The European Commission organises an online info day on the Nature and Bridging calls which are part of the new Horizontal Activities Work Programme. The official work programme can be found here. 

The event aims to provide policy background, topic presentations and practical guidance for applicants interested in the upcoming calls. The info day is divided into two parts, each discussing a call series.

Nature actions

The full name of this call is "Transformative change towards a nature-positive economy and society" and supports EU priorities on quality of life, food security, water, nature, sustainable prosperity and competitiveness, recognising that people depend fully on nature. It aims to increase biodiversity-related R&I funding in the Horizon Europe 2026-2027 Work Programme. This is an overview of the main topics:

• PFAS impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services
• Biodiversity impacts and benefits of clean and digital industries
• Systemic approaches for transformative biodiversity change
• Drivers of invertebrate biodiversity decline
• Living labs for ecosystem restoration and nature-based solutions
• Scaling up nature restoration living labs
• Wildlife trafficking and invasive alien species
• Cost-effective biodiversity monitoring for EU policies
• Biodiversity, health and One Health data-driven research
• Ocean observation, climate resilience and biodiversity conservation

Bridging actions

The bridging call aims to ensure a smooth transition from Horizon Europe to the next EU R&I Framework Programme (2028–2034). It focuses strongly on the “innovation to investment journey”, helping research results move more effectively towards market deployment. This is a short overview of the topics:

• AI applications for media, autonomous driving in cities, energy systems
• Frontier AI models
• Climate preparedness, resilience, climate data and Solar Radiation Modification monitoring
• Valorisation of Pillar II research results, innovation ecosystems and skills for innovative SMEs

In the bridging call series, there are several calls related to Research Infrastructures but these are due to be discussed later on during the Research Infrastructures 2027 info day. 

This event also includes a session on Financial Support to Third Parties ("cascade funding") as this is gaining in importance within the Horizon programme.

The event is particularly relevant for potential applicants to the Nature and Bridging calls, researchers, innovators, project developers, public and private organisations, stakeholders involved in the uptake and scale-up of research and innovation outcomes, and National Contact Points or other research support actors.

Registration is not needed as participants can follow during the livestream. The full programme can be found here.

Brokerage event

The network of Cluster 6 NCPs, Care4Bio, organises a virtual brokerage event for the nature-related calls on 19 October 2026. The event includes networking and matchmaking opportunities for participants looking for partners with similar topic interests. Participants can register on this platform.