Cluster 1 - Health (Single stage - 2026)

Topics under this destination are directed towards the Key Strategic Orientation 1 “The Green transition” and Key Strategic Orientation 3 “A more resilient, competitive, inclusive, and democratic Europe” of Horizon Europe’s strategic plan 2025-2027^[1].

Research and innovation supported under this destination should contribute to the following expected impact, set out in the strategic plan impact summary for the Health Cluster: “people's living and working environments are health-promoting and sustainable thanks to a better understanding of the environmental, occupational, social, sex and gender-related, and economic determinants of health”.

The environment we live and work in is a major determinant of our health and wellbeing and climate change acts as a risk multiplier, exacerbating the health effects of environmental stressors, increasing the incidence of non-communicable diseases, mental health conditions, and infectious diseases, particularly for populations in a vulnerable situation. The climatic crisis is a health crisis with impacts at the global level. Across Europe, the fastest-warming continent, heat and floods have caused devastating human and economic impact in recent years. In 2025, the Commission published a Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda on Health and Climate Change^[2], providing a forward-looking overview of the current and emerging research needs and gaps in the field. This agenda informs the focus and objectives of this destination, aligning with the Commission's Political Guidelines for 2024-2029^[3], which emphasise the need to step up work on preventive health, climate resilience, adaptation, preparedness, and the green transition, while promoting circularity.

In this Work Programme part, Destination "Living and working in a health-promoting environment" focuses on understanding and addressing the impacts of climate change on human health, increasing climate adaptation and resilience and reducing the health sector's contribution to climate change. The results will support the EU Strategy on Adaptation to Climate change, the European Climate Adaptation Plan (thematic window on health) and the European Climate Risk Assessment by enhancing understanding of health risks and informing prevention, adaptation, and mitigation actions for populations and healthcare systems. Moreover, this destination aims to identify and amplify the co-benefits of climate action for health outcomes. This integrated approach recognises that climate mitigation measures can simultaneously deliver significant health benefits, creating positive feedback loops between climate protection and public health. Strong collaborations across sectors and with other Horizon Europe Clusters dealing with issues such as agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture, food, environment, climate, biodiversity, mobility, security, urban planning, social inclusion and gender will be needed to ensure that maximal societal benefits are reached. In view of increasing the impact of EU investments under Horizon Europe, the Commission welcomes and supports cooperation between EU-funded projects to enable cross-fertilisation and create synergies. This could range from networking to joint activities such as the participation in joint workshops, the exchange of knowledge, development and adoption of best practices, or joint communication activities. Unless specified otherwise, all topics are open to international collaboration to address global climate and health challenges.

Expected impacts:

Proposals for topics under this destination should set out a credible pathway to contributing to living and working in a health-promoting environment, and more specifically to one or several of the following impacts:

• Policymakers and regulators are aware and well informed about climatic, environmental, socio-economic and occupational risk factors as well as health-promoting factors across society.
• Climatic, environmental, occupational, social, economic, and health policies and practices at the EU, national and regional level are sustainable and based on solid scientific evidence.
• The upstream determinants of health are known, understood and reduced.
• The health threats and burden and patient safety burdens resulting from exposure to climate drivers are lessened, so that the related number of deaths and illnesses is substantially reduced.
• Living and working environments in European cities and regions are healthier, more inclusive, safer, resilient and sustainable.
• The healthcare sector reduces its environmental footprint and transitions towards carbon neutrality.
• The adaptive capacity and resilience of populations and health systems in the EU to climate and environmental change-related to mental and physical health risks are strengthened.
• Citizens’ health and wellbeing are protected and promoted, and premature deaths, diseases and inequalities related to climate related risks are prevented.
• Citizens understand better complex climate, environment and health issues, and effective measures to address them and support related policies and regulations.

Legal entities established in China are not eligible to participate in both Research and Innovation Actions (RIAs) and Innovation Actions (IAs) falling under this destination. For additional information please see “Restrictions on the participation of legal entities established in China” found in the Annex B of the General Annexes of this Work Programme.

[1] https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/funding/funding-opportunities/funding-programmes-and-open-calls/horizon-europe/strategic-plan_en

[2] https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/616cce9c-39e5-11f0-8a44-01aa75ed71a1

[3] https://commission.europa.eu/about/commission-2024-2029_en

Expected Outcome:

This topic aims at supporting activities that are enabling or contributing to one or several expected impacts of destination “Living and working in a health-promoting environment”. To that end, proposals under this topic should aim to deliver results that are directed at, tailored towards and contributing to most of the following expected outcomes:

• The healthcare sector is supported with new technological developments and frameworks for greening, decarbonising and adapting to climate change, thus also contributing to protect biodiversity and ecosystem services.
• Governments, public health authorities, healthcare providers and practitioners, social care services and civil society have access to the best available evidence on the health costs and benefits (including co-benefits) of climate adaptation and mitigation actions and interventions.
• Policymakers and public authorities develop environment, climate change and health policies and interventions based on robust frameworks and incorporating innovative, inclusive and accessible solutions and technologies.
• Governments and public health authorities are supported in their adoption of robust frameworks and interventions to tackle societal challenges linked to the health impacts of climatic and environmental factors.
• Populations are empowered and equipped with knowledge, tools and resources to adopt health-protective behaviours and adapt to health-related climate risks.

