Cultural Strategies for Peace: culture and creativity as catalysts for conflict prevention and post-conflict reconciliation
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See in 5 min if you're eligible for Cultural Strategies for Peace: culture and creativity as catalysts for conflict prevention and post-conflict reconciliation offering max €26.0M funding💰 Funding Details
Funding Description
What the Grant Finances
* Type of action: Horizon Europe Research & Innovation Action (RIA) financed through a lump-sum grant mechanism.
* Total EU contribution per project: up to €26 million (100 % of the agreed lump-sum budget; no co-financing required).
* Activities Eligible for Funding
* Interdisciplinary research on culture, heritage, arts and conflict-prevention/reconciliation.
* Large comparative case-study mapping, data collection, fieldwork, surveys and participatory action research.
* Development of digital tools, methodologies and metrics (including AI-supported approaches) for peace-impact assessment, preparedness and resilience.
* Demonstration pilots, living labs, artistic residencies, policy-labs and foresight exercises.
* Stakeholder co-creation workshops, capacity-building, training, open-science and open-data activities (FAIR compliance).
* Communication, dissemination, exploitation, IPR management and long-term collaboration mechanisms.
Eligibility Snapshot
* Consortium composition: minimum 3 independent legal entities from 3 different EU Member States or Horizon-Europe Associated Countries. Larger, trans-regional and multidisciplinary consortia are strongly encouraged.
* Who can apply: universities, research & technology organisations, civil-society/NGOs, public authorities, international organisations, cultural & creative industries (CCIs), SMEs, heritage institutions, think-tanks and diplomatic academies.
* Geographical restrictions: entities established in the People’s Republic of China cannot receive EU funding in RIA projects.
* Operational & financial capacity: applicants must demonstrate the resources and expertise to implement the work plan.
Key Grant Parameters
| Item | Detail |
|------|--------|
| Call identifier | HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-HERITAGE-07 |
| Opening | 15 May 2025 |
| Deadline | 16 Sep 2025, 17:00 (Brussels time) |
| Evaluation model | Single-stage; remote + consensus review |
| Page limit | 50 pages (Part B) + mandatory lump-sum budget table |
| Indicative project duration | 36–48 months |
| Funding rate | 100 % of lump-sum |
| Reporting | Only achievement-based; no cost statements (simplified audits) |
Cost Categories Covered by the Lump Sum
* Personnel (research, technical, administrative)
* Sub-contracting and purchase costs (e.g. translations, venue hire)
* Travel & accommodation (field missions, consortium meetings, artist exchanges)
* Equipment (specialised recording/archiving devices, servers)
* Consumables and supplies
* Dissemination & communication (open-access fees, events, policy briefs)
* Indirect costs are automatically covered—no separate 25 % flat-rate calculation needed.
Compliance & Cross-cutting Obligations
* Open Science: immediate OA to publications; data deposited under FAIR principles.
* Gender Equality Plan (GEP): public bodies, HEIs & research organisations in EU/AC must have a GEP in place.
* Ethics & security: proposals must include an ethics self-assessment and address any dual-use or conflict-zone risks.
* Synergies: articulate links to Horizon projects, HER-UKR Jean-Monnet initiative, EIT Culture & Creativity, ECCCH and relevant Data Spaces.
📊 At a Glance
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🇪🇺 Strategic Advantages
EU-Wide Advantages & Opportunities for "Cultural Strategies for Peace" (HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-HERITAGE-07)
1. Critical Mass of Diversity, Data & Comparative Insight
• 30+ EU & Associated Countries supply a uniquely heterogeneous sample of conflicts, reconciliation practices and cultural assets (e.g. Balkans, Northern Ireland, Cyprus, Baltic memory politics).
• Cross-country research enables robust comparative methodologies and development of transferable indicators/metrics for cultural peacebuilding that a single-state consortium could never reach.
• Access to EU-wide heritage data spaces (Europeana, ECCCH, EOSC) ensures FAIR, interoperable datasets for longitudinal analysis.
2. EU Foreign-Policy & Security Value Chain
• Direct alignment with the EU Strategic Approach to International Cultural Relations and the EEAS Concept on Cultural Heritage in Conflict & Crises gives projects privileged policy entry points impossible at purely national level.
• Results can feed Common Security & Defence Policy (CSDP) missions, EU Delegations, and the Rapid Deployment Capacity, providing evidence-based cultural components for conflict-prevention toolkits.
3. Synergies with Multi-funding Architecture
• EU scale permits blended follow-up financing—NDICI-Global Europe, Creative Europe, Erasmus+, Interreg, Horizon Europe Cluster 3 (Security).
• Clustering with Jean Monnet HER-UKR, ECCCH calls and EIT Culture & Creativity accelerators can spin off pilots into innovation ecosystems and marketable CCI services.
4. Standard-Setting & Norm Entrepreneurship
• A pan-European consortium can draft EU guidelines/standards on cultural peacebuilding, shaping Council Conclusions and influencing UNESCO & Council of Europe agendas.
• Harmonised standards lower transaction costs for NGOs and civil-military actors operating across borders.
5. Economies of Scale in Capacity-Building
• Pooling of EU networks (Europeana, ALIPH, Europa Nostra, EuroClio) allows joint training curricula for diplomats, heritage professionals and emergency responders.
• Virtual mobility & micro-credential mechanisms (under the European Education Area) enable scalable upskilling far beyond project lifetime.
6. Innovation & Technology Deployment
• EU R&D strengths in AI, XR, digital twins facilitate creation of peace-tech prototypes (e.g., VR reconciliation labs) that can be tested in multiple linguistic and cultural settings.
• Pan-EU standards on ethical AI for cultural diversity reinforce Europe’s competitive edge versus authoritarian digital exporters.
7. Market & Employment Opportunities
• Cultural peacebuilding services intersect with a €413 bn European CCI market; EU-wide certification opens international consulting, heritage tourism & creative therapy niches.
• SMEs and social enterprises can scale products (games, immersive exhibits, toolkits) through Digital Single Market rules and IPR frameworks harmonised under the project.
8. Citizen Engagement & Democratic Resilience
• EU programmes (New European Bauhaus, European Capitals of Culture, Citizens Panels) provide ready-made participatory platforms for piloting reconciliation art projects.
• Cross-border mobility schemes foster people-to-people trust networks, multiplying social impact and strengthening the Conference on the Future of Europe follow-ups.
9. Climate & Sustainability Co-benefits
• Integrating Green Deal and climate-adaptation lenses (e.g., heritage-based nature-based solutions) positions culture as a dual driver of ecological and social peace, tapping additional Mission Climate funds.
10. Long-term Institutionalisation
• EU instruments (Joint Programming Initiatives, ERICs, Partnerships) allow formalised post-grant structures—e.g., a permanent “Cultural Peace & Security Observatory” anchored in an ESFRI roadmap infrastructure.
• Results can be mainstreamed into Multi-Annual Financial Framework 2028-2034, guaranteeing policy longevity.
Summary
Operating at EU scale unlocks unmatched critical diversity, policy leverage, standard-setting authority, technological capacity, funding synergies and market reach. These advantages transform individual research outputs into systemic, sustainable and globally influential cultural strategies for peace.
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See in 5 min if you're eligible for Cultural Strategies for Peace: culture and creativity as catalysts for conflict prevention and post-conflict reconciliation offering max €26.0M funding