Demonstrating place-based experimentation and innovation spaces as enabling environments for scaling EU Missions

Expected outcome

Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

1. The territorial anchoring of the EU Mission(s) is strengthened through multi-layered governance
2. Enabling environments for the scaling of novel solutions contributing to the EU Missions are established
3. Analytical insights are turned into territorial experimentation and best practices for replication in a wide array of EU funding instruments

Scope:

This topic is a strategic instrument to support the transition to the second phase of the EU Missions’ lifecycle (2026–2030), focused on scaling up and wider deployment of novel mission-relevant solutions.

To this end, territories (countries, regions and interregional partnerships) in EU Member States and Associated countries are called upon to design and demonstrate governance, regulatory experimentation, innovative public-public and public-private financing solutions, and procurement strategies that enable scaling. Consortia should be led by local authorities established in countries, regions and interregional partnerships.

Proposals submitted to this topic should:

1. Address barriers at territorial level and build on them to demonstrate concrete governance, finance, and policy models that foster scaling and deployment of EU Missions across diverse territories.
2. Provide operational support for the transition to the next MFF by delivering tested, replicable models suitable for multi-level governance and place-based implementation.
3. Co-develop and demonstrate innovative governance, policy, and finance models that enable scaling and wider deployment of tested solutions on the ground.
4. Support the co-creation of place-based and pathways allowing for scaling and wider take up of EU Missions across EU and associated country territories, integrating multi-level governance, regulatory experimentation, innovative public-public and public-private financing solutions and procurement strategies.
5. Test innovative policy, governance and finance models that favour scaling EU Missions by creating enabling conditions allowing to overcome identified systemic constraints such as fragmented regulation, limited risk appetite, lack of blended financing, or insufficient cross-sector coordination. The models should demonstrate innovation impact pathways that facilitate wider deployment of solutions that are already proven but underutilised.
6. Ensure continuous stakeholder engagement throughout the process of developing and testing new models. The focus on co-creation and participatory approaches will ensure credibility and legitimacy of the tested models and will build on the strong EU Missions community developed during the first phase of the EU Missions.

Rather than funding individual technologies, the topic should fund place-based models creating enabling conditions for scaling these technologies, combining policy, regulatory, financial and governance innovation.

The projects activities should cover one or several EU Missions of choice of the local authorities involved in the actions.