The first Call for Proposals of the Urban Innovative Actions Initiative is open from 15 December 2015 to 31 March 2016. Urban Innovative Actions is a new initiative by the European Commission that provides funding to cities throughout Europe to test new and unproven solutions to address urban challenges.
The initiative has a budget of EUR 372 million at its disposal, which comes from the European Regional Development Fund. In this first call for proposals, cities are invited to submit their innovative ideas in the following fields:
- Energy transition;
- Integration of migrants and refugees;
- Jobs and skills in the local economy;
- Urban poverty with a focus on deprived neighbourhoods.
Urban authorities with more than 50 000 inhabitants or a grouping of urban authorities with a total population of more than 50 000 inhabitants located in an EU Member State are eligible for the Urban Innovative Actions initiative. Cities can receive up to EUR 5 million to implement their innovative projects. Eligible projects should also be participative (involve key local stakeholders), as well as measurable and transferable. The deadline for this call is 31 March 2016.