Details
- Funding programme or initiative
- Horizon Europe Framework Programme (HORIZON)
- Country
- Albania
- Armenia
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Canada
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czechia
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Faroe Islands
- Finland
- Georgia
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Israel
- Kosovo
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Moldova
- Montenegro
- New Zealand
- North Macedonia
- Norway
- Poland
- Romania
- Slovakia
- Sweden
- Tunisia
- Türkiye
- Ukraine
- Lighthouse
- Atlantic and Arctic basin
- Mediterranean Sea basin
- Baltic and North Sea basin
- Danube River and Black Sea basin
- Deadline date
- 16 March 2026
- Status
- Closed
- Publication date
- Mission Objectives
- 2. Pollution prevention and elimination
- Associated Regions
- Yes
Description
The Mission Ocean and Waters project UPSTREAM tackles litter, plastics, and microplastics pollution in European rivers flowing through major capitals into five sea basins. The project demonstrates advanced solutions across 5 pillars (monitoring, prevention, wastewater treatment, river elimination, and valorisation) at demonstration sites to enable scaling and replication across Europe.
The project’s call for Associated Regions is now open until 16 March 2026.
Objectives:
This call for Associated Regions aims to fund 2-3 projects that advance plastic litter and microplastics management in freshwater systems. The call targets local and/or regional public authorities in EU Member States and Associated Countries seeking to replicate and scale UPSTREAM solutions for plastic litter and microplastics management in rivers through collection schemes, nature-based solutions and restoration, valorisation pilots, monitoring activities, and citizen engagement initiatives.
Eligible applicants:
Applicants must be local/regional authorities located in EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries. One application per local/regional authority.
Authorities located in countries of the UPSTREAM consortium (Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, The Netherlands, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, and the United Kingdom) cannot participate.
Budget:
Two to three projects will be funded, with grants of up to EUR 70 000 per Associated Region project.
Duration:
This UPSTREAM Open call 1 programme has a total implementation duration of 6 months. Further details can be found in the UPSTREAM open call for Associated Regions page.
Contact points
