In autumn 2022, the first call for proposals under the European Urban Initiative programme will be launched. It will receive €450 million from the ERDF.

The European Urban Initiative aims to help urban authorities in two areas:

• Support for innovative actions: develop the experimentation of innovative, transferable and scalable solutions to meet the needs related to sustainable urban development.
• Support for capacity building, knowledge, territorial impact, policy development and communication: Enabling cities to adopt sustainable urban development policies through a knowledge base allowing access to innovative solutions.

The co-financing rate for projects is 80% and could be as high as €5 million. The programme also aims to achieve the European urban agenda. The target beneficiaries will be urban authorities with more than 50,000 inhabitants (cities) or groups of urban authorities with at least 50,000 inhabitants. Partnerships with research institutes, NGOs, organizations and the private sector will be required.

The Hauts-de-France region was selected as the managing authority for this initiative.

Source (FR): The European Urban Initiative