Partnership type: Co-programmed
Related Horizon Europe Cluster: 4
Starting year: 2025

Short description:

Shaping the next frontier of virtual worlds (including metaverses)
The partnership provides business opportunities for companies of all sizes, value for citizens as well as addresses societal challenges. The focus is on virtual worlds and metaverses that are open, interoperable, trustful, secure, human-centric, preserving privacy, respecting our legislation, offering opportunities to everyone.

Objectives and expected impacts:

R&I Technology building blocks: XR, sensors, electronics, photonics, 3D; Digitalisation of Cultural content (Blockchain-NFTs); Digital twins (modelling, data analytics, visualisation); Testing solutions in real-world.

Applications – ecosystem: In strategic sectors and of public interest.

Open standards: Interoperability (metadata, ontologies, protocols, APIs).

Policies, human and ethics (Ethical & regulatory questions: data, cybersecurity, digital identity, children protection… ; awareness & social acceptance, skills, exploitation of research results…)

Rationale for a European Partnership:

The partnership aims at a better coordination and richer synergies between domains and disciplines; at mobilising the industry, academia and end-users; at increasing the competitiveness of the European ecosystem also by putting the EU in the lead; at providing access to a broader range of resources to establish roadmaps and work programmes; and at facilitating research transfer, address skills gaps, and fight fragmentation.

Links with other Union programmes and partnerships:

Links and synergies with HE, DEP and CE previous investments: XR, NGI, AI, Photonics, Digital twins, DestinE, etc.; with Data Spaces (CH, Media and Tourism) and potentially EIC; as well as with current AI-Data-Robotics, Photonics and Smart Networks and Services PPPs.

Partnership type: Co-programmed
Related Horizon Europe Cluster: 5
Starting year: 2025

Short description:

To address security of supply and contribute to supporting the resilience of Union’s energy system, Union manufacturers of PV technologies need to increase their competitive edge and improve security of supply by aiming to reach at least 30 gigawatt of operational solar PV manufacturing capacity by 2030, across the full PV value chain. This is in line with the goals of the European Solar Photovoltaic Industry Alliance, supported under the Union’s Solar Energy Strategy.
The co-programmed Solar PV Partnership will represent the R&I pillar of the European Solar PV Industry Alliance. As such, it will promote the industrial engagement in PV R&I to support the innovation ecosystem across the full PV value chain.

Objectives and expected impacts:

• Reinforce and better coordinate the EU R&I efforts across the whole solar PV value chain and actors.
• Enable an innovative and value-creating PV industry by tackling its vulnerabilities/dependencies /gaps.
• Further promote Europe’s competitive advantage, for example in circularity by design, recycling, maintenance & end-of-life management of PV systems.
• Enable European industry to foster the green and digital transitions and at the same time defend its open strategic autonomy, preserve its competitiveness on the global market and maintain a high level of employment and quality jobs in Europe.
• Replicate the successful example of co-programmed Partnership and Alliance in the batteries sector.

Rationale for a European Partnership:

The co-programmed partnership will allow for a stronger and synergistic involvement of EU industrial and research communities in the co-design/co-creation of the EU PV R&I strategy. In this way, it will promote the industrial engagement in PV R&I to nurture the innovation ecosystem across the full PV value chain. Consequently, it will facilitate the build-up of large-scale manufacturing capacity in Europe for innovative, more circular and more efficient PV. It will also provide data for grounding regulators work including standards.

Links with other Union programmes and partnerships:

The Partnership will build upon and is fully complementary with the ongoing co-fund partnership Clean Energy Transition (CET). Furthermore, potential synergies could be sought with the HE partnerships Build4People (e.g., for solar rooftop applications), Clean Hydrogen, Made in Europe, the European Innovation Council (EIC) and InnoEnergy KIC.

Partnership type: Co-funded
Related Horizon Europe Cluster: 2
Starting year: 2025

Short description:

The co-programmed partnership will promote industrial engagement in R&I for textiles, the fourth highest-pressure category for primary raw materials/water and fifth for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. It will support innovation for the development of high-quality sustainable bio-based textile fibres, for making textiles last longer and be upcyclable and recyclable and for scaling up the uptake of recycled fibres. It will thus contribute to the priorities defined under the EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles, the Textiles Transition Pathway, the 16 upcoming EU legislative initiatives relevant for the sustainable and circular transition of the textiles ecosystem. 

