According to the European Commission almost 72% of the whole EU population live in metropolis, towns and suburbs and it is expecting to keep growing by 2050. Urban areas are asked to face the complex challenges related to employment, migration and environment with new ideas and practical solutions.
The Urban Innovative Actions (UIA) is an instrument of the Commission aimed at developing an EU Urban Agenda to better involve urban authorities in the design and implementation of communitarian/national policies. Based on article 8 of European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the Initiative has a total ERDF budget of EUR 372 million for 2014-2020.
The 1st Call for Proposals of the UIA is open from 15 December 2015 to 31 March 2016. The main objective is to select projects testing bold and unproven ideas on urban poverty, migrant integration, employment and energy transition.
The maximum ERD contribution is 5 million euros per project and they cannot take more than 3 years.
Applicants are expected to be local authorities/municipality. However, partnership is actively encouraged and is indeed a selection criterion. The applicants are strongly advised to read:
- Terms of Reference for the 1st Call for Proposals for Urban Innovative Actions
- UIA Guidance
- Application Form working document
All the documents are available in all European languages.
Find the application pack here (all the EU languages)