European Circular Innovation Valley (ECIV) - Open call for interregional innovation projects in the circular economy

The European Circular Innovation Valley project (ECIV), funded under Horizon Europe, has launched its first open call (OC1) to support interregional innovation projects in the field of circular economy with Technology Readiness Levels (TRL or equivalent) between 6 and 8.

Objectives of the call

The ECIV project focuses on creating a European Circular Innovation Valley, a dynamic platform for stakeholders to collaborate and tackle regional challenges. The objectives are:

• To enhance collaboration among regions, creating interconnected ecosystems.
• To support the development of new circular solutions applicable to market needs.
• To promote innovation across all stages of industrial value chains.

The projects funded through this first call, should be based on specific topics identified in different value chains and industrial sectors of the ECIV regions, including (among others):   

• Food and agro-food systems
• Textiles and fashion
• Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE)
• Circular and Sustainable Packaging
• Energy Systems
• Steel, Metals, and Mining
• Construction and Built Environment

Focus Areas

The call will focus on promoting innovation in all the three steps of industrial value chains: (non-exhaustive) 

• Circular and sustainable new Materials, including new plastic solutions, green steel, critical raw materials, chemistry and biobased materials, new textile solutions, construction and demolition waste.
• New Industrial Processes, including strategies and processes supporting the 9 R’s of circularity, like Ecodesign and lifestyle thinking, Product R’s, Industrial Symbioses, maximum valorisation of waste and by-products and renewable energy.
• New Business Models, including circular supply models, extended product lifecycle models, sharing models and product service models.

Who can apply

The call welcomes proposals from collaborative teams within the ECIV network and in particular from the territories listed below. Applicants which however will come with their own funding, and from other EU territories (not included below), are eligible for participation, but not for ECIV funding:

1. Comunidad Foral de Navarra (Spain)
2. Noord Nederland comprising Groningen, Friesland and Drenthe (Netherlands)
3. Norra Mellansverige comprising regions of Värmland, Dalarna and Gävleborg (Sweden)
4. Normandie (France)
5. Scotland (United Kingdom)

Funding

The total funding available for this call is € 9 129 770.00

Deadline

All applications must be submitted by 16 March 2026, 12:00 CET via the Funding & Tenders Portal.

Guidelines to applicants

Further information about this call can be found on the dedicated page on ECIV Open Call 1 on the ECIV website.

ECIV provides:

1. Detailed guide for applicants, that includes the text of the call
2. Interregional and regionals webinars on the first open call
3. Matchmaking platform https://www.b2match.com/e/eciv-matchmaking
4. Submission, evaluation, selection and monitoring platform http://platform.eciv.eu
5. Regional contact points at your availability for personalised advice
6. A general helpdesk: infoeciv [dot] eu (info[at]eciv[dot]eu)

Background information

The European Circular Innovation Valley (ECIV) project, part of the Regional Innovations Valleys programme, coordinated by Comunidad Foral de Navarra (Spain) and co-funded under Horizon Europe, is dedicated to creating a European Circular Innovation Valley. This entails the development of a lively "dance floor" where innovation stakeholders can connect to propose solutions to common challenges of the regions to achieve circularity in their main industrial value chains. The ultimate objective is to forge a joint vision and create truly interconnected interregional European ecosystems capable to deliver novel circular solutions for the market using a mission-oriented approach.

ECIV is a collaborative initiative uniting 18 partners across 12 European regions and 8 countries (ES, SE, NL, FR, LT, BE, FI and UK), carefully selected for their innovation capacity, dedication to the circular economy, and potential for synergistic collaboration.