Holistic approaches for effective monitoring of water quality in urban areas — Horizon Europe

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Holistic approaches for effective monitoring of water quality in urban areasHORIZON-CL6-2024-ZEROPOLLUTION-02-1-two-stage

TypeIA

No upcoming cut-off

2 passed cut-offs

Cut-off 1:2024-02-21
Cut-off 2:2024-09-17

💡

Strategic Analysis

A winning proposal must demonstrate an operational, multi-scale digital monitoring framework that seamlessly integrates real-time sensor networks, Earth Observation, and AI-driven Digital Twins to detect diffuse urban runoff, combined sewer overflows (CSOs), and contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) such as microplastics and antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The project should be anchored by diverse, real-world urban and river basin demonstrators with direct co-creation alongside municipal water authorities to enable proactive, risk-based catchment management. Success hinges on delivering an open, harmonised data architecture that supports the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (UWWTD) recast and directly operationalises the EU Zero Pollution Action Plan.

🔬 Scientific Alignment

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Suggested TRL Range

TRL 4 → 8

Based on programme defaults

Scope Activities (0)

Expected Outcomes (0)

🌍 Impact Strategy

Target SDG Topics

Select the SDG targets (topics) that your future project proposal will actively address to align with EU Policy Impacts.

Expected Impacts (0)

No expected impacts identified for this destination.

EU Policy Alignment

No EU policy alignment identified for this call.

📋 Additional Guidance

⚖ Eligibility rules

Minimum partners3

Minimum countries3

⚖ Eligibility — synthesis

🎯 Call process & Evaluation criteria (Pre-award)

Evaluators will prioritize holistic system integration over isolated sensor development, checking whether the monitoring framework addresses both point-source and diffuse pollution across the urban-to-catchment continuum. They will closely examine the direct engagement of municipal water utilities and river basin authorities, ensuring that digital twins and predictive models lead to actionable operational workflows rather than theoretical proofs-of-concept. Proposals demonstrating high interoperability, cost-effectiveness, and robust validation of emerging pollutant detection (including AMR and microplastics) at TRL 7-8 will stand out.

📊 Coverage

Everything the call asks for, seen from the call's point of view. Each line shows what answers it, and which partner carries it.

See how your concept covers this call

This matrix lists everything the call asks for: outcomes, impacts, scope, the requirements buried in the call text, and policy alignment. Sign up free and GrantForge tracks each line against the concept you build.

Scope activities0requirements

Expected outcomes0requirements

Other requirements2requirements

Expected impacts0requirements

Underlying policies0requirements

Requirements matrix

Coverage of the call requirements
Requirement	Covered by	Carried	Status
Scope activities
No scope activities in this call.
Expected outcomes
No expected outcomes in this call.
Other requirements
REQ1Co-creation and engagement with municipal water authoritiesDirect co-creation and engagement alongside municipal water authorities and river basin authorities is expected to ensure predictive models and digital twins lead to actionable operational workflows.	·	·	Sign up to track
REQ2Open, harmonised data architectureThe project requires delivering an open, harmonised data architecture that supports the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive recast and operationalises the EU Zero Pollution Action Plan.	·	·	Sign up to track
Expected impacts
No expected impacts in this call.
Underlying policies
No underlying policies in this call.

Scope activitiesNo scope activities in this call.

Expected outcomesNo expected outcomes in this call.

Other requirements

REQ1Sign up

Co-creation and engagement with municipal water authorities

REQ2Sign up

Open, harmonised data architecture

Expected impactsNo expected impacts in this call.

Underlying policiesNo underlying policies in this call.

✅ Eligibility

The binding rules of this call. Items marked auto are verified by GrantForge from the call and the template. The others are yours to confirm.

Minimum 3 partners

Auto: callSign up to confirm

Minimum 3 countries

Auto: callSign up to confirm

🧭 Strategy

🧭 Strategic insights

4 key insights you must internalise before writing. Each is grounded in the call text and tells you what evaluators will actually look for. Share these with your consortium before drafting.

Stage 1 objectives are binding

Because this is a two-stage submission, the scientific objectives and core consortium architecture established in Stage 1 are binding. Do not treat the pre-proposal as a placeholder; any major pivot in the monitoring framework or target pollutants between Stage 1 and Stage 2 will jeopardize the final evaluation.

Source: Stages

Mandatory utility and authority integration

A proposal that treats municipal water utilities and river basin authorities merely as external stakeholders will fail. Evaluators are explicitly instructed to check for their direct engagement to ensure digital twins and predictive models translate into actionable operational workflows rather than theoretical proofs-of-concept.

Source: Evaluation criteria (pre-award)

System integration over novel sensor design

Avoid pitching a project centered solely on developing novel sensors. The evaluation will heavily penalize isolated sensor development, prioritizing instead the holistic system integration of real-time networks, Earth Observation, and AI to address both point-source and diffuse pollution.

Source: Evaluation criteria (pre-award)

High TRL validation for AMR and microplastics

The proposal must push the detection of contaminants of emerging concern—specifically antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and microplastics—to TRL 7-8. Evaluators will look for robust validation of these specific pollutants in real-world urban and river basin demonstrators, not just conventional water quality parameters.

Source: Evaluation criteria (pre-award)

🏷 Keywords

Digital TwinCombined Sewer OverflowsContaminants of Emerging ConcernAntimicrobial ResistanceReal-time Water MonitoringUrban RunoffEarth ObservationZero Pollution

🧩 Project backbone

Nothing to show for this call yet.

Holistic approaches for effective monitoring of water quality in urban areas — Horizon Europe | GrantForge