Impacts of culture and the arts on health and well-being
HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions
Basic Information
- Identifier
- HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-HERITAGE-09
- Programme
- Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society - 2025
- Programme Period
- 2021 - 2027
- Status
- Closed (31094503)
- Opening Date
- May 15, 2025
- Deadline
- September 16, 2025
- Deadline Model
- single-stage
- Budget
- €10,500,000
- Min Grant Amount
- €3,000,000
- Max Grant Amount
- €3,500,000
- Expected Number of Grants
- 3
- Keywords
- HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-HERITAGE-09HORIZON-CL2-2025-01Population dynamics, aging, health and society
Description
Projects should contribute to all the following expected outcomes:
- Policy makers at European, national, regional and local level from the health, culture, social care, relief/ humanitarian, youth and education sectors are aware of the impacts of arts and culture on health, well-being and social cohesion and are equipped with policy recommendations and with practical guides on to implement cross-sectorial policies and programmes in this field;
- Stakeholders from the health, culture, social care, relief/ humanitarian, youth and education sectors are aware impacts of arts and culture on health, well-being and social cohesion and are equipped with tools to implement cross-sectorial projects in this field;
- Research gaps in this field are documented and explained, and further the R&I implementation science (including in SSH disciplines) by presenting new scalable and replicable best practices;
- Policy-makers working in international relations/ cooperation are provided with recommendations for promoting EU priorities, culture and fundamental values abroad through the angle of cooperation in the areas of culture, health and well-being.
An Open Method of Coordination expert group is working on culture and health in 2024, building on the preparatory action “Bottom-up Policy Development for Culture & Well-being in the EU[1]” (2022-23)
There has been a major increase of research into the effects of culture and the arts on health and well-being[2], alongside developments in practice and policy activities in different EU countries. A recent example is the covid-19 pandemic, which challenged individual and collective wellbeing in an unprecedented manner. Its consequences – particularly in terms of mental health – have been felt long after the conclusion of the crisis in medical and public health terms. The covid-19 pandemic has showed that culture may play a profound and fundamental role in our lives. Moreover, the war of aggression against Ukraine has recalled the importance of culture and arts for the mental health of forcibly displaced people.
The Commission Communication “A comprehensive approach to mental health” recognized the contribution of culture to mental health and well-being of individuals and society, for example through culture-based social prescribing and the fight against stigma. The EU Work Plan for Culture 2023-2026 recognises that “cultural activities have a positive impact on people of all ages and backgrounds, enhance people’s quality of life and increase the health and overall well-being of individuals and communities. There is also a significant economic impact.”
The objective of this topic is to reinforce and mainstream the foster cross-sectorial cooperation among cultural, health, social, youth, education and humanitarian/ relief sectors as well as researchers and academia of Member State and Associated countries. The proposals should include cultural and creative sectors at large and consider both the active and the receptive nature of cultural participation; a special attention should be given to analyse situations in which art and culture are disruptive for mental health or are polarizing, thus having an adverse impact.
They should:
- Create a dedicated platform to enable policy discussions and exchange of knowledge on culture and well-being, as well as further increasing the connection between arts, culture, health, well-being and inclusion of all individuals into the society, particularly among the health and social care sectors.
- Provide policy guidelines for implementation and evaluate mixed methods, arts and culture- based interventions that address one or more of the following areas (at least one intervention per area):
- health promotion;
- mental health and well-being (with a focus on children and young people, but also including other population segments, such as working people suffering from burn-out);
- the ageing population;
- health and well-being of forcibly displaced people; and
- links between ill-health and patterns of inequality.
- Create an evidence gap map of arts and health research and innovation within health promotion, illness prevention, trauma recovery, disease management, and/or disease treatment.
The proposals should collect new practices and policies, evaluate various types of art and culture interventions, in order to better understand their clinical effectiveness and their cost effectiveness. The proposals should develop convincing narratives from the point of view of arts and health economics, health policies and more widely, well-being economics. Well-being is considered here both from an individual and from a societal and community perspective, therefore social cohesion and inclusion should be considered a priority. Moreover, the proposals should allow to map existing research and innovation gaps, identify potential existing barriers and propose a mixed model for cooperation that will take into account participation at the local, national and regional level and the coordination of different sectors and stakeholders.
The proposals should include arts and culture organisations with experience in the area of cross-sectorial collaboration with the other sectors mentioned above.
Where applicable, proposals should leverage the data and services available through European Research Infrastructures federated under the European Open Science Cloud, as well as data from relevant Data Spaces. Particular efforts should be made to ensure that the data produced in the context of this topic is FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Re-usable).
[2] The societal value of the arts and culture - Publications Office of the EU (europa.eu)
Destination & Scope
Europe’s rich cultural heritage and strong creative industries not only reflect our past but also shape our future. It is by building on this foundation and developing our strengths that we can face the great challenges of our time with confidence and shape a desirable common future. Europe's cultural heritage originates from the interaction between people and places through time and is constantly evolving[1]. Every citizen has a right to engage with the cultural heritage of their choice, while respecting the rights and freedoms of others, as an aspect of the right freely to participate in cultural life[2].
Europe’s diverse tangible and intangible cultural heritage and dynamic cultural and creative industries (CCIs) are strategic assets. They enrich our lives, foster social cohesion and societal resilience, and contribute to a sense of belonging. They underpin a growing economy that generates more employment than the automotive industry and a similar trade balance as food, drinks and tobacco combined. Many of Europe’s multinational companies build their international success on European heritage and creativity. At the same time, the sector is nurturing large numbers of dynamic small, medium (SMEs) and micro enterprises, creating employment not the least for young people, while deploying their creativity not only to generate income but also to contribute to social and cultural sustainability, wellbeing and to projecting European values at home and abroad. The cultural and creative industries are engines of innovation not only in themselves, but across the entire economy, thus contributing strongly to Europe’s overall competitiveness and future prosperity.
This destination adopts a people-centred perspective and places cultural heritage and the cultural and creative industries at the very heart of the European economy, its competitiveness and sustainability. R&I activities under this destination will support and strengthen European cultural heritage and cultural and creative industries essentially along the following lines:
GREEN: Europe’s cultural heritage and cultural and creative industries engage for carbon neutrality and for adapting to and mitigating the consequences of climate change. European citizens and societies are mobilised for an inclusive, socially and culturally sustainable climate transition.
R&I actions will focus in particular on the establishment of a new European partnership for Resilient Cultural Heritage, supporting cultural heritage institutions to turn the challenges of the climate transition into opportunities, and become drivers of an inclusive societal transition. R&I actions will for instance foment the development of new environmentally friendly technologies and methods to manage, restore and preserve cultural heritage, with a view to making Europe a world leader in sustainable management of cultural heritage. R&I actions will also assess the role intangible cultural heritage plays for fostering societal resilience amidst societal challenges.
DIGITAL: The digital transition promises enormous opportunities for Europe’s cultural heritage and cultural and creative industries but also implies serious challenges. It is important to ensure that, throughout the digital transition, EU citizens enjoy cultural heritage and contribute to its interpretation and enrichment.
R&I actions will focus on how the benefits of digitised and digital cultural heritage may be exploited, reaping the benefits while avoiding the pitfalls. A particular focus will be on supporting the European Collaborative Cloud for Cultural Heritage (ECCCH), as well as on exploring challenges and opportunities of digital technologies such as artificial intelligence for culture, creativity and cultural heritage, and the ways cultural and creative industries can successfully engage with such technologies.
INNOVATIVE: To an ever-greater degree, creativity and cultural dimensions drive innovation and competitiveness – while underpinning resilience and well-being. Cultural and creative dimensions make new digital and physical products and services appealing and attractive. Similarly, societal transformations depend on behavioural changes, which are largely based on changes in lifestyle, culture and perceptions. In such processes, the human is at the centre, and cultural heritage, the arts and the cultural and creative industries are key.
R&I actions will cover a variety of subjects, such as strengthening the capacity of European design to act as a driver of sustainable competitiveness and reinforcing the role of culture and the arts for promoting European values, preventing conflicts, fostering peace and reconciliation and promoting health, well-being and social cohesion.
Many of the actions funded under this Destination will need access to and/or generate data. Where appropriate, actions should leverage the data and services available through European Research Infrastructures federated under the European Open Science Cloud or included in the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) and the ESFRI roadmap, as well as data from relevant Data Spaces. Particular efforts should be made to ensure that the data produced in the context of such actions is FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Re-usable).
The innovation ecosystems created and nurtured by the Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), in particular the KIC “EIT Culture and Creativity”, may contribute to actions under this destination, and may as appropriate be considered by applicants.
In line with the Commission priorities, R&I actions under this Destination will help promote our European way of life, contribute to a Europe fit for the digital age and to achieving the European Green Deal goals, as well as support an economy that works for people. They will contribute to the New European Bauhaus[3] initiative, to reaching the UN Sustainable Development Goals and to building a stronger, more participatory and crisis-resilient society and economy. They will support the realisation of the full potential of cultural heritage, arts and cultural and creative industries as drivers of sustainable innovation and a European sense of belonging.
The topic ‘HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-HERITAGE-03: A European Collaborative Cloud for Cultural Heritage – Innovative use cases’ aims at supporting the digital European cultural heritage collaborative space referred to as the “European Collaborative Cloud for Cultural Heritage” (ECCCH), and contributes to the vision and objectives of the Commission[4].
An ex-ante impact assessment for the ECCCH was carried out between December 2021 and March 2022 by eight renowned independent experts contracted by the Commission[5]. This ex-ante impact assessment examined and described the needs of a digital European cultural heritage collaborative space from the perspective of the foreseen users (cultural heritage institutions, researchers, cultural and creative industries, etc.) and of European societies, thoroughly reviewed existing initiatives that might satisfy parts of these needs, and outlined the most important aspects to consider in implementing such a collaborative space.
The conclusion of the ex-ante impact assessment is that the ECCCH is highly important to Europe’s cultural heritage institutions and to European societies. In order to address the urgent evolving needs of Europe’s cultural heritage sector in the digital age for specifically adapted collaborative spaces, the European Union is ramping up its investments through the ECCCH, and also the common European Data Space for Cultural Heritage (the Data Space)[6] funded under the Digital Europe programme. The topics under the ECCCH are based on the conclusions and recommendations of the experts’ ex-ante impact assessment.
Some key characteristics of the vision for the ECCCH include:
- The ECCCH will be addressed to professionals[7]. It will enable an unprecedented level of lasting collaboration and co-creation between public and private players that will generate new realms of research, knowledge and creation of societal value.
- The basic ECCCH platform will provide easy to use tools for the most important needs.
- Active user communities that contribute to training and support, as well as common data models, guidelines and libraries for developing tools (including support for Graphical User interfaces (GUI) and visualisation), will ensure that also less well-equipped institutions will draw the full benefit of the ECCCH.
- To enhance collaboration and co-creation, IPR rights of the digital objects stored in the ECCCH and produced by ECCCH-based collaboration will be fully recorded and traceable. Guidelines for the use of IPR rights, such as rights statements provided by RightsStatements.org should be used where appropriate. This will enable new business models in the intersection between cultural heritage and cultural and creative industries.
- The long-term sustainability of data and data formats is one of the underlying principles of the ECCCH. The ECCCH will tackle these challenges through its architecture and basic functionalities. The design and architecture of the ECCCH is based on three principles:
- digital twins of heritage objects,
- digital continuum, tracing all interactions with heritage objects and related data objects,
- digital ecosystem, open to all stakeholders, professions and activities to interact with each other and with the digital heritage objects, ultