THEPS Newsletter #23: It’s not the time to give up.
Hello,
Summer’s almost here. There are so many open calls that you can apply for, life isn’t Erasmus+ only! Have some trust in yourselves; even if you are a small team, you can try something else.
Here’s what’s in issue #23:
- Artistic intelligence
- Citizenship education as part of lifelong learning
- Tackling gender-based violence against politically active women and LGBTIQ people
- What the Future Holds
Artistic intelligence (HORIZON‑CL2‑2026‑01‑HERITAGE‑01)
AI? As in Artificial Intelligence + Artistic Intelligence. Get it? Fun.
The call invites big, bold, cross‑disciplinary projects that mix arts, science, and emerging technologies to tackle complex societal challenges, boost soft skills, and spark innovation. According to the official scope, projects should:
- Show how art‑science‑tech collaborations can solve real societal problems.
- Build toolkits, methods, and guidance that policymakers and organisations can actually use.
- Strengthen European and international networks for art‑science‑tech collaboration.
Then you choose your flavour:
Focus 1: Soft Skills Through Creativity
Develop and test creative methods to boost soft skills across sectors: communication, empathy, critical thinking, and emotional intelligence. Basically, “Let’s fix society with art workshops.”
More info for the interested: Policies are needed to bring creative thinking and cross- and transdisciplinary methods into education, research, and the wider public and private sectors. Creative practices and the arts strengthen key soft skills (creativity, critical thinking, problem‑solving, and emotional intelligence), which are essential for productivity and competitiveness in an automated, fast‑changing world. Research and innovation in this field can help people and institutions develop the mindsets needed to thrive in a complex, interconnected society, boosting creativity, productivity, well‑being, and mental health. Your projects should design, test, and share frameworks that use the arts and creative practices to build soft skills across sectors such as education, lifelong learning, public administration, and corporate environments, and highlight best practices. Applicants may choose their own areas of application.
Focus 2: Artists + Emerging Tech Pilots
Put artists inside interdisciplinary teams to test early‑stage technologies (low TRL pilots). Basically, “Let’s give artists access to weird prototypes and see what happens.”
More info for the interested: Your proposals should develop at least 3 small-scale pilots on emerging technologies in interdisciplinary settings involving artists, to assess, demonstrate and streamline research-intensive technologies. The candidate technologies could include immersive arts, grid sensing networks, multisensuality, ubiquitous XR, spatial computing, VLM/LLM and historical data, crowd digitisation, or virtual reality. The financial support for third parties is up to €60,000 (that is, artist residencies).
The consortia must include artists or creative industry representatives. This is not optional, it’s the whole point. Who can apply:
- Universities & research institutes
- Cultural organisations
- Creative industry players
- Tech developers
- XR/VR labs
- Policy innovation centres
- Artist collectives
Deadline: 23 September 2026 17:00:00 Brussels time
More information here.
Citizenship education as
part of lifelong learning
(HORIZON-CL2-2026-01-DEMOCRACY-09)
“Please help us fix the democratic participation before the next generation rage‑quits politics.” Not the words of the Commission, ours, but funny. Your projects: should explore new, creative, evidence‑based ways to:
- boost civic participation
- strengthen trust in democratic institutions
- fight disinformation
- support inclusive decision‑making
- test innovative democratic tools (digital, deliberative, community‑based)
- understand why people disengage and how to bring them back
Think:
- behavioural science
- creative engagement
- digital tools
- democratic innovation
- community participation
This call is perfect for:
- universities & research centres
- democracy labs
- civic‑tech organisations
- NGOs working on participation, youth, and inclusion
- behavioural scientists
- digital democracy innovators
- media literacy experts
- municipalities & public authorities
- creative organisations working on civic engagement
Deadline: 23 September 2026 17:00:00 Brussels time
More info here.
Tackling gender-based violence against politically active women and LGBTIQ people
HORIZON-CL2-2026-01-DEMOCRACY-01
They love that word, don't they? "Tackling".
Anyways, we, the people, don’t trust institutions, public debate is a battlefield, and half the population would rather eat dry focaccia than participate in a consultation. So, Horizon Europe launched a call that basically says, “Please help us rebuild trust, improve participation, and make democracy less… exhausting.” This call funds big, interdisciplinary projects that explore how to strengthen democratic governance, improve public debate, and rebuild trust between people and institutions.
Your projects should contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:
- EU and national policymakers and relevant stakeholders get an enhanced understanding of the drivers of violence against women and LGBTIQ people who are politically active or political aspirants.
- Enhanced prevention and early intervention through better understanding of the drivers and impacts of violence (short- and long-term) on women and LGBTIQ people engaged, or aspiring to engage, in online and offline political activities and how their participation evolves after experiencing violence and harassment.
- Uptake of evidence-based policy recommendations by policymakers and relevant stakeholders on tackling gender-based violence alongside violence against politically active women and LGBTIQ people, promoting equal political participation and addressing harmful narratives.
- Broader adherence to media guidelines on responsible, ethical, and safe portrayals of and reporting on gender-based violence in a political context, embedding gender-sensitive and intersectional reporting and incorporating successful practices with demonstrable, positive outcomes.
- Promotion of an inclusive environment that encourages political participation of women, and LGBTIQ people, notably from underrepresented groups, through collaboration across key public, political and civil society actors.
Deadline: 23 September 2026 17:00:00 Brussels time
More info can be found here.
What the Future Holds
We promised you the Big Survey, but we need a bit more time! In the meantime, enjoy this issue with excellent
funding opportunities.
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