A European Collaborative Cloud for Cultural Heritage – Innovative use cases
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Funding Description – HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-HERITAGE-03
What the Grant Finances
* Purpose: To implement demanding, end-to-end *real-life* use cases that stress-test, validate and improve the European Collaborative Cloud for Cultural Heritage (ECCCH).
* Typical activities funded:
* Design and execution of innovative use cases exploiting key ECCCH features (digital twins, co-creation environments, digital continuum, links to EOSC & Data Space, etc.).
* Development of new or improved open-source software components, APIs and GUIs fully compliant with the ECCCH data model & low-level libraries.
* Large-scale ingestion of FAIR data & metadata; creation of high-quality documentation and training material.
* User-engagement, outreach and dissemination actions that broaden the professional user base (workshops, hack-athons, showcases, NEB-aligned events).
* Financial Support to Third Parties (FSTP) – micro-grants (≤ €60 000 each, cumulative ≤ 15 % of project lump sum) to involve additional CH institutions, SMEs or creative studios in pilots.
Budget & Funding Rate
* Maximum EU contribution per project: €26 000 000 (lump-sum model).
* Indicative project size: €10-16 M is expected, but larger proposals are not ruled out if well-justified.
* Funding rate: 100 % of the lump-sum (single pre-defined payment schedule linked to work-packages & deliverables, no cost reporting).
* Project duration: 24–30 months.
Eligibility Snapshot
* Consortium: At least 3 legal entities from 3 different EU Member States or Associated Countries and a minimum of 5 different MS/AC acting as *active* ECCCH users.
* Diversity requirement: Mix of large & small CH institutions, research bodies, universities, tech SMEs, creative industries, across several disciplines.
* Geographical restrictions: Entities established in China are ineligible for this Innovation Action.
* Open-Source Commitment: All software released under CC0 or OSI/FSF-approved licences. Proprietary components only under strict conditions (open functional equivalent, no vendor lock-in, unlimited free licence for ECCCH community).
* Other key conditions:
* Alignment with guidelines & governance of the coordination project (HORIZON-CL2-2023-HERITAGE-ECCCH-01-01).
* Compliance with FAIR, GDPR, IPR traceability and NEB principles.
* Willingness to attend and finance joint ECCCH concertation meetings.
Key Dates
* Call opens: 15 May 2025
* Single-stage deadline: 16 Sept 2025, 17:00 CET
* GA signature forecast: Q1 2026
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📊 At a Glance
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🇪🇺 Strategic Advantages
EU-Wide Advantages & Opportunities – HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-HERITAGE-03
1. Direct Alignment with Flagship EU Policies
• European Collaborative Cloud for Cultural Heritage (ECCCH) – funded exclusively at EU level; participation ensures early influence on core architecture, governance and standards.
• European Data Strategy & Data Spaces – project offers privileged access to the Common European Data Space for Cultural Heritage and EOSC, accelerating FAIR data integration.
• New European Bauhaus, Green Deal & Digital Decade – cross-cutting compliance unlocks visibility, political support and future scaling funds (e.g., Digital Europe, CEF-2).
2. Cross-Border Collaboration & Knowledge Transfer
• Mandatory involvement of ≥5 Member/Associated States stimulates pan-European consortia, enabling exchange of conservation methods, digitisation protocols and legal know-how.
• Transnational teams reduce fragmentation in heritage research, build long-term networks and create a pipeline of joint PhDs, residencies and secondments.
3. Economies of Scale & Shared Infrastructure
• EU funding covers the high upfront cost of advanced digital twins, XR labs and petabyte-scale storage, assets that single nations or SMEs could not afford alone.
• Lump-sum model simplifies financial management across borders, lowering administrative overhead for partners.
4. Standards Leadership & Interoperability
• Consortium can influence ECCCH data model; early compliance means reduced future adaptation costs and first-mover advantage for service providers.
• Development of open-source components under EU licences positions partners as reference implementers, boosting export potential of EU digital heritage standards worldwide.
5. Market Creation for Cultural & Creative Industries (CCI)
• Access to 40 000+ CCI SMEs across Europe via ECCCH marketplace fosters new B2B services (AR/VR experiences, licensing, merchandising).
• EU branding increases investor confidence, facilitating spin-offs eligible for EIT Culture & Creativity, InvestEU or EIC acceleration.
6. Societal Impact & European Identity
• Showcasing multilingual, multi-heritage use cases reinforces a shared sense of belonging, answering the EU’s call for democratic resilience.
• Inclusive design guidelines mandated by the EC guarantee accessibility for diverse audiences, including remote or underserved regions.
7. Synergies with Broader EU Funding Landscape
• Up to 15 % cascade funding (max €60k per third party) allows micro-institutions in any EU region to pilot ECCCH tools, widening impact and local uptake.
• Results can feed directly into future Horizon Europe Partnerships (e.g., Resilient Cultural Heritage) and Structural Funds (ERDF) for regional deployment.
8. Sustainability & Climate Action Benefits
• Joint procurement of green cloud services under EU environmental criteria reduces carbon footprint vs. dispersed national servers.
• Shared digital twins decrease physical handling of artefacts, lowering conservation-related travel and emissions across the Union.
9. Skills Development & Workforce Mobility
• EU-level training packages certified through Europass & ECTS create portable competences for conservators, ICT specialists and curators.
• Participation supports the Skills Agenda by forecasting new job profiles (digital twin engineer, data curator for heritage) and informing ESCO taxonomy updates.
10. Long-Term Governance & Exploitation
• Early adopters gain seats in ECCCH governance bodies, shaping IPR frameworks and revenue-sharing models for decades.
• Harmonised EU licensing (CC0, OSI-approved) mitigates cross-border legal risks, ensuring smoother commercial exploitation.
In summary, operating at EU scale multiplies impact through policy alignment, shared investment, market expansion and cultural cohesion—delivering benefits unattainable within national or bilateral projects.
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