New Horizon Europe funding call “Nature”: how to prepare for the new HORIZON-NATURE-2027 opportunities
2nd July 2026 at 9:37 am
The Horizon Nature calls are among the most interesting additions to the draft Horizon Europe Horizontal Activities work programme for 2027. Under the umbrella “Transformative change towards a nature-positive economy and society”, the European Commission is signalling that biodiversity is no longer a niche environmental concern. It is now central to competitiveness, resilience, food and water security, climate adaptation, industrial transformation and public health. For applicants, the opportunity is substantial, but so is the challenge: these topics cut across disciplines, sectors and policy agendas. A successful proposal will need to show not only excellent science but a credible pathway to nature-positive change. The horizontal call “Transformative change towards a nature-positive economy and society” (HORIZON-NATURE-2027) introduces several topics designed to increase biodiversity-related R&I investment across Pillar II of Horizon Europe. This matters because the EU is moving from biodiversity commitments to implementation. The EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 aims to put Europe’s biodiversity on a path to recovery, while the Nature Restoration Regulation has introduced binding restoration targets and implementation pressure for Member States.
Understanding the structure of the HORIZON-NATURE-2027 topics
The Nature call is not one simple call with one goal. It covers several different topic areas, each with its own focus, budget and expected results. These topics use different approaches, including research, new technologies, digital tools and cooperation with people and organisations working in the field. At the same time, it recognises that protecting and restoring ecosystems is essential for Europe’s food security, water resilience, climate adaptation, disaster risk reduction and strategic autonomy.
The Nature call has a total budget of ~€229 million and contains 11 call topics organised in four calls. In those, 24 projects are expected to be funded.
The distribution of funding across the Horizon Nature calls reveals an important shift in EU biodiversity policy. While previous programmes often focused on understanding environmental problems, many of these topics are designed to support implementation, scaling and real-world impact. The largest share of funding is allocated to ecosystem restoration, living labs and practical solutions that can help Member States meet their obligations under the Nature Restoration Regulation. At the same time, the call continues to invest in fundamental knowledge gaps, including biodiversity-health interactions, biodiversity monitoring, PFAS impacts and the decline of invertebrates.
Applicants should therefore pay close attention to the different intervention logics behind the topics. Some calls seek new scientific evidence, others focus on testing solutions in real-world environments, while several aim to strengthen long-term monitoring capacities and policy implementation. Successful proposals will need to demonstrate not only scientific excellence, but also a clear understanding of how their results can contribute to measurable biodiversity outcomes, support public decision-making and accelerate Europe’s transition towards a nature-positive economy and society.
The tables below summarise the details for each call topic.
HORIZON-NATURE-2027-01:
| Topics | Type of Action | Budgets (EUR million) | Expected EU contribution per project (EUR million) | Indicative number of projects expected to be funded |
| 2026 | ||||
| Opening: 13 Oct 2026 Deadline(s): 14 Jan 2027 | ||||
| Horizontal call – Transformative change towards a nature-positive economy and society | ||||
| HORIZON-NATURE-2027-01-01: Understanding the nature and the extent of the effects of PFAS on biodiversity and ecosystem services | RIA | 11.45 | Around 5.72 | 2 |
| HORIZON-NATURE-2027-01-02: Better understanding, anticipating and addressing the biodiversity benefits and impacts of the clean and digital industries | RIA | 18.00 | Around 6.00 | 3 |
| HORIZON-NATURE-2027-01-03: Systemic approaches to accelerate transformative change for biodiversity | RIA | 12.00 | Around 4.00 | 3 |
| Overall indicative budget | 41.45 | |||
HORIZON-NATURE-2027-02:
| Topics | Type of Action | Budgets (EUR million) | Expected EU contribution per project (EUR million) | Indicative number of projects expected to be funded |
| 2027 | ||||
| Opening: 13 Oct 2026 Deadline(s): 14 Jan 2027 | ||||
| Horizontal call – Transformative change towards a nature-positive economy and society | ||||
| HORIZON-NATURE-2027-02-01: Assessing direct and indirect drivers of biodiversity decline of invertebrates | RIA | 15.00 | Around 7.50 | 2 |
| HORIZON-NATURE-2027-02-02: Living labs co-creating solutions for the restoration of ecosystems addressing implementation bottlenecks and improving resilience to risks | RIA | 60.00 | Around 10.00 | 6 |
| HORIZON-NATURE-2027-02-03: Networking to scale up living labs for nature restoration solutions and to address bottlenecks to implementation | CSA | 4.00 | Around 4.00 | 1 |
| HORIZON-NATURE-2027-02-04: Innovative solutions to fight wildlife trafficking and to reduce invasion of invasive alien species | IA | 13.00 | Around 13.00 | 1 |
| HORIZON-NATURE-2027-02-05: Cost-effective biodiversity monitoring for EU policies | RIA | 16.00 | 5.00 to 6.00 | 3 |
| Overall indicative budget | 108.00 | |||
HORIZON-NATURE-2027-03:
| Topics | Type of Action | Budgets (EUR million) | Expected EU contribution per project (EUR million) | Indicative number of projects expected to be funded |
| 2027 | ||||
| Opening: 03 Jun 2027 Deadline(s): 16 Sep 2027 | ||||
| Horizontal call – Transformative change towards a nature-positive economy and society | ||||
| HORIZON-NATURE-2027-03-01: Advancing interdisciplinary, data-driven research at the biodiversity- health interface under a One Health approach | RIA | 20.00 | Around 20.00 | 1 |
| Overall indicative budget | 20.00 | |||
HORIZON-NATURE-2027-04:
| Topics | Type of Action | Budgets (EUR million) | Expected EU contribution per project (EUR million) | Indicative number of projects expected to be funded |
| 2026 | ||||
| Opening: 06 Oct 2026 Deadline(s): 16 Feb 2027 | ||||
| Horizontal call – Transformative change towards a nature-positive economy and society | ||||
| HORIZON-NATURE-2027-04-01: A stronger Global Ocean Observing System to enhance Europe’s strategic autonomy, climate resilience and biodiversity conservation | IA | 50.00 | Around 50.00 | 1 |
| HORIZON-NATURE-2027-04-02: Detection, monitoring, modelling, and attribution capabilities for Solar Radiation Modification activities and their impacts on Earth’s climate and ecosystems | RIA | 10.00 | Around 10.00 | 1 |
| Overall indicative budget | 60.00 | |||
Our track record
If you are preparing a proposal for 2026 or 2027, we are ready to support you from strategy to submission. At accelopment, we work closely with consortia across all major Horizon Europe clusters to translate Work Programme texts into competitive, evaluator-ready proposals.
Our team of experts supports researchers, companies and institutions throughout the entire funding process – from strategic grant planning, to proposal writing, project management and communication and dissemination. With deep knowledge of Pillar II funding opportunities, we help our partners increase their chances of success in securing European research grants across the different clusters. Having collaborated with over 1,000 institutions in Europe and beyond, we are currently involved in over 30 projects. Our portfolio includes CL1 Health projects (such as ResPECT, EDiHTA, EU PAL-COPD, EXPOSIM and the Cancer Mission project GLIOMATCH), the CL3 Security project CapCell, several CL5 Energy and Mobility projects (such as PEPPERONI, ROADVIEW and SOLARX) and CL6 Food and Bioeconomy Projects, including DECIDE and PHOTONFOOD.
We look forward to supporting researchers in upcoming calls. Ready to embark on this adventure? Get in touch with our team to discuss how to position your project idea and write a competitive proposal.
Andreia Cruz
Research & Innovation Project Manager
Dr. Johannes Ripperger
Research & Innovation Manager