Researching and applying the potential of Artificial Intelligence to foster climate resilience at the regional and local levels

Specific sectors in the selected regions become more resilient to climate change thanks to the use of AI to improve their processes or technologies, while simultaneously advancing their digital transformation. Scope: Rationale Over the past few years, a rapid and disruptive acceleration of progress in Artificial Intelligence has occurred, driven by significant advances in widespread data availability, computing power and machine learning [1] . While the potential of Artificial Intelligence is being uncovered each day and its possibilities are expanding exponentially, such technological revolution can significantly accelerate Europe’s efforts towards climate resilience and contribute to the objectives of the Adaptation Mission. Considering the ever-changing nature of AI growth, proposals should demonstrate that they go beyond state of the art, they should identify a specific gap that can be addressed by an AI-powered tool, and explain why it would improve existing models, tools or applications or, alternatively, justify the need to develop entirely new solutions. In particular, the proposal should address one of the following two objectives: Objective 1: “ AI for more accessible data ” AI can quickly process and identify patterns from big datasets that would otherwise be too complex. Proposals should explore how AI can be further integrated, including via AI techniques such as deep learning, to make data more accessible and understandable, to facilitate informed decision-making by regions and local authorities. Improvements should be tested with at least 3 region al and local authorities to ensure that they provide a concrete added value to end-users (i.e. decision-makers). Moreover, proposals are expected to apply such analysis to concretely improve data integrity and accessibility [2] . Objective 2: “ AI for sectoral adaptation ” Use and application of machine learning and AI tools to help regions and local authorities optimize their management of resources and improve adaptation technologies in key sector(s). Proposals should develop and test the tools in the territory of at least 5 regional or local authorities . The work should engage private sector actors with relevant expertise in the sector chosen (e.g. smart agriculture, construction and buildings sector, water management, waste management, transports, resilience of energy systems, etc.), to ensure that such AI-powered tools are designed for scalability and uptake. Regardless of the objective addressed, all proposals should provide training and dissemination material for different target groups, including regions and local authorities, on how to best take advantage of the AI-powered improvements. Attention should be given to avoiding biases and ensuring that the data is representative of diverse populations, as well as taking into account possible limitations and potential misinformation when using generative AI tools. To ensure a balanced portfolio covering both objectives, grants will be awarded to proposals not only in order of ranking but at least also to one proposal that is the highest ranked within each objective, provided that the applications attain all thresholds. To this purpose, the objective addressed by each proposal should also be specified in the free keywords section of the proposal (e.g. ‘objective 1’ or ‘objective 2’). Links to the Mission and to other projects and initiatives Proposals should include a mechanism and the resources to establish operational links and collaboration with the Mission Implementation Platform (including on monitoring), and other relevant knowledge platforms. Projects funded under this topic will be expected to participate in the Mission Community of Practice and to share relevant knowledge to feed the work of the project stemming from HORIZON-MISS-2026-01-CLIMA-02. Proposals are encouraged to (dedicate resources to) 1) link their monitoring to the framework developed by the project UNDERPIN ; 2) to rely on the (updated) CLIMAAX framework for their climate risk assessments, where relevant. Applicants should acknowledge these elements and already account for them in their proposal, making adequate provisions in terms of resources and budget to engage and collaborate with the Mission. [1] COM(2024) 28 final [2] This could include, where relevant, the use or enhancement of Destination Earth (DestinE) data, tools and/or services, to be identified in the proposal.

Eligibility and submission conditions

"> General conditions 1. Admissibility conditions: Proposal page limit and layout described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes. Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System. 2. Eligible countries described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide . 3. Other Eligibility Conditions described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. 4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes. 5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds To ensure a balanced portfolio covering both objectives, grants will be awarded to proposals not only in order of ranking but at least also to one proposal that is the highest ranked within each objective, provided that the applications attain all thresholds. To this purpose, the objective addressed by the proposal should also be specified in the free keywords section of the proposal (e.g. ‘objective 1’ or ‘objective 2’). described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes. 5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual . 5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes. 6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2021-2027) – and in actions under the Research and Training Programme of the European Atomic Energy Community (2021-2025) [This [decision is available on the Funding and Tenders Portal, in the reference documents section for Horizon Europe, under ‘Simplified costs decisions’ or through this link: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/horizon/guidance/ls-decision_he_en.pdf ]]. described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes. Specific conditions described in the [specific topic of the Work Programme] Application and evaluation forms and model grant agreement (MGA): Application form templates Please use the application form that you will find in the Submission System. You can find examples of standard application forms in the Reference Documents page . Evaluation form templates — will be used with the necessary adaptations Standard evaluation form (HE RIA, IA) Guidance HE Programme Guide   Model Grant Agreements (MGA) Lump Sum MGA   Call-specific instructions   Detailed budget table (HE LS)   Guidance: "Lump sums - what do I need to know?" Additional documents: HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 1. General Introduction HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 12. Missions HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 15. General Annexes HE Framework Programme and Rules for Participation Regulation 2021/695 HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764 EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509 Decision authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement

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Annex A Horizon Europe Programme Guide Online Manual [This [decision Standard evaluation form (HE RIA, IA) Lump Sum MGA Detailed budget table (HE LS) Guidance: "Lump sums - what do I need to know?" HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 1. General Introduction HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 12. Missions Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions