Fourth Joint Transnational Co-Funded Call - SBEP 2026

The matchmaking event is organised by the Joint Call Secretariat of the Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership. It has the ambition to connect researchers, companies and stakeholders from marine and maritime communities interested in the Partnership's fourth transnational Call.

The Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership, a European Partnership under the European Commission's Research & Innovation Framework Programme Horizon Europe, is pleased to announce its matchmaking event for its fourth joint transnational call. This fourth Call is entitled: “Building a sustainable and innovative Blue Economy: mastering digital opportunities and fostering resilience”. It is co-branded by the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development as a means of stimulating new initiatives in co-designed and co-delivered knowledge and solutions for a sustainable ocean economy as part of the Ocean Decade Action Framework.

This fourth co-funded call aims to support transnational research and innovation projects (36 months) addressing one of the four priority areas below:

• Priority area 1: Transitioning the blue economy sectors for sustainability and strategic autonomy

• Priority area 2: Managing sea-uses by advancing digital and ecosystem-based approaches

• Priority area 3: Promoting sustainable blue bioresources through innovation in marine production and harvesting

• Priority area 4: Building resilience in coastal communities with infrastructure and businesses

Each of these Priority areas contributes directly to one or more of the Ocean Decade Challenges, supporting actionable knowledge generation, policy uptake, capacity development, and inclusive innovation in the blue economy context.

The fourth co-funded call pools national and regional financial resources through the participation of 33 funding organisations from 24 countries combined with the contribution from the European Union. 28 countries (20 Member-States, 7 Associated Countries and 1 Third Country) have agreed to launch the fourth Joint Call for R&I proposals. The list of countries is as follows: Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Montenegro, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, The Netherlands, Tunisia, Turkiye, Ukraine. The total estimated budget is about EUR 37 million. 

To help you find a project to join or partners for your project, you have the opportunity to set up 20-minute meetings with other participants during the matchmaking sessions of the event. These sessions will be organized from Monday, 14 September, to Monday, 16 November, in two-hour blocks scheduled between 10:00 AM and 12:00 PM or 2:00 PM and 4:00 PM. Please refer to the 'How It Works' section for details on registration and creating your profile.