Objectives and expected impacts:

1. Increase textile-to-textile recycling capacity in the EU and develop sorting and processing technologies 
2. Support creative solutions to reduce waste and overproduction, with innovative production practices that take into account the repairability and recyclability of products
3. Support design as a driver for sustainable innovation in the textile/fashion industry 
4. Improve the aesthetic and functionality of textiles by boosting specific innovative segments of the ecosystem such as novel, smart textiles, circular and sustainable bio-based textiles, and artisan textiles
5. Enable digital transformation of the textiles ecosystem as a move towards circular and sustainable production methods and processes
6. The co-programmed partnership will promote industrial engagement in R&I for textiles, the fourth highest-pressure category for primary raw materials/water and fifth for greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) emissions. 

Rationale for a European Partnership:

1. Support the implementation of actions and commitments put forward by the EU Strategy for Sustainable & Circular Textiles, the Textiles Transition Pathway, the upcoming EU legislation on sustainability and circularity (such as Ecodesign, amendment of the Waste Framework Directive)
2. Mobilise the industry for the twin transition (a partnership on textiles has been proposed by industry stakeholders during the co-creation of the Textiles Transition Pathway)
3. Help overcome the current fragmentation challenge of EU innovation and research funding for textiles by creating a dedicated innovation framework for funding under Horizon Europe;  avoid double funding

Links with other European Union Programs and Partnerships:

The partnership will exchange and align strategic concepts with Made in Europe Partnership, Circular Bio-based Europe, EIT Manufacturing, EIT Culture and Creativity.

Partnership type: Co-funded
Related Horizon Europe Cluster: 1
Starting year: 2025

Short description:

Brain disorders are a leading cause of disability in Europe and globally, putting a great burden on patients, families, caregivers and healthcare systems. More research and innovation are needed to develop effective disease-modifying treatments or cures, improved preventive measures, better diagnostics, but also evidence for policymakers, and this also implies a better understanding of the functioning of the brain.

The aim of the partnership:

The aim of this partnership is therefore to accelerate the delivery of preventive, diagnostic, therapeutic and care solutions to foster brain health in citizens and patients, including through a better understanding of the functioning of the brain and by strengthening the alignment and synergies across European and global brain health research initiatives.

Several initiatives have already been established in Europe aimed at achieving a concerted alignment and a strategic and financial defragmentation of research in brain health. These include the EU Joint Programme for Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPND), the Network of European Funding for Neuroscience Research (NEURON), and the Human Brain Project (HBP), which is also putting in place the EBRAINS research infrastructure. At global level, collaborative work is ongoing with the World Health Organization and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development on strengthening the knowledge base for interventions on mental health and supporting countries to improve their capacity to address mental health challenges.

Objectives and expected impacts:

The objectives are to find cures for brain disorders, enable early diagnosis for early, personalised treatments that are affordable and accessible to everyone, promote evidence-based prevention at individual and community level, and optimise the clinical management of affected persons, including the identification and diffusion of best practices and standards, structures and care.

By further structuring the brain research and innovation area in Europe, major expected impacts of the partnership are the translation of research results into innovative products for earlier, more accurate diagnosis and more effective treatments, more adapted and successful prevention and care strategies, including the identification of best practices, and better implementable public health policies. The partnership will thereby also contribute to the European Health Union by supporting one important goal of the revision of the pharmaceutical legislation: addressing unmet medical needs. It will also feed into the European Care Strategy for caregivers and care receivers that aims to ensure high quality, affordable and accessible care services for all ages.

Rationale for a European Partnership:

The existing brain research initiatives have clearly demonstrated that bringing together all stakeholders to address the same specific issue of improving brain health can bring tremendous momentum and added value, leading to progress in research and adaptation of care. It is paramount to ensure much-needed overall coordination, to prevent the deconstruction of the existing ecosystems, while there are still so many unmet brain health needs to answer. Cross-fertilisation and synergies between existing initiatives would be best ensured by bringing them under one single umbrella, also ensuring economies of scale. This new partnership will seize the unique momentum and accelerate the creation of the largest competitive European and global collaboration, essential to improve brain health by motivating and mobilising all the stakeholders under a common and strong transnational banner.

Links with other Union programmes and partnerships:

Under Cluster 1 (Health) links include the public-public (co-funded) partnerships: Rare diseases; Personalised medicine; Transforming health and care systems; ERA for Health; and the public-private institutionalised partnership Innovative Health Initiative (IHI) and the EIT Health.
Under Cluster 2, links relate to socio-economic transformations that contribute to inclusion and growth, as well as to how culture and arts can contribute to mental health and wellbeing.

There are also links with the Cancer Mission e.g. regarding how to ensure good mental health and wellbeing of cancer patients and survivors.

There are other relevant Union programmes include: EU4Health or the Digital Europe Programme, which contributes to the deployment of a European common health data space.

Partnership type: Co-funded
Related Horizon Europe Cluster: 6
Starting year: 2025

Short description:

Forests are part of the solution to face global challenges. They play an essential role in climate change mitigation, safeguarding biodiversity, protecting human living space, maintaining hydrological cycles, providing wood and non-wood forest products and recreational environments. To help the transformation of our society we must enable our forests to adapt to climate change. Thus, there is an urgent need for adaptive forest restoration and sustainable management approaches that strengthen the resilience of EU forests.

The aim of the partnership:

The partnership aim is to promote healthy, biodiverse and resilient forests that are sustainably managed and able to provide a wide range of key ecosystem services, including climate change mitigation through carbon removals and a continuing supply of materials and services for the development of the bioeconomy. It will be the main instrument of public organisations from EU countries and beyond to join forces in the forest based sectors through concerted research and innovation together with a wide range of other stakeholders.

Objectives and expected impacts:

The candidate Partnership will support the ambition of the new EU Forest Strategy for 2030 that recognises the central and multi-functional role of forests, and the contribution of foresters and the entire forest-based value chain for achieving by 2050 a sustainable and climate-neutral economy while ensuring that all of ecosystems are restored, resilient, and adequately protected. We therefore need research and innovation approaches to address multiple goals simultaneously, which often requires transdisciplinary approaches to properly define relevant research questions.

The expected impact of the Partnership is coordinated forest research and innovation at European level to provide a shared and robust knowledge base to make this transition a success.

The main objective of the Partnership is to promote sustainable European forest ecosystem management that is adapted to future environmental conditions and risks, have a strong weight in the bioeconomy value chains, and meet societal expectations.

Rationale for a European Partnership:

The European Partnership is an objective of the EU Forest Strategy and will build a strong forest research and innovation community that interconnects people/entities and a wide spectrum of scientific disciplines to reinforce the work on the European priorities such as nature restoration, climate change mitigation and adaptation.

An ambitious partnership would allow to speed up the scientific progress, underpin the implementation of relevant EU policies, increase efficiency (e.g., division of labour) and foster knowledge exchange in the whole forest domain. A European Partnership is required to ensure a holistic and balanced approach regarding the multiple uses and benefits of forests and forestry in all parts of Europe while considering changing climate, environmental and socio-economic conditions.

Another reason for a European Partnership is that forest research questions are inherently relevant at a much larger geographical scale than that of individual countries/Member States as ecological forest biomes (Mediterranean, temperate, boreal) span across Europe. Therefore, a European Partnership on forests would allow European countries to get more benefits than the sum of countries’ separate efforts would bring.

Links with other Union programmes and partnerships:

The following European Partnerships are complementary and could be linked to the proposed partnership: Agriculture of data; Biodiversa +; Accelerating farming systems transition: agroecology living labs and research infrastructures; Safe and sustainable food systems; Circular bio-based Europe; Water4all.

Partnership objectives are directly linked to other forest dedicated platforms and initiatives under the European Green Deal, including the EU Forest Strategy and its 3 billion tree initiatives, the Bioeconomy Strategy, the revised LULUCF Regulation and the proposed Regulation on Carbon Removals Certification, the Nature Restoration Law, forest monitoring and data collection supporting the Forest Information System for Europe (FISE) and New European Bauhaus initiative.

Partnership type: Co-programmed
Related Horizon Europe Cluster: 4
Starting year: 2025

Short description:

The partnership will focus on design, development and uptake (integration into innovative products and technologies) of a new generation of ‘safe and sustainable by design’ innovative materials fit for the circular economy. Also, the partnership will support the future Coordinated Plan on Advanced Materials with Member States. And it has a wide stakeholder support from both the Graphene Flagship as well as the Advanced Materials Initiative 2030 stakeholder groups.

