Innovative models for collective community investment and ownership

Expected Outcome:

Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

• Community [1] stakeholders co-create [1] and participate [3] in innovative community investment and community ownership models.
• Community stakeholders benefit from increased local democratic participation, social equity and cohesion, a sense of place and belonging, and local economic development.

Scope:

Collective community investment and ownership models can empower diverse local community stakeholders to collectively invest in, own, manage, and benefit from local commercial, housing, transitional, or mixed-use assets. By directly engaging community stakeholders, such bottom-up and place-based approaches respond to local community needs and preferences and create local agency and long-term stewardship in the revitalisation of neighbourhoods. Proposals are expected to address all of the following:

• Develop a collective community investment or ownership model that involves diverse community stakeholders, including marginalised groups or those in a vulnerable situation, in the co-creation and revitalisation of neighbourhoods in line with the New European Bauhaus by focusing on one of the following options: • Option A: A community equity investment model that offers community stakeholders the ability to acquire shares in local cooperative and community-based commercial or service-oriented assets to profit from and participate in their further development without necessarily working there.
• Option B: An occupant equity model through which community stakeholders build equity via their occupancy and participation in the development of a local cooperative and community-based housing or mixed-use [4] asset where they typically live or work.

• Develop and validate the model in at least three neighbourhoods in different Member States and/or Associated Countries.
• Assess the socioeconomic and environmental impacts of the model on the targeted neighbourhood(s) and their surrounding environment, including long-term affordability, accessibility, and local community and public interest outcomes.
• Identify potential systemic challenges to the uptake of the model and formulate solutions to overcome them. This should include considerations of the influence of local capital and real estate market dynamics, and the long-term financial viability of the developed model [5] .
• Consider and leverage existing relevant investment and ownership regulations and legal aspects at the local, regional, and national levels.
• Provide recommendations to scale up and adapt the model in different local and cultural contexts.

Proposals are expected to follow a participatory [1] and transdisciplinary [1] approach through the integration of different actors and disciplines. This topic requires the effective contribution of social sciences and humanities (SSH) [1] disciplines and the involvement of SSH experts, institutions, as well as the inclusion of relevant SSH expertise, in order to produce meaningful and significant effects enhancing the societal impact of the related research activities. Proposals are expected to allocate at least 0.8% of their budget for engaging with the Horizon Europe-funded 'New European Bauhaus hub for results and impact' to share their intermediate and final results, findings and learnings, as well as to contribute to impact assessment. [1] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP26-27. [2] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP26-27. [3] See definition of ”participatory process” in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP26-27. [4] Mixed-used assets refer to assets that combine different functions, e.g. housing, community services, etc. [5] European Commission, ’NEB Investment Guidelines’, New European Bauhaus , accessed 5 August 2025, https://new-european-bauhaus.europa.eu/tools-and-resources/neb-investment-guidelines_en .Sections of particular relevance for applicants to consider include: 1. Introduction; 2. Mapping the NEB; 4.4 Project risks; 5. Making the NEB case; and 6. Conclusions. [6] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP26-27. [7] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP26-27. [8] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP26-27.

Submissions open on 05 May 2027.

Part of call HORIZON-NEB-2027-01

Type of action: HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions

Programme period: 2021 - 2027

Priorities: SocietalEngagement, DigitalAgenda, SSH, SocInnov, AI, NEB

"> General conditions

1. Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout

described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes.

Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System.

2. Eligible Countries

described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide .

3. Other Eligible Conditions

described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.

4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion

described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.

5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds

To ensure a balanced portfolio covering the two thematic options described in the scope below, grants will be awarded to applications not only in order of ranking but at least also to one proposal within the option A that is the highest ranked and one proposal within the option B that is the highest ranked, provided that the applications attain all thresholds. Proposals shall clearly indicate the thematic option they have selected to work on.

are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes.

5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes

are describe