Open Topic for Improved Preparedness for, Response to and Recovery from Large-Scale Disruptions of Critical Infrastructures

Scope

• Proposals should primarily address sector(s) and/or interdependencies that are not covered, in particular by the past Horizon Europe calls: Resilient Infrastructure 2023 and Resilient Infrastructure 2024. If they relate to some of the topics covered by Horizon Europe Calls Resilient Infrastructure 2021-2022, the proposals should convincingly explain how they will build on their outcomes and not duplicate them.
• Adapted to the nature, scope and type of proposed activities, proposals should convincingly explain how they will plan and/or carry out demonstrations, testing or validation of developed tools and solutions. Proposals should also outline the plans to develop possible future uptake and upscaling at regional, national and/or EU level.
• To ensure the active involvement of and timely feedback from relevant security practitioners, proposals should plan a mid-term deliverable consisting in the assessment, performed by the practitioners involved in the project, of the project’s mid-term outcomes.
• Proposals should plan their activities opting for the financial support to third parties in order to provide financial support to practitioners (critical infrastructure operator, government authority responsible for infrastructure resilience, national authority responsible for overseeing critical infrastructure operators, or civil protection authority) for expanding the proposed work in terms of additional user groups, complementary assessments, technology- or methodology-testing activities and/or to SMEs as additional solution providers. From 10% up to 30% of the EU funding requested by the proposal may be allocated to the purpose of financial support to third parties.

Funding Information

• Budget (EUR) – Year 2025: 15 000 000
• Contributions: around 5000000

Expected Outcomes

• Projects’ results are expected to contribute to some or all of the following outcomes:
  • Critical infrastructure is more resilient to natural hazards, intentional and accidental harmful human actions, including cyberattacks;
  • Critical infrastructure operators and authorities have better mapping of the interdependencies relevant for the addressed sector(s) also in view of better managing potential multi-hazard, cross-sectorial and cross border crisis;
  • Critical infrastructure operators and authorities have access to improved monitoring, risk and threat assessment, forecast, and if applicable modelling tools as well as cyber- and physical security solutions;
  • Critical infrastructure operators and authorities have access to increased post-incident investigation capabilities contributing to better crisis prevention, preparedness, management and response;
  • Effective digital tools to conduct virtual and physical stress tests are available for relevant security practitioners;
  • Training curricula for critical infrastructure operators, authorities and/or first responders are developed.

Eligibility Criteria

• Entities eligible to participate:
  • Any legal entity, regardless of its place of establishment, including legal entities from nonassociated third countries or international organisations (including international European research organisations) is eligible to participate (whether it is eligible for funding or not), provided that the conditions laid down in the Horizon Europe Regulation have been met, along with any other conditions laid down in the specific call/topic.
  • A ‘legal entity’ means any natural or legal person created and recognised as such under national law, EU law or international law, which has legal personality and which may, acting in its own name, exercise rights and be subject to obligations, or an entity without legal personality.
• To become a beneficiary, legal entities must be eligible for funding.
• To be eligible for funding, applicants must be established in one of the following countries:
  • the Member States of the European Union, including their outermost regions:
    • Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden.
  • the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) linked to the Member States:
    • Aruba (NL), Bonaire (NL), Curação (NL), French Polynesia (FR), French Southern and Antarctic Territories (FR), Greenland (DK), New Caledonia (FR), Saba (NL), Saint Barthélemy (FR), Sint Eustatius (NL), Sint Maarten (NL), St. Pierre and Miquelon (FR), Wallis and Futuna Islands (FR).
  • countries associated to Horizon Europe;
    • Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Faroe Islands, Georgia, Iceland, Israel, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Tunisia, Türkiye, Ukraine, United Kingdom.

For more information, visit EC.