible application requires:
Being eligible to participate does not automatically make an organisation a convincing partner. Each consortium member must have a necessary and clearly explained role within the project.
NGOs and public authorities can contribute to Horizon Europe projects in many different ways, depending on the Call for Proposals and project concept.
Their role may include:
For example, a municipality could provide an environment in which a climate-neutral mobility solution can be tested. An NGO could help researchers understand barriers experienced by a particular target group and involve that group in developing and validating a solution. A regional authority could contribute practical experience in policy implementation, helping the consortium assess what is feasible in practice and how project results could be integrated into regional strategies or public services.
These should be substantive project roles. An NGO should not be included merely to demonstrate the presence of civil society or to carry out general communication activities. Its contribution should be clearly connected to the objectives, results and expected outcomes of the project.
The organisation must also have qualified staff available to undertake the work. Access to a target group or local network can be valuable, but it does not replace the need for sufficient expertise and implementation capacity.
Relevant opportunities may arise across the six thematic Clusters under Pillar II of Horizon Europe:
The relevance of individual Calls for Proposals will vary. While many projects require strong scientific or technological expertise within the consortium, NGOs and public authorities may contribute through roles such as stakeholder engagement, piloting, implementation, policy uptake or access to relevant target groups.
Cluster 2 – Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society – may be particularly relevant to organisations working on topics such as:
Opportunities involving societal, citizen or environmental dimensions can also be found in the other Clusters. For example, health research may require patient organisations, public health authorities or organisations working with vulnerable groups. Climate and mobility projects may involve cities and regions as pilot sites. Food and environmental projects may require land managers, local authorities, community organisations or networks of practitioners.
Social Sciences and Humanities are a cross-cutting element of Horizon Europe. Certain topics are specifically flagged as requiring meaningful contributions from relevant Social Sciences and Humanities disciplines and experts.
The participation of an NGO does not automatically fulfil the requirement for Social Sciences and Humanities integration. The consortium must still demonstrate that it includes the relevant expertise and research methods needed to address the social, economic or behavioural dimensions of the project.
The five EU Missions and related Horizon Europe Calls for Proposals may also offer relevant opportunities:
The Missions combine research and innovation with demonstration, citizen engagement, territorial transformation and the deployment of solutions. They can therefore be particularly relevant to cities, regions, public authorities and civil society organisations.
Nevertheless, participation still depends on the requirements of an individual Call for Proposals. An organisation must demonstrate why its role is necessary for delivering the expected project outcomes. The five Missions continue to work towards objectives set for 2030.
For collaborative Horizon Europe projects under pillar 2 (the thematic Clusters), an application must be submitted by a consortium of at least three independent organisations established in three different EU Member States or countries associated with Horizon Europe. At least one of these organisations must be established in an EU Member State. Individual topics may establish additional conditions or exceptions.
For a small or medium-sized NGO, or other public authority, the most realistic route into Horizon Europe will usually be participation as a project partner and not as a coordinator of the entire consortium.
Legally, different types of organisations may be able to act as coordinators. In practice, coordinating a collaborative Horizon Europe project requires substantial experience and organisational capacity.
The coordinator is responsible for bringing the consortium together, guiding the development of a competitive proposal and ensuring that all parts form a coherent project. If the proposal is successful, the coordinator becomes the main contact with the granting authority and oversees contractual, financial and administrative coordination, reporting, deliverables and implementation across the consortium.
For an organisation entering Horizon Europe for the first time, joining an experienced consortium in a clearly defined partner role is therefore often a more appropriate starting point.
The Funding & Tenders Portal includes a partner search function, and European Commission information days are sometimes accompanied by brokerage or matchmaking events. National Contact Points, European networks, research organisations and existing professional contacts can provide further routes into consortium building.
