Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society - 2027

Projects funded under this destination should contribute to the following expected impacts in the Horizon Europe Strategic Plan 2025-2027^[1]:

• Strengthening social and economic resilience and sustainability
• Boosting inclusive growth and reducing vulnerabilities effectively

The expected impacts reflect the two-pronged nature of the destination. On the one hand, research funded by this destination will improve the understanding of how the macro drivers of change (technological change, climate change, new global trade patterns, along with migration, human mobility, and other demographic changes) impact society and inform policy makers on how to mitigate negative consequences and harness newly created opportunities. The results obtained should improve the understanding of the interplay between different drivers of change and their social, ethical, political, and economic implications. The improved understanding of these challenges and their economic, social, and distributional impacts will fill in the research gaps while also inform the design and assessment of policies addressing existing and emerging challenges, including in the areas of education, well-being and mental health.

On the other hand, research and innovation investment should be geared towards deepening the understanding of how ongoing changes impact society, with a specific emphasis on the key objectives of boosting inclusive and sustainable growth and effectively reducing vulnerabilities, poverty and inequalities. This knowledge should provide valuable insights to policymakers to design and assess policies that effectively address vulnerabilities while capitalizing on emerging opportunities.

Overall, the destination’s activities will help promote the EU’s inclusive growth, resilience, and fair transition towards climate neutrality, by providing solid analytical evidence to implementing actions related to:

• The European Pillar of Social Rights, and its Action Plan with its three ambitious targets (78% employment rate, 60% of population with yearly training, and reduction of the number of people at risk of poverty and social exclusion by at least 15 million by 2030)
• the European Education Area and its EU-level 2030 targets
• The Union of Skills (including envisaged initiatives on skills portability and the European Strategy for Vocational Education and Training, the Pact for Skills and the Skills Agenda)
• the first-ever EU Anti-Poverty Strategy and the European Affordable Housing Plan
• The Union of Equality policies and strategies, including:
  • the Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021-2030^[2] (in line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities^[3]); the European Accessibility Act (Directive 2019/882), and the European Disability Card
  • The Gender Equality Strategy 2020 – 2025 and the Directive combating violence against women and domestic violence
  • EU Anti-racism Action Plan 2020-2025
  • The Strategic EU Framework for Roma Equality, Inclusion and Participation 2020-2030
  • The LGBTIQ Equality Strategy 2020-2025
• The Communication on Demographic change in Europe: a toolbox for action
• The EU’s just transition policy framework, in line with the 2040 Climate Target Plan, including the Just Transition Mechanism, the Social Climate Fund, and the Council Recommendation on ensuring a fair transition towards climate neutrality
• The new Pact for European Social Dialogue and the Council Recommendation on strengthening social dialogue in the EU.
• The European Child Guarantee
• The Council Recommendation on adequate minimum income
• The Commission Communication on a comprehensive approach to mental health
• The new Pact on Asylum and Migration and its accompanying actions, initiatives and legislation.

A new European Partnership on Social Transformations and Resilience^[4], focused on the social sciences and humanities (SSH), will be launched to make use of their potential to foster resilience, fairness and inclusiveness, and social cohesion in the light of changes in climate and environment, technology, demography, and unexpected shocks. The Partnership will fund research and innovation activities in the areas of the future of work, modernisation of social protection and essential services, education and skills development and a fair transition towards climate neutrality.

Applicants are encouraged to consider, where relevant, the services offered by the current and future EU-funded European Research Infrastructures, particularly those in the social sciences and humanities (SSH) domain^[5].

Where applicable, proposals should leverage the data and services available through European Research Infrastructures federated under the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC), as well as data from relevant Data Spaces. Particular efforts should be made to ensure that the data produced in the context of this research is FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Re-usable).

To maximise the impacts of R&I under this Destination in line with EU priorities, international cooperation is encouraged whenever relevant in the proposed topics.

Research on social and economic transformations funded by topics in the present Work Programme will build upon its predecessors in Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe and further push the boundaries of state-of-the-art knowledge. It will do so by further engaging with a vast array of stakeholders, not limited to universities and research centres, but also extending to social partners (trade unions and business organizations), civil society organizations, practitioners, VET providers, and SMEs.

The destination will rely on a carefully balanced mix of actions, to bring together a balanced and appropriate set of stakeholders to achieve research of the highest quality, while aiming at providing recommendations to policymakers at European, national, regional and local level that could have a beneficial societal and economic impact. In order to facilitate the latter, it will maximise the feedback to policy and the dissemination and exploitation of research and innovation results and practices in the domain of social and economic transformations.

[1] https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/6abcc8e7-e685-11ee-8b2b-01aa75ed71a1/language-en

[2] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A52021DC0101

[3] https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-rights-persons-disabilities

[4] see topic HORIZON-CL2-2026-02-TRANSFO-01 in this Work Programme

[5] https://ri-portfolio.esfri.eu/ for example CESSDA - Consortium of European Social Science Data Archives

Expected Outcome:

Projects should contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

• Provide policymakers and educators and parents with a solid understanding of the potential benefits, opportunities and challenges stemming from the use of artificial intelligence tools in learning environments in pre-primary and primary education, including with regard to their ethical dimension.
• Generate rigorous, policy-relevant evidence on the impact of use of artificial intelligence tools in learning environments on educational performance and youth well-being.
• Develop actionable advice to educators about how they can make an effective use of artificial intelligence tools in their work, including for the assessment of learning outcomes.

Scope:

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in learning environments in pre-primary and primary education is rapidly growing. However, there is limited evidence on how AI can challenge and improve learning outcomes, enhance the teaching techniques and support the teaching profession and how automating administrative tasks helps teachers focus on pedagogy and teaching challenges. Most existing research is from extra-EU contexts, which significantly limits the transferability of findings to EU education and training systems and is often conducted on a limited number of participants and covering short-time spans, hindering the possibility of generalising its findings. Moreover, research on the implications of AI tools for equity and inclusion in education is lacking. There is also a need to better investigate the challenges that AI poses to teaching and learning as well as pupils’ well-being. AI is developed to increase human efficiency yet also comes with often unexpected risks and challenges, especially when being applied to child audiences.

The research (including through SSH disciplines) could explore how AI can enhance curricula, improve teaching methods, and personalise learning through adaptive technologies. It should also consider the developmental appropriateness of AI tools for young learners, focusing on cognitive, emotional, and social growth. Research on AI’s impact on early childhood education and its role in supporting foundational skills would be valuable. Additionally, the research should emphasise the aspect of teacher support, including how AI can assist with lesson planning, assessment, and feedback. It should also explore training programs to help educators use AI effectively. Finally, inclusivity and accessibility are key angles to consider, ensuring AI tools are suitable for all students, including those with disabilities or from diverse backgrounds, and promoting multilingual and multicultural education.

Longitudinal studies are also needed, as current research is fragmented and looking at the short term. Proposals should focus on the need to understand long-term cognitive, social, and emotional impacts, which requires sustained, multi-year investigations. Furthermore, the role of media and digital tools requires attention. Proposals should consider the devices and platforms through which children encounter AI (for example robots, tablets, smartphones etc) and how these shape interactions and learning outcomes.

Relevant research questions to address include:

• How can AI-powered tools personalise learning experiences safely and effectively and support teachers in addressing diverse student needs?
• What are the potential benefits and challenges of integrating AI into initial teacher education and continuous professional development programmes?
• How can AI assist teachers in automating administrative tasks, allowing them to focus more on pedagogy and student engagement?
• What ethical considerations and potential risks, including in relation to wellbeing, should be taken into account when using AI in education to support teachers and students?
• What is the typical profile of teachers who are currently using AI-powered tools and which uses and perceived gratifications motivate using AI-powered tool?
• How can AI tools motivate children to learn?
• How can AI-based interventions address learning gaps based on individual students’ needs (including disabilities) and learning styles?
• What changes do educational programmes need to perform on a pedagogical level for the successful integration of AI?
• What do teachers need to implement the use of AI safely and effectively?

Proposals can apply a variety of methods including rigorous experimental and/or quasi-experimental methods, but also experience sampling and general survey methods, to evaluate the effectiveness of existing AI tools or to test new AI tools. Proposals should evaluate the costs associated with the policy measures or programmes analysed. Proposals should look at different forms of AI tools, e.g. Generative AI, Intelligent Tutoring Systems etc. Proposals should also apply qualitative research methods to cover the ethical dimensions. Interdisciplinary approaches and close cooperation with educational institutions and educators are essential. Cooperation with media literacy organisations is encouraged. Clustering and cooperation among selected projects under this call topic and other relevant projects are strongly encouraged.

Particular attention should be paid to identifying and mitigating biases in AI systems to ensure equity and inclusion in education systems.