Funding programme

Horizon Europe is the EU’s key funding programme for research and innovation.

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Call overview

This call aims to study how policies and regulations could be best used to govern transport and mobility systems, so that they become more sustainable and just, with regard to gender, place, or low-income households.

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Expected Outcome

Projects are expected to contribute to all of the following outcomes:

• A better understanding of the effects of governance^[1], policies^[2], and incentives, but also land use and spatial planning, on the choice of individuals, families, or social groups of different kinds to use a specific transport and/or mobility mode.
• Reinforced public engagement in shaping co-created transport and mobility policies.
• Effective policy interventions, co-created with target constituencies and building on high-quality policy; strengthening of research-policy cooperation models to reinforce impact and trust in science.
• More effective and sustainable national, regional and transnational transport and mobility policies toward accepted approaches, based on a system-thinking perspective.
• Better harnessing the potential of digitised mobility data while protecting citizen’s privacy.
• Providing concepts and policy recommendations sustainably integrating passenger and freight transportation in order to create a future proof holistic mobility system.

Scope

Governance, policies and incentives play an important role in shaping transport and mobility systems and influence the development and implementation of different technologies and modes of transport (e.g. walking, cycling, public transport and rail). It is therefore important to study how policies and regulations could be best used to govern transport and mobility systems in desired directions, so that they become more sustainable and just, for instance with regard to gender, place, or low-income households, as well as their fiscal impacts.

In addition, the COVID-19 crisis has significantly altered commuting habits; remote and telework have become widespread together with other flexible work arrangements. The true impact of these changes on gas emissions and on the well-being of people as well as on the real-estate market (offices) are not known. This is now an opportunity to leverage on an ongoing change in habits that could result in significant GHG reduction.

Proposals should address all of the following aspects:

• Analyse the influence of politicians on the making of sustainable and non-sustainable transport policies, as well as the impact of their design on accessibility in peripheral areas, identifying synergies with the reform of governance instruments of the European Union (e.g. Trans-European Transport Network, Urban Mobility Framework) to enhance the gradual phase-out policy effect for private car ownership.
• Propose approaches that better integrate mobility policies with policies from other sectors (e.g. energy efficiency, renewables, gender mainstreaming, healthcare, retail and poverty and low income population reduction).
• Consider the benefits of public/private partnerships towards future transport and mobility system, as to secure local adjustment and solutions that are effective and economic for private stakeholders, with a long-term sustainable horizon for the society.
• Identify and assess the potential of (shared) mobility hubs at neighbourhood-level and define the role of organisational innovations in supporting them.
• Explore how small, medium cities and metropolitan areas manage the emergence of micro-mobility and how driverless vehicles are likely to affect urban areas and land use (e.g. mixed use of urban space, dynamic parking).
• Identify the major flaws on national transport and mobility regulations in EU countries and provide recommendations on how to better harmonize them trans-nationally (e.g. incentives for putting bicycles on trains etc.).
• Identify regulations and accountability measures to ensure that mobility data are best utilised for the common good, for example, harnessing the potential of data to stimulate innovation for more sustainable mobility behaviour patterns and guide urban planning, while also protecting citizen privacy.
• Analyse the drivers for public acceptability of stringent and mandatory transport policies (e.g. carbon taxes, urban traffic bans).
• Examine the most effective strategies in promoting the transition to more sustainable freight transport in Europe following the recent and ongoing changes in consumer culture, such as the increase in e-commerce and online.

A ’social optimum’ balance should be included to developing research knowledge within new governance models from several perspectives (e.g. socio-economic, environmental, health, accessibility, gender and inclusion, safety and security aspects). Synergies with the projects GECKO^[3], ACCTING^[4] and SHARED GREEN DEAL^[5] should be explored, given that mobility behaviours and the role of cities as agent of change will influence policy makers in enabling adaptive and anticipatory regulatory schemes and governance with novel policies contributing to sustainable mobility goals.

In addition to the research activities, actions are expected to involve citizens from different backgrounds and origins in the policy analysis to gather and study their understanding, perceptions, opinions and positions, thus contributing to co-designing and co-assessing the most appropriate policies’ recommendations. Citizen platforms if existing, can be used for this purpose.

This topic requires the effective contribution of SSH 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.

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Eligibility

To be eligible for funding, applicants must be established in one of the following countries:

• the Member States of the European Union, including their outermost regions;
• the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) linked to the Member States;
• countries associated to Horizon Europe;
• low- and middle-income countries.

See the full list in the General Annexes.

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Consortium composition

Unless otherwise provided for in the specific call conditions, only legal entities forming a consortium are eligible to participate in actions provided that the consortium includes, as beneficiaries, three legal entities independent from each other and each established in a different country as follows:

• at least one independent legal entity established in a Member State; and
• at least two other independent legal entities, each established in different Member States or Associated Countries.

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Budget

Total indicative budget is EUR 3 000 000.

The Commission estimates that an EU contribution 3.00 million would allow these outcomes to be addressed appropriately.

Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2021-2027) – and in actions under the Research and Training Programme of the European Atomic Energy Community (2021-2025).