Programme Category
Programme Name
Programme Description
Horizon Europe is the European Union (EU) funding programme for the period 2021 – 2027, which targets the sectors of research and innovation. The programme’s budget is around € 95.5 billion, of which € 5.4 billion is from NextGenerationEU to stimulate recovery and strengthen the EU’s resilience in the future, and € 4.5 billion is additional aid.
Identifier Code
Call
Summary
Projects’ results under this topic are expected to contribute to all of the following outcomes:
- Improved vulnerability assessments by law enforcement and local managers of public spaces by detection of chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive (CBRN-E) threats in the public spaces and flow of public transport, in order to provide broader situational awareness to practitioners in the field.
- Enhanced planning capabilities of security practitioners and policy-makers due to the access of new data and identification of potential vulnerabilities connected to the design/refurbishment and improvement of different public spaces.
- Recommendations are provided for further improving safety and security-by-design approach to public spaces and mass transportation systems.
- Improved training of Police Authorities in collaboration with different public and private actors (e. g., crisis management and civil protection authorities, fire brigades, regulatory agencies, emergency health services, security managers, private security organisations, civil society groups etc.) to enhance their preparedness to attacks on public spaces.
- Enhanced modelling capabilities for security practitioners and policy-makers due to the identification of potential new vulnerabilities and data available, and improved support to planning of respective resources and activities.
Detailed Call Description
Public spaces such as squares, sport venues, shopping districts, places of worship, and mass transport systems have been the target of terrorist attacks causing significant loss of lives and causing societal insecurity. Means to carry out such attacks range from sophisticated, and well-planned scenarios including several coordinated attackers using explosives and firearms, to low-cost, low-tech attacks making use of common products. Today specific urban furniture like benches, bus shelters, flower boxes, etc. already have double functions controlling access to protected areas, which answers to some of the low-cost attacks. The next logical step seems to expand their functions further and adopt new functionalities to better respond to the terrorist threats, such as for CBRN-E ones. The successful proposal should build on the publicly available achievements and findings of related previous national or EU-funded projects, as well as seek to exploit potential synergies with the successful proposal(s) funded under HORIZON-CL3-2024-BM-01-05: Detection and tracking of illegal and trafficked goods.
In recent years, in some pilot actions some street furniture, including bins and bus shelters have become smart as they have been equipped with environmental sensors, wireless modules, or microcontrollers becoming part of the IoT infrastructure, and one of the components of the future smart cities. Proposals should focus on exploitation and integration of existing sensors within the public space small architectures. Traditional sensors and surveillance platforms like the Automatic Number-Plates Recognition (ANPR), cameras or image analysis systems are not in the scope of this topic unless their integration with new sensors is considered, and the added value of networked systems demonstrated. Proposals should present relevant challenges and opportunities for future applications of CBRN-E detection capacities in small architecture, including prospects of scalability, real-time processing, and cooperation of networked systems.
Call Total Budget
Financing percentage by EU or other bodies / Level of Subsidy or Loan
70%
Expected EU contribution per project: €6.00 million
Thematic Categories
- Justice - Security
- Public Administration
- Research, Technological Development and Innovation
Eligibility for Participation
- Central Government
- International Organisations
- Other Beneficiaries
- Private Bodies
- Researchers/Research Centers/Institutions
- State-owned Enterprises
Eligibility For Participation Notes
The following exceptions apply: subject to restrictions for the protection of European communication networks.
The following additional eligibility conditions apply: This topic requires the active involvement, as beneficiaries, of at least 2 Police Authorities and 2 urban municipalities from at least 3 different EU Member States or Associated Countries. For these participants, applicants must fill in the table “Information about security practitioners” in the application form with all the requested information, following the template provided in the submission IT tool.
If projects use satellite-based earth observation, positioning, navigation and/or related timing data and services, beneficiaries must make use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS (other data and services may additionally be used).
Call Opening Date
Call Closing Date
National Contact Point(s)
Research and Innovation Foundation
29a Andrea Michalakopoulou, 1075 Nicosia,
P.B. 23422, 1683 Nicosia
Telephone: +357 22205000
Fax: +357 22205001
Email: support@research.org.cy
Website: https://www.research.org.cy/en/
Contact Persons:
Dr. Ioannis Theodorou
Scientific Officer
Τelephone: +357 22 20 50 38
Email: itheodorou@research.org.cy
Christakis Theocharous
Scientific Officer A’
Telephone: +357 22 20 50 29
Email: ctheocharous@research.org.cy