Why Looking Ahead to 2027 Matters: Five Horizon Europe Cluster 2 Calls for Organisations That Want to Stay Ahead

A curated selection of topics from the HORIZON-CL2-2027-01 call, designed for mixed consortia involving universities, research centres, civil society organisations and SMEs. With the call expected to open in May 2027, now is the right time to build strong partnerships—not to chase deadlines.

In our previous article, we mapped the overall landscape: €697.7 million, three Destinations, four calls and one new European Partnership. In this edition, we have made a deliberate editorial choice, and we’d like to explain why.

Our focus is on the 2027 calls. Not because the 2026 opportunities are less relevant, but because we believe this is the right moment for our network to think strategically.

The main HORIZON-CL2-2027-01 call is expected to open on 13 May 2027, with a deadline on 23 September 2027. That means that today, in June 2026, organisations have almost 18 months before the deadline, enough time to engage in meaningful networking, build solid consortia and contribute substantially to proposal design instead of being invited at the last minute as a “gap-filling partner.”

By contrast, the 2026 calls, with deadlines in September 2026, are already in an advanced stage of proposal development. Organisations not yet involved in a consortium will often struggle to secure a meaningful role.

The 2027 calls represent a different opportunity: the chance to become a co-architect of a proposal, rather than simply leading or contributing to a single work package.

We have selected five topics that we believe are particularly suitable for mixed consortia involving universities and research centres, civil society organisations and SMEs across the three Destinations. All selected topics foresee an expected EU contribution of €3–4 million per project, offering sufficient scale for ambitious partnerships without requiring oversized management structures.

Destination 1 – Democracy and Governance

HORIZON-CL2-2027-01-DEMOCRACY-03

Student and family engagement for developing a culture of democratic and civic participation

(RIA – €3.5–4 million)

This topic places schools at the centre of democratic participation and, crucially, recognises the role of families in fostering active citizenship among young people.

The call explicitly requires the implementation of pilots or living labs in schools in cooperation with educational institutions and local authorities.

It naturally lends itself to consortia involving universities specialising in education sciences, NGOs with practical experience working with schools and families, particularly in disadvantaged or migrant communities, and organisations specialised in educational policy evaluation.

The operational dimension is non-negotiable: without partners genuinely working with schools, proposals are unlikely to be competitive.

HORIZON-CL2-2027-01-DEMOCRACY-06

Identifying user-focused solutions to support news media freedom

For organisations working on media pluralism, independent journalism and sustainable news ecosystems, this is a topic worth monitoring closely.

Its user-centred perspective creates opportunities not only for major media organisations, but also for organisations working directly with local audiences and communities.

It offers strong potential for consortia bringing together independent media organisations, civil society organisations, media research centres and SMEs active in journalism technologies.

Destination 2 – Cultural Heritage and Cultural and Creative Industries

HORIZON-CL2-2027-01-HERITAGE-04

Culture, heritage and creative industries for health and well-being

This topic speaks directly to organisations operating at the intersection of culture, health and well-being, a rapidly growing field driven by initiatives such as Arts on Prescription and broader cultural welfare programmes.

The 2027 work programme recognises this as a priority research area, creating opportunities for partnerships involving cultural institutions, healthcare providers and biomedical researchers, non-profit organisations working on community well-being, and SSH researchers exploring mechanisms of social transformation.

It is one of the most civil society-friendly topics within the Heritage Destination: meaningful evidence simply cannot be generated without cultural operators and community-based organisations.

Destination 3 – Social and Economic Transformations

HORIZON-CL2-2027-01-TRANSFO-05

The effective use of artificial intelligence in learning environments in pre-primary and primary education

(RIA – €3–4 million)

Among the topics selected, this is arguably the one that deserves particular attention.

It focuses on the use of artificial intelligence in early childhood and primary education—an area where European research still lags behind developments outside Europe and where long-term evidence remains extremely limited.

The European Commission explicitly requests longitudinal studies, with particular attention to children’s well-being, inclusion and accessibility, including children with disabilities and diverse backgrounds, as well as cooperation with organisations specialising in media literacy.

This creates clear opportunities for NGOs working in early childhood education, EdTech SMEs with classroom-tested solutions, pedagogical universities and learning research centres.

Politically, this is a highly sensitive topic, reflecting one of the key priorities of Europe’s educational agenda.

HORIZON-CL2-2027-01-TRANSFO-07

Persons with disabilities: opportunities for labour inclusion and social protection through the life course

(RIA – €3–4 million)

A highly policy-relevant topic focusing on labour market inclusion and social protection for persons with disabilities throughout their lives.

For NGOs, Disabled Persons’ Organisations (DPOs), specialised research centres and SMEs providing inclusive employment services, this represents an opportunity to bring evidence grounded in real-life contexts to one of the European Commission’s strategic priorities for the 2024–2029 policy cycle.

One 2026 Call You Shouldn’t Overlook

Although our selection focuses on the 2027 work programme, there is one 2026 opportunity that deserves special attention:

HORIZON-CL2-2026-02-TRANSFO-01

Co-funded European Partnership for Social Transformations and Resilience

(Expected opening: May 2026 | Deadline: 13 October 2026)

This call launches the new €60 million European Partnership dedicated to Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH).

Unlike a standard project topic, it establishes a long-term partnership that will fund research and innovation on the future of work, social protection, education and skills, and fair climate transitions.

For organisations capable of participating in long-term strategic partnerships, this is arguably the most important opportunity of the current work programme.

If you are already in discussions with a potential coordinator, now is the time to strengthen those relationships.

What to Do Over the Coming Months

Eighteen months may seem like plenty of time, but anyone familiar with Horizon Europe knows that it is barely enough to build a truly competitive consortium.

Three practical recommendations:

• Select one or two topics that genuinely align with your organisation’s mission. More than two will likely dilute your efforts.

• Map potential coordinators already active in these fields by looking at ongoing CORDIS projects, recent academic publications and previously funded consortia. Reach out now, not in early 2027.

• Define your added value. What can your organisation contribute that others cannot? Access to communities? Unique datasets? Thematic expertise? Dissemination capacity? A strong territorial network?

In our next article, we will move into the technical side of proposal development, exploring how to build a competitive Cluster 2 consortium, with particular attention to the role of the Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) dimension and the strategic contribution that partners from non-associated third countries (can and, in some cases, should) bring to Horizon Europe proposals.