The Horizon Europe work programmes have been published; hundreds of millions of euros available for preparedness-focused research
The overall goal of the Preparedness Union Strategy is to create a secure and resilient EU with the capabilities required to anticipate and manage threats and hazards, independently of their nature or origin, to ensure that European citizens have adequate protection and preparedness, and to preserve the vital functions of the society in all circumstances.
The EU’s research and innovation sector has an essential contribution to make, allowing continuously adapted, optimised and state-of-the-art responses to crisis. The European Commission is investing over EUR 7.3 billion through its newly adopted Horizon Europe work programme for 2025 to strengthen Europe's research and innovation engine and global edge.
In the spirit of the Strategy's key action on embedding preparedness by design into EU action, there are hundreds of millions available for preparedness-focused research throughout the programme's different clusters. In addition to technological and methodological gains, these investments make economic sense:
Thus, the Commission's Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO) has provided substantive input to the build-up of the latest Horizon Europe work programme 2025. This is a key outcome of DG ECHO to the Disaster Risk Management (DRM) Science & Planning working group according to its work plan and deliverables of 2025. The group comprises UCPM (Union Civil Protection Mechanism) Member/Participating States representatives. For example, a scientific needs assessment was done in 2024 together to prioritise themes of interest.
The Horizon Europe work programme 2025 was published on 14 May and the first calls for proposals will open on 15 May on the Commission's Funding and Tenders portal.
Among the full programme, there are specific topics where disaster and climate preparedness action are more focused towards DG ECHO's civil protection and humanitarian aid mandate; these amount to approximately EUR 100+ million. In addition to creating research and innovation, the projects of Horizon Europe often contribute to the capacity building of disaster risk management actors and co-create technologies, methodologies or solutions with them. For example:
Below are incoming infodays of select clusters and more detailed information on the DG ECHO-contributed topics.
Below are select topics in the EU Mission: Adaptation to Climate Change as well as clusters 3 (Civil Security for Society) and 5 (Climate, Energy and Mobility) of Horizon Europe that DG ECHO contributed to and amount to approximately EUR 100+ million. Refer to the full text on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal:
| Topic | Description snippets | Indicative budget (EUR, million) |
|---|---|---|
| HORIZON-MISS-2025-01-CLIMA-01: Supporting regions and local authorities in assessing climate risks | "The project is expected to identify and support ways by which the framework and toolbox may be applied more widely, including by the disaster risk management community (e.g. emergency responders, national civil protection agencies, disaster risk planners, Union Civil Protection Knowledge Network)." | 17.65 |
| HORIZON-MISS-2025-01-CLIMA-04: Testing and demonstrating innovative solutions to improve resilience to extreme heat, including addressing health impacts | "Develop and demonstrate ready-to-go actions for emergency services, public transport and utilities (water and energy) in case of extreme heat events, as well as support disaster preparedness and prevention planning (e.g., civil protection agencies)." | 30.00 |
| HORIZON-CL3-2025-01-FCT-04: Humanitarian demining / Unexploded Ordnance Disposal (UXO) of civil areas and unexploded ordnance risk education | "The participation of at least one entity from Ukraine in the consortium is mandatory with competences in humanitarian demining / Unexploded Ordnance Disposal (UXO)." | 6.00 |
| HORIZON-CL3-2025-01-DRS-01: Open topic on citizen and regional and/or local authorities' engagement in enhanced disaster risk awareness, including education, and preparedness | "The European Commission is developing and implementing an EU Preparedness Union Strategy following whole-of-government and whole-of-society approaches. [...] Proposals are invited to utilise the Special Eurobarometer on “Disaster risk awareness and preparedness of the EU population" as evidence of needs." | 12.00 |
| HORIZON-CL3-2025-01-DRS-02: Open topic on Improving disaster risk management and governance to ensure self-sufficiency and sustainability of operations in support of enhanced resilience | "Due to the scope of this topic, legal entities established in LAC (Latin America/African/Caribbean) as well as Central Asian Countries are exceptionally eligible for Union funding." "The European Commission is developing and implementing an EU Preparedness Union Strategy following whole-of-government and whole-of-society approaches. The proposals’ outcomes should especially work towards supporting the Strategy and follow the recommendations of the Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO) to ensure a successful uptake to the end users." | 10.50 |
| HORIZON-CL3-2025-01-DRS-03: Open topic on testing / validating tools, technologies and data used in cross-border prevention, preparedness and responses to climate extreme and geological events and chemical, biological or radiological emergency threats | "Due to the scope of this topic, legal entities established in LAC (Latin America/African/Caribbean) as well as Central Asian Countries are exceptionally eligible for Union funding." "The European Commission is developing and implementing an EU Preparedness Union Strategy following whole-of-government and whole-of-society approaches. The proposals’ outcomes should especially work towards supporting the Strategy and follow the recommendations of the Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO) to ensure a successful uptake to the end users." | 13.50 |
| HORIZON-CL3-2025-01-DRS-04: Advancing autonomous systems and robotics for high-risk disaster response, strengthening disaster resilience in conflict-afflicted crisis zones | "This topic requires the active involvement, as beneficiaries, of at least three first responders’ organisations or agencies from at least three different EU Member States or Associated Countries, including Ukraine." "Scope: Conflicts such as the Russian war against Ukraine and the overall geopolitical context marked by tensions and conflicts make it more pressing than ever to ensure that responders are equipped with advanced tools that not only enhance their capabilities, but also protect their lives and increase operational efficiency in extreme environments. These crises demand a new level of preparedness and resilience, where autonomous systems using cutting-edge technologies work in unison to support swift, coordinated, and safe responses." | 5.00 |
| HORIZON-CL5-2025-06-D1-04: The attribution to climate change, and improved forecasting of extreme and slow-onset climate- and weather-related events and their impacts | "Advanced knowledge of how attribution science and forecasting can be operationalised for a range of policy purposes, including informing and improving preparedness, civil protection and humanitarian planning for future extreme and slow-onset events, post-disaster reconstruction, resilience and adaptation plans." | 12.00 |