Objectives and expected impacts (additionality and directionality):

The objectives of the partnership is the establishment of resilient materials value chains: innovative materials that are safe, sustainable, circular and traceable to reduce dependencies on primary resources. Integrate secondary materials into manufacturing processes, develop circular business models across value chains; the establishment of a thriving R&I pipeline:  a funding platform for low Technology Readiness Level technology-oriented material research and bring innovative material-based technologies to technology maturity for industrial take-up; digitalisation to accelerate materials’ design: create a trusted space “materials commons” and federated governance for materials data and tools to accelerate the design of materials; accelerating innovation uptake: launch sustainable technology infrastructures for testing and upscaling production of innovative materials in support of start-ups and SMEs. Empower the uptake of innovative materials and the alignment of industrial processes and products with EU policies; skills for the future: identify the required skillsets for researchers and the current workforce and collaborate with Member States and the EIT KIC to put in place and implement training plans for new skills and up-skilling.

The rationale for a European partnership is to secure the Union’s strategic autonomy, technological sovereignty, and capacity to deliver on the Green Deal: support an active eco-system in the EU for the development and uptake of innovative materials across industrial value chains. The partnership will align (with) existing materials initiatives thereby optimising the use of currently scattered resources and support Member States and EU strategies for innovative materials.

Links with other Union programmes and partnerships (coherence and synergies):

Links and synergies will be established with other partnerships and missions e.g. Photonics, P4P (Processes for Planet), Clean Steel, MiE (Made in Europe) and EIT Manufacturing, EIT Raw Materials and the ERA-MIN, PARC (European Partnership for the Risk Assessment of Chemicals). The partnership will help to strategically coordinate with different clusters of the Horizon Europe framework programme, including pillar 3 (European Innovation Council).

Partnership type: Co-funded
Related Horizon Europe Cluster: 4
Starting year: 2025

Short description:

This European partnership will provide a Large-scale In Orbit Demonstration/Validation (IOD/IOV) service in support of space innovation.
Activities will include aggregation, launch and operation services, provided in a regular, sustainable, cost-effective and way.

Objectives and expected impacts (additionality and directionality):

The partnership will maximise IOD/IOV opportunities across Europe by regrouping and building on IOD/IOV activities at national and European level; by pooling resources and efforts across European institutional actors; by preparing future IOD/IOV missions with shared objectives; by establishing joint priorities and roadmaps in a coordinated and programmed manner.

It will have a positive impact on competitiveness of the European space industry (acceleration of time to market), on scientific leadership, and on strategic non-dependence.

This will stimulate innovation across the New Space ecosystem and across established and emerging EU space nations. In addition, by supporting institutional missions, enable the constant innovation of the EU space infrastructure necessary for our Union Space Programmes.

The rationale for a European partnership:

The main challenge of IOD/IOV is to provide regular and cost-effective services based on EU solutions. The IOD/IOV partnership will create a critical mass of experiments needing IOD/IOV services. This will result into more IOD/IOV opportunities and flexibility to launch whilst responding to R&I need for responsiveness necessary to faster innovation processes.

The resources mobilised through Horizon Europe are not sufficient to reach these objectives.

Links with other Union programmes and partnerships (coherence and synergies):

This partnership would be complementary to the candidate partnership on Global space systems under Horizon Europe Cluster 4 focusing on technology maturation. The future evolution of Union Space programmes would also benefit directly from this new partnership.

Partnership type: Co-funded
Related Horizon Europe Cluster: 4
Starting year: 2025

Short description:

The partnership focuses mainly on minerals and metals including Critical and Strategic Raw Materials, in the full value chain from exploration, extraction, processing, refining to recycling.

The partnership will allow aligning research and innovation efforts of Member States and third countries and strengthen their cooperation through creation of a joint research and innovation agenda and launch of joint calls for proposals, co-funded by the EU.

The partnership will contribute to implementation of the Critical Raw Materials Act objectives of increasing domestic extraction, refining and recycling and diversify external EU sourcing of raw materials.

Objectives and expected impacts:

The objectives and expected impacts (additionality and directionality) of the partnership is to develop technologies and for sustainable and carbon neutral exploration, extraction, processing and refining; to develop cost-effective recycling technologies (collection, sorting, refining, design, traceability), especially for emerging green and digital sectors; to develop solutions for mining waste and tailings valorisation; skills development of young researchers and workers through participation in small scale projects as well as improving international cooperation, especially with third countries with which the EU has strategic partnerships on raw materials.

Rationale for a European Partnership:

The rationale for a European Partnership is that there is no instrument to incentivize and align Member States funding for Raw Materials research and innovation (Critical Raw Materials Act stresses the need of synergies with Member States programmes); there is no instrument to involve 3rd country in aligning research and innovation priorities (Critical Raw Materials Act puts importance for Strategic Partnerships on Raw Materials with 3rd countries to add local value, notably through research and innovation cooperation); there is no instrument for basic research Technology Readiness Level 1-3 on Raw Materials (Critical Raw Materials Act stresses the need to scale up from lab to commercialization); small R&I projects fit for first stage research and early stage researchers to develop skills and create base for uptake by other instruments.

Links with other Union programmes and partnerships:

Cluster 4 (Digital Industry and Space), Cluster 5 (Energy, Climate and Mobility), European Innovation Council, EIT Raw Materials, European Raw Materials Alliance, EIT Innoenergy, European Battery Alliance.

Partnership type: Co-funded
Related Horizon Europe Cluster: 4
Starting year: 2025

Short description:

Instrument of and for public entities from Member States and beyond, to strengthen the means of preserving Europe's cultural heritage (CH) in times of climate change and related risks, and to translate scientific outcomes into new policies for resilience and sustainability in various sectors by bringing forward traditional and innovative practices, skills, techniques and materials used in the CH field, as well as to foster the links between CH-related research and policies with climate-related EU and national plans and strategies.

Objectives and expected impacts:

Objectives:

1. Build capacity of CH and climate research communities to collaborate towards new application-oriented solutions;
2. Stimulate interdisciplinary knowledge exchanges between European regions with similar challenges considering historical information on climate and adaptation methods;
3. Provide government stakeholders with a guiding framework for change and innovation in the perception of CH and its place in EU and national climate change policies and strategies.

Impact: CH is seen as a potential contributor and active player in climate change mitigation and adaptation policies: research-led and innovative long-term applications contribute to EU growth and social cohesion through structured & coordinated collaborative efforts at different levels of governance.

Rationale for a European Partnership:

Unprecedented scale of cultural losses and damaging impacts of the climate crisis on CH assets and Europeans’ way of living is identified by the scientific community. Currently a fragmentation along national contexts, knowledge gaps and structural deficiencies at EU and Member State (MS) levels is experienced. Potential synergies between different research disciplines and economic sectors has to be exploited to preserve CH, make other sectors benefit from CH R&I findings through coordinated calls and actions.

Links with other Union programmes and partnerships:

Links with the New European Bauhaus, Partnership for a climate-neutral, sustainable and productive Blue Economy, Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change, Mission Restore Our Ocean and Waters, strategic objectives of the Joint Programming Initiative on CH and Global Change (JPI CH) and ARCHE project support green and digital transition. There are strong connexions with the Creative Europe Programme, EIT Culture & Creativity, Digital Europe Programme and the European Collaborative Cloud for Cultural Heritage.

Partnership type: Co-funded
Related Horizon Europe Cluster: 2
Starting year: 2025

Short description:

The Partnership will create a transformative research and innovation (R&I) programme between social sciences and humanities (SSH) to enable inclusive sustainable development and social and economic resilience in the light of changes in climate, technology, demography, global trade patterns, and potential unexpected shocks. It will develop knowledge and tools to address contemporary multifaceted social challenges in a collaborative and systematic way.

Objectives and expected impacts:

To strengthen the knowledge base in Europe and develop innovative solutions to tackle critical social transformations driven by the green and digital transitions, global trade patterns, and demographic change; to provide policymakers at European, national, and regional level with evidence-based recommendations that can inform new strategies and policies to address these social transformations; to increase the resilience of EU societies to global crises; and to build capacity among the R&I community and policymakers to respond to long-term socio-economic changes.

Expected impacts: inform evidence-based policy setting for modernisation of social protection, gender-equal and inclusive future-of-work, education and skills development and overall to contribute to a fair green and digital transition.

Rationale for a European Partnership

The magnitude of social transformations calls for knowledge & resources sharing, and long-term, concerted actions between Member State (MS), Associated Countries (ACs) and the European Union (EU). Fostering European cooperation and breaking down fragmentation in SSH field, as well as avoiding duplication of funding is important. Social transformations, inequalities and fair transitions are of shared competence and to a large extent policy fields in the remit of EU Member States. A co-funded partnership will therefore contribute to strong ownership and improved policy uptake among national authorities and relevant stakeholders (e.g. social partners)

Links with other Union programmes and partnerships:

Synergies with European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) and Erasmus+ programmes. Support SSH mainstreaming in Missions on Adaptation to Climate Change and the Mission for Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities. Synergies with Clean Energy Transition Partnership and EIT-KICs (EIT Climate-KIC and EIT Digital).