Horizon Europe Cluster 2: the 2026-2027 map

€697 million, three Destinations, a new European Partnership and a cluster that is becoming more political than ever. Everything you need to know to navigate the final two years of the Work Programme.

In the previous issue, we looked at CERV’s final round before the transition towards AgoràEU. In this issue, we shift our attention to a programme that, despite the background noise of upcoming reforms, continues to move with remarkable continuity: Horizon Europe Cluster 2, “Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society”.

This is the cluster that places the Social Sciences and Humanities at the centre of the European research and innovation strategy. Contrary to a still widespread misconception, it is not a space reserved only for academia. For many members of our network who currently work mainly with Erasmus+, CERV or Creative Europe, Cluster 2 can represent a concrete entry point into Horizon, a programme often perceived as more technical and selective than it actually is in these fields.

The 2026–2027 Work Programme says this clearly: the cluster aims to build bridges between universities, scientific communities, small and medium-sized enterprises, civil society organisations and their representatives. Mixed consortia, academia, NGOs and SMEs, are not only allowed. They are encouraged. For organisations with experience in action research, the ability to work with real communities and thematic expertise in democracy, culture, inclusion and social transformations, Cluster 2 is probably the most accessible entry point into the whole Framework Programme.

What lies ahead

The 2026–2027 Work Programme was adopted by the Commission through Decision C(2025) 8493 of 11 December 2025. It defines the final two years of the cluster within the current Framework Programme.

The total budget for the two-year period is €697.7 million: €360.30 million in 2026 and €337.40 million in 2027. These resources are distributed across four main calls and a set of complementary actions, including Missions, the New European Bauhaus Facility, public procurement and expert contracts.

To read them strategically, it is useful to start from the financial architecture:

• HORIZON-CL2-2026-01  -  €298.50M budget  -  Main 2026 call, single-stage

• HORIZON-CL2-2026-02  -  €60.00M budget  -  Partnerships, European Partnership on Social Transformations and Resilience

• HORIZON-CL2-2027-01  -  €277.00M budget  -  Main 2027 call, single-stage

• HORIZON-CL2-2027-02  -  €58.00M budget  -  Two-stage call, dedicated to specific topics

Two elements deserve attention.

First, 2026 concentrates a larger share of resources, 51.7% of the total two-year budget, also because of the €60 million allocated to the new European Partnership, which we will discuss later.

Second, in 2027 a two-stage call appears. This is not a minor change. Applicants first submit a short concept and only if it is positively evaluated do they develop the full proposal. This can be a strategic option for organisations that want to test an idea before investing months of work in a complete application, especially for those approaching Horizon for the first time.

Three Destinations, three ways of reading Europe

Cluster 2 is organised around three Destinations. They are not just thematic containers. Each one represents a different way of putting SSH at the service of European priorities.

1. Innovative Research on Democracy and Governance

This is the Destination dedicated to the health of European democracy. It addresses civic participation, rights, media freedom and the relationship between institutions and citizens.

In the 2026–2027 period, the topics range from gender-based violence against politically active women and LGBTIQ people, to transformations in governance in an age of multiple crises, the role of private companies in democracy in the 2027 call, and the protection of media freedom.

2. Innovative Research on European Cultural Heritage and Cultural and Creative Industries

This is the cultural heart of the cluster, and in 2026–2027 it becomes more assertive than ever on competitiveness.

The 2026 calls strongly push the intersection between artificial intelligence and the cultural and creative sectors: integration of AI into creative working practices, fair and transparent markets for cultural content in the age of generative AI, but also “artistic intelligence” as a lever to address complex challenges, disruptive creative startups and global alliances in cultural policies.

This marks a shift compared to previous cycles. AI is no longer treated as a technological topic running parallel to culture. It becomes a question that directly concerns business models, market fairness and working conditions for cultural operators.

3. Innovative Research on Social and Economic Transformations

This is the Destination that hosts the most relevant novelty of the two-year period: the launch of the new European Partnership on Social Transformations and Resilience, a co-funded partnership dedicated to SSH that will finance research and innovation on the future of work, modernisation of social protection and essential services, education and skills, and a fair climate transition.

Alongside the partnership, the Destination includes topics on child poverty and access to Early Childhood Education and Care, the impact of digital tools on learning and mental health, attraction of talent from abroad, migrant integration and long-term care policies in the face of demographic change.

Political signals not to miss

Reading a Work Programme also means reading between the lines. Three directions deserve attention because they will shape how evaluators read proposals.

• AI is entering the cultural field with force. Not as a purely technological topic, but as a question of economic sustainability, fairness and rights for cultural workers. For those working in the cultural and creative sectors, this is a strategic opening.

• SSH is becoming infrastructure, not an accessory. The new European Partnership and the topic dedicated to SSH-STEM integration, HORIZON-CL2-2026-01-TRANSFO-10, confirm that the Commission wants to consolidate socio-humanistic research as a structural bridge between disciplines, not just as a supporting component in technology-driven projects.

• Demography is becoming a battlefield. Long-term care, child poverty, youth mental health, attraction of talent from abroad: the two-year period places Europe’s demographic fractures at the centre of research priorities.

What now?

Now that we have the map, we need a compass.

In the next article, we will look more closely at the calls that are most relevant for the profile of Impacto Network members, with a reasoned selection across all three Destinations.

Because Horizon is not a programme to approach through opportunistic applications. It requires method, choices and focus. Especially when entering a new programme for the first time.