However, publishing a general partner profile is rarely sufficient. Your organisation should tailor its expression of interest to the specific Call for Proposals and be able to explain:
Consortium-building often starts well before the application deadline. Organisations that begin their search only shortly before a Call for Proposals closes may have limited chances of joining a strong consortium, as the partnership structure and key project roles are mostly already in place.
One way to start engaging with Horizon Europe on a smaller scale is through cascade funding. This refers to sub-grants distributed by Horizon Europe projects to external organisations through their own competitive open Calls. This mechanism is officially known as Financial Support to Third Parties, or FSTP, and is also commonly called cascade funding.
These opportunities are generally smaller than applying directly to a Horizon Europe Call for Proposals and mostly organisations can or are required to apply as a single entity, without consortium partners. The application and implementation requirements may also be more proportionate to the amount of funding available.
However, cascade funding should not automatically be regarded as easy funding. Each open Call establishes its own:
Many opportunities are designed for highly specific organisations, technologies, territories or types of activity.
Past examples relevant to public authorities and civil society organisations include:
Pathways2Resilience
Pathways2Resilience provided financial support and capacity-building to European regions and communities developing climate-resilience pathways. Its open Calls offered grants of up to €210,000 per selected subproject.
HuMUS – Healthy Municipal Soils
The HuMUS project supported local and regional pilot projects working on participatory approaches to soil health and sustainable land management. Its open Call provided grants of up to €30,000 to selected public entities and entities governed by public law.
REINFORCING
The REINFORCING project has provided grants to organisations seeking to strengthen open and responsible research and innovation practices. Its open Calls have supported activities such as stakeholder engagement, citizen participation, research transparency and the inclusion of societal perspectives in research and innovation processes.
Under its larger grant scheme, organisations could apply in consortia for grants of up to €60,000 to implement projects lasting 12 months. The Calls were open to different types of legal entities, including civil-society organisations, NGOs, universities, research centres and SMEs. Specific eligibility conditions varied between Calls.
These examples illustrate the types of smaller-scale funding opportunities that Horizon Europe projects may provide.
Current opportunities can be searched through the EU Funding & Tenders Portal by selecting the filter “Calls for funding in cascade (issued by funded projects)”.
Always consult the official Call documents and the website of the project issuing the funding before deciding whether an opportunity is suitable.
Before investing time in a Horizon Europe consortium opportunity, consider the following questions, especially if you would join a consortium:
For smaller organisations, the key decision is whether they can contribute a necessary and credible role within a demanding collaborative project and sustain that contribution throughout its implementation.
Horizon Europe can offer meaningful participation opportunities for NGOs, municipalities and other public authorities when a project genuinely requires their knowledge, networks or implementation capacity.
For smaller organisations, the most realistic route is to join an experienced consortium as a specialised partner. What matters is not the organisation’s size, but whether it can contribute a clearly defined role, demonstrate sufficient capacity and help the project achieve the expected outcomes and impacts of the specific Call for Proposals.
The starting point should therefore be a relevant Call for Proposals, a concrete contribution and a realistic assessment of whether the organisation can deliver it.
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Author: Astrid Mechel
https://eufundingconsulting.eu
Hello, I’m Astrid Mechel, an EU funding consultant, trainer and expert evaluator. I support organisations in identifying relevant funding opportunities for their project ideas and in developing high-quality grant proposals.
I work particularly with Horizon Europe, LIFE and the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme, as well as with EU policy developments that shape funding priorities. My main thematic areas are research and innovation, environmental sustainability, social inclusion and citizen participation.
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2 responses
HI Astrid
How can we apply for ‘non-profit’ status for a Horizon call?
We are now in a 2. phase application for september
Hello, thank you for your question. An organisation does not apply for non-profit status specifically for a Horizon Europe Call. Its legal status is based on how it is formally established and registered under national law.
For the application, the organisation’s legal and financial information should be correctly recorded in the Funding & Tenders Portal. Whether non-profit status is relevant will depend on the specific Call for Proposals and the type of action.