BlueActionBANOS Open Call for Community-Led Actions

We are inviting to the Open Call teams/consortia of minimum 2 up to 12 entities registered in Baltic and North Sea basin (BANOS) countries that, at the time of application, are Member States or Associated Countries to Horizon Europe: Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Sweden. Applicants from EU Member State and Horizon Europe Associated Countries outside the BANOS area will be eligible in special cases, where justified. Proposed Community-Led Actions must be focused on the BANOS lighthouse area. Proposals may concern actions in one BANOS country only or in several BANOS countries, and must address at least one of the EU Mission Ocean and Waters objectives:

1. protection and restoration of marine and freshwater ecosystems and biodiversity
2. prevention and elimination of pollution of our ocean, seas and waters
3. making the sustainable blue economy carbon-neutral and circular

More information on the objectives in the WISE Marine site: https://water.europa.eu/marine/europe-seas/eu-mission-restore-our-oceans-and-water.

Who can apply?

Types of entities in the communities listed below that can apply for the support:

1. Regional and local authorities (including island and waterfront authorities)
2. Non-governmental organisations, foundations, and professional associations engaged in local development, nature conservation, environmental protection, sustainable use of marine resources, or blue economy activities;
3. Educational establishments, research performing organisations and/or similar;
4. Locally based companies, SMEs and startups (provided this is not in conflict with the State Aid rules);
5. Knowledge brokers, facilitating organizations;
6. Enterprises, cooperatives, and other registered organisations fostering inclusion, skills development, or sustainable blue economy activities;
7. Financial institutions or registered cooperatives supporting sustainable investments or local development initiatives;
8. any other legal entities in the below-described communities.

Types of communities relevant to the Community-Led Actions Open Call:

1. Ports (including inland ports);
2. Islands authorities and communities;
3. Fishing and aquaculture communities, producers, processors, retailers and manufacturers, and other representatives of blue economy;
4. Operators of various vessels;
5. River basin and inland water communities engaged in water management and pollution reduction;
6. Citizen education, science and community innovation initiatives contributing to marine and freshwater monitoring or restoration;
7. Indigenous and traditional knowledge communities involved in sustainable use and stewardship of marine and freshwater resources;
8. Blue tech and digital innovation communities contributing to ocean observation, data sharing, or circular blue economy; 
9. Cultural heritage and maritime identity communities promoting ocean literacy and traditional connections to the sea; 
10. Local financial institutions, cooperatives, and impact investors supporting sustainable blue investments; 
11. Enterprises and organisations fostering inclusion, skills, and employment in the blue economy;
12. Local Action Groups described by the Community-Led Local Development strategies;
13. Waterfront cities/regional authorities and communities (avoiding overlaps with Cities’ Mission);
14. Conservation and environmental protection communities;
15. Representatives of the tourism sector;
16. Maritime infrastructure operators (including offshore wind, wave/tidal energy, and similar infrastructure and their operators).
17. Any other community within the BANOS area that could benefit from the impact of funded Community-Led Action(s)

Submissions will be accepted through the online form available at: https://opportunities.getonepass.eu/applications/bab/start

The application process consists of 2 steps:

1. Compulsory submission of Project Idea Form and individual consultation;
2. Full proposal submission (consisting of 3 main sections: Relevance, Impact, Implementation including resources and budget).

Only those projects who submit the Project Idea Form and go through the individual consultation will be invited to submit a full proposal. 

Project Idea Forms will be accepted by 16 March 2026 17:00 (Brussels time). We reserve the right to contact and consult only those applicants who submit complete and full information in the Project Idea form.

While Project Idea Form submission and consultation are a mandatory step, they are not subject to evaluation.

We will evaluate only complete full proposals that were submitted via official tools within the indicated deadline.

The evaluation process consists of the following steps:

1. Full proposal submission.
2. Admissibility & eligibility check: full proposals submitted within the deadline will be screened against the admissibility & eligibility conditions based on the self-declarations in the proposal. Later on, during the evaluation process, the above conditions will be verified, and non-compliant applicants will be excluded.
3. Independent Evaluation: independent evaluators will assess proposals based on the established evaluation criteria.
4. Jury Day (optional): If, following the Independent Evaluation phase, a large number of proposals reach the required threshold, an additional "Jury Day" step may be incorporated into the Selection Process.
5. Consensus Meeting: The Selection Committee will prioritise proposals based on the Independent Evaluation results and the objectives of BAB project.
6. Formal Check: legal screening of the pre-selected entities before they are invited to sign the Sub-Grant Agreement. 

Project website: http://www.blueactionbanos.eu/funding/open-call-community-led-actions/

Submissions at: https://opportunities.getonepass.eu/applications/bab/start

OC helpdesk email: [email protected]