Scope:

The health sector accounts for nearly 5% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and generates significant demands for energy and materials, as well as dangerous polluting streams. Proactive mitigation efforts in the health sector can significantly reduce GHG emissions and pollution, saving many lives and contributing to relieve pressures on biodiversity and ecosystem services. However, specific mechanisms for emission reductions in the health sector remain less defined compared to those in other sectors.

At the same time, the climate crisis subjects healthcare systems to unprecedented pressures (e.g. on infrastructure, workforce, overall systems) while simultaneously having to respond to increasing healthcare needs. To reduce pressure in healthcare systems and generally improve public health, it is crucial to design inclusive and accessible interventions that prevent the health impacts of climate change and related environmental degradation, increase resilience and preparedness of individuals and communities and foster the adoption of health-protective behaviours.

Research activities under this topic should generate evidence on the opportunities and health co-benefits of mitigation in the health sector as well as foster the development of low-carbon medical technologies and digital solutions for the sector. Proposals should also support the design of effective, scalable, cost-effective and transferable interventions and frameworks that can be applied across a wide range of healthcare settings and/or in population, community and societal contexts and involving, when relevant, public and patient engagement. Proposals can consider both living and working environments.

More specifically research actions under this topic should include some of the following activities:

• Develop and/or pilot effective, inclusive, accessible and impactful interventions to address the impact of climate change in healthcare systems and/or in health outcomes across populations, sectors and regions. These interventions should aim at reducing health vulnerability and building health resilience. Consider where relevant the involvement of local communities and/or end users in the development of these interventions.
• Develop methodologies and analytical tools to assess the effectiveness and cost-benefit of health-related climate change adaptation interventions.
• Generate evidence on the health co-benefits of climate change mitigation and propose frameworks to quantify the magnitude of their impacts.
• Develop harmonised frameworks, assessment metrics and reporting methods to evaluate alternative mitigation strategies and interventions, as well as harmonised methodologies to assess the cost-benefit of different mitigation measures.
• Explore and estimate the impact of preventive healthcare and lifestyle practices for mitigating the impacts of climate change in the health sector and increasing the resilience and preparedness of communities.
• Propose best practices to enhance the climate resilience of healthcare infrastructures, healthcare professionals and relevant supply chains and logistics.
• Explore and assess the role of primary care in increasing the preparedness of communities and reduce the health impacts of climate change.
• Develop low-carbon medical technologies (including medical devices) and digital solutions to reduce the emissions of GHG and pollutants (to air, water and soil) of healthcare practices and their supply chains. Health technology assessment activities to evaluate new or alternative low carbon medical solutions may be included where appropriate.

Funded projects under this topic should consider the scalability and transferability of the developed solutions to ensure that any knowledge, frameworks, methodologies, pilots, etc., developed are actionable and applicable across different healthcare settings and community contexts. Proposals should also consider the use of implementation science approaches to support the relevance and broad applicability of the research outcomes. Proposals should take into consideration the broader socio-economic challenges faced by healthcare systems (e.g. funding challenges, workforce shortages, population ageing and increase of chronic diseases). Additionally, solutions and interventions proposed under this topic should consider the Do No Significant Harm principle.

In order to maximise synergies and increase the impact of the projects, all proposals selected for funding from this topic will form a cluster and be required to participate in common networking and joint activities. Guidance on the potential activities to be developed can be obtained by consulting the clusters of projects ongoing under the Environment, Climate and Health research portfolio^[1].

International cooperation is encouraged.

Proposals should make sure that relevant activities, outcomes and outputs are shared with the European Climate and Health Observatory^[2] through the cluster that will be formed after the approval of the proposals. When relevant proposals should build on the outcomes of the projects that are part of the European Climate-Health Cluster^[3].

Proposals are encouraged to consider, where relevant, the data, expertise and services offered by European research infrastructures^[4] in the environment and health domain.

This topic requires the effective contribution of social sciences and humanities (SSH) disciplines and the involvement of SSH experts, institutions as well as the inclusion of relevant SSH expertise, in order to produce meaningful and significant effects enhancing the societal impact of the related research activities.

Applicants envisaging to include clinical studies^[5] should provide details of their clinical studies in the dedicated annex using the template provided in the submission system.

[1] https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/research-area/health/environment-climate-and-health_en

[2] https://climate-adapt.eea.europa.eu/en/observatory

[3] https://climate-health.eu

[4] The catalogue of European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) research infrastructures portfolio can be browsed on the ESFRI website: https://ri-portfolio.esfri.eu

[5] Please note that the definition of clinical studies (see introduction to this Work Programme part) is broad and it is recommended that you review it thoroughly before submitting your application.