Horizon Europe contributes to the sustainability of farming, forestry and rural areas by supporting the research and innovation needed for their modernisation. It provides funding opportunities for Research & Innovation (R&I) for and with end users through multi-actor projects, and R&I in real experimentation sites through living labs and demonstration activities through lighthouses. In addition to R&I, Horizon Europe supports activities that aim to speed up the sharing of knowledge and innovation in practice via thematic and advisory networks.
On this page:
- What is Horizon Europe?
- How will Horizon Europe help farmers, foresters and rural communities?
- How is Horizon Europe funding made available?
- How to apply?
- Learn more about Horizon Europe
Learn more about
Multi-actor projects
Learn moreThematic networks
Learn moreAdvisory networks
Learn moreEU Mission 'A soil Deal for Europe'
Learn morePractice abstracts
Learn moreNew opportunities to apply to interesting Horizon calls
In early December 2025, the Horizon Europe work programmes for 2026 and 2027 were published. Preliminary drafts of the programmes are being published on the European Commission’s Comitology Register:
- The work programme of Horizon Europe Cluster 6 for 2026 and 2027
- The work programme of Horizon Europe Missions for 2026 and 2027
A work programme defines which topics will be open for calls, under what conditions, and by what deadlines. Its development is a collaborative process between the European Commission and representatives of the EU Member States (known as programme delegates).
What is Horizon Europe?
Horizon Europe is the EU’s key funding programme for research and innovation with a budget of €95.5 billion. It contributes to achieving the EU policy objectives and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, and boosts the EU’s competitiveness and growth.
Pillar II of Horizon Europe, ‘Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness’, is subdivided into six clusters. It also includes the EU Missions. In 2021-2027, Cluster 6 for ‘Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and the Environment’, has a budget of €9 billion, and the EU Mission: ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’, has a budget of around €825 million. They both provide funding opportunities for R&I activities, relevant to the farming, forestry and rural communities.
How will Horizon Europe help farmers, foresters and rural communities?
Horizon Europe aims to create solutions for addressing the challenges and seizing opportunities that farmers, foresters and rural areas are experiencing. In addition to support for academic projects, it funds projects in which researchers and practitioners build solutions together. These are called multi-actor projects. Specific efforts are made to share knowledge and solutions that are ready to be put into practice, in particular via Thematic Networks and advisory networks. Further, the Mission ‘A Soil Deal For Europe’ - with the ambition of leading the transition towards healthy soils - aims to create 100 living labs, with over a thousand testing locations, places for real-life experimentation and co-creation of solutions, and lighthouses, exemplary sites at which to showcase good practices across Europe.
How is Horizon Europe funding made available?
Horizon Europe work programmes present the specific research and innovation challenges that will be addressed and opportunities that can be seized through funded projects.
Horizon Europe works through work programmes that are generally biannual. These include project calls for research and innovation actions (RIA), innovation actions (IA), and coordination and support actions (CSA), to which everyone can submit project proposals. The calls are clustered into ‘destinations’. Most calls require applicants to form consortia with at least three partners from three different countries.
How to apply?
All calls for project proposals can be accessed through the EU Funding & Tenders Portal. This portal also provides the key steps for participation and allows applicants to search for consortium partners.
In the published work programmes, each call gives more detailed information on the expected outcomes and the scope that applicants should consider in their proposals to receive funding, as well as special conditions for participation.
Multiple opportunities to apply to Horizon Europe in the area of farming, forestry and rural areas will be under the Cluster 6 calls and the Soil Mission calls.
Every year, the EU CAP Network publishes a brochure that highlights funding opportunities for agriculture, forestry and rural areas under Cluster 6 and other parts of the Horizon Europe work programme, helping potential applicants find their way through the different calls.
- Download the Brochure ‘Funding opportunities under Horizon Europe – Calls 2026’
- Download the EU CAP Network factsheet Tips & Tricks to apply for Horizon Europe calls.
- Download the EU CAP Network factsheet Turning ideas into reality: EU innovation funding opportunities for farmers and foresters
- Participate in the Horizon Europe info days or in EU CAP Network brokerage events.
Learn more about Horizon Europe
Visit the European Commission's Horizon Europe website, in particular the pages dedicated to:
- Research and innovation in agriculture, forestry and rural areas
- Cluster 6: Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment
- EU Mission: A Soil Deal for Europe
- The Horizon Europe Strategic Plan 2025-2027 sets out three strategic orientations for research and innovation investment under Horizon Europe for the years 2025-2027, including ‘green transition’, ‘digital transition’, and ‘a more resilient, competitive, inclusive and democratic Europe’.
Consult the 15 thematic factsheets on Research & Innovation in agriculture, forestry and rural areas: