Deadline Date: December 01, 2026
The European Commission is seeking grant applications to improve understanding of capital market dynamics and increase investment in New European Bauhaus-aligned neighbourhood transformation projects.
The focus areas include capital market analysis, investment dynamics, demand and supply of finance, risk and return assessment, place-based impact investing, sustainable neighbourhood transformation, social inclusion, cultural development, environmental sustainability, aesthetic value creation, community well-being, local economic resilience, regulatory and financial systems, innovative financing instruments, digital financial tools, community co-investment models, and cross-border investment validation across Member States and Associated Countries.
The initiative is designed to address the gap between available capital and the financing needs of small-scale New European Bauhaus (NEB) projects aimed at transforming neighbourhoods into sustainable, inclusive, and aesthetically improved spaces. It highlights challenges in aligning short-term, large-scale investment preferences with smaller, community-based development needs.
The project seeks to analyse capital market structures influencing NEB-aligned investments, including the size, scale, diversity, barriers, risks, and drivers of both demand and supply of capital. It also considers political, financial, economic, regulatory, and cultural contexts that affect investment decisions.
Based on this analysis, applicants are expected to design innovative investment solutions that leverage place-based impact investing approaches and explore tools such as digital financial instruments, community co-investment platforms, and blockchain-based transparency systems. The goal is to attract a wider range of capital sources and improve financing accessibility for NEB-related projects.
The programme also requires identifying types of capital providers such as impact funds, real estate investors, pension funds, family offices, philanthropists, donors, and insurance companies, and assessing how these actors can be mobilized effectively.
Further expectations include developing recommendations for future financing strategies, supporting investment decision-making based on multidimensional returns including social, cultural, environmental, aesthetic, and economic impacts, and validating solutions across at least three Member States or Associated Countries.
The funding allocation for this topic is approximately €7,000,000, with an indicative contribution of around €3,500,000 per project.
Eligible applicants include any legal entity established under national, EU, or international law, including entities from non-associated third countries and international organizations, provided they meet Horizon Europe conditions.
For more information, visit European Commission.
