[CLOSED]
Open Call for
Associated Regions 

DANSER invited Associated Regions to join the project, contributing to the scalability and replication of its solutions in other regions. These integrated areas will collaborate with the project to demonstrate the feasibility, replicability, and scale-up potential of such innovative solutions.

The Open Call is now closed and not accepting further proposals

Conception

Associated Regions are envisioned as strategic partners, contributing to the integration of DANSER solutions within their territories, thereby catalysing the sustainable management of sediments across different basins.


The bidirectional involvement enables mutual exchanges between researchers, institutions, and different companies with the Associated Regions, through cutting-edge ideas, techniques, and results developed in the project, focusing on significant activities related to sediment management and ecosystem restoration. This includes active participation of members in the Danube Lighthouse Community of Practice (CoP).

This collaboration will ensure that the regions provide valuable inputs for the development and validation of innovations within the demonstrator areas.  

What do you gain?

By becoming Associated Regions with DANSER, regions will gain: 

  • Up to €65.000 grant per replication site to showcase the feasibility, replicability and scale-up of DANSER technological solutions in the proposed replication site.
  • Access to our rich knowledge base, expertise, and tools. 
  • Technical assistance which will help you: 
    1. Develop roadmaps and action plans for sediment restoration; 
    2. Gain deeper insights into sediment dynamics and cause-effect relationships; 
    3. Integrate innovative actions to restore sediment balance and improve sediment flow and quality.

Activities considered for funding: 

  • Sediment monitoring actions.  
  • Data collection (historical data sets, forecasts).  
  • Actions to raise awareness about sediment flow alterations.  
  • Planning of future actions for sediment management and restoration.  
  • Development of implementation plans on a larger scale.  
  • Identification of funding sources for future implementation actions.  
  • Identification of relevant business cases and models for sustainability and scaling up.  

Who can apply?

  • Applicant entities must be local and/or regional authorities from an ‘Associated Region’.
  • ‘Associated Regions’ should be located in EU Member States or Horizon Europe associated countries, and not in any of the countries of the partners of the DANSER project1. 
  • Each ‘Associated Region’ shall benefit from the financial support to third parties (FSTP) only once under the same Horizon Europe topic. The involvement of ‘Associated Regions’ that have not yet participated in Mission projects will be favoured in case of a tie.

In addition, applicants should submit their proposals by the deadline: 1st November 2025 at 17:00 CET.
DANSER encourages Associated Regions to submit their application in English using the provided template.

  1.  Countries that are part of the DANSER consortium and thus cannot participate: Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Ireland, Portugal, Romania, and Ukraine. ↩︎

Timeline

Call for proposals

Download

Technical Template

Download

FAQs

DANSER is a co-funded project by the European Union, part of the ‘Restore Our Ocean and Waters by 2030′ Mission. The project focuses on restoring and sustainably managing sediment balance and water quality in the Danube River Basin. To address the impact-driven approach of the Mission, the DANSER project will engage with other ecosystem areas that can benefit from the demonstration activities – referred to as ‘Associated Regions’. In this regard, the project establishes an administrative and financial procedure to support the selected ‘Associated Regions’ through funding support to third parties, enabling them to closely follow the demonstrators’ activities while also preparing for replication actions in their own ecosystems.

Local and/or regional authorities from EU Member States and Horizon Europe associated countries, excluding the countries that are part of the DANSER project consortium (Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Ireland, Portugal, Romania, and Ukraine).

Associated Regions will act as strategic partners, integrating DANSER solutions into their territories and promoting sustainable sediment management across different basins.

The Associated Regions will lead to the replication of DEMO activities, contributing valuable data to the Lighthouse’s development and piloting phase. The activities that selected beneficiaries may carry out include:

  • Sediment monitoring actions.
  • Data collection (historical data sets, forecasts).
  • Actions to raise awareness about sediment flow alterations.
  • Planning of future actions for sediment management and restoration.
  • Development of implementation plans on a larger scale.
  • Identification of funding sources for future implementation actions.
  • Identification of relevant business cases and models for sustainability and scaling up.
  • Workshops to disseminate the activities and results.

Additionally, the insights from the ‘Associated Regions’ will enrich the Lighthouse knowledge base in the long term.

The project will share outcomes, provide technical assistance, and help these regions build capacity for implementing their own replication plans, including the development of roadmaps and action plans, insights into sediment dynamics, and support in implementing restoration solutions.

The financial support up to EUR 65,000, how it will be paid in two lump sums, and how the amount will be calculated based on the proposal score.

Describe the submission process, including the use of the EU Survey link and the requirement to submit the Proposal Technical Template in PDF format.

From 1st September to 1st November 2025.

Applicants can send inquiries via email (info@danserproject.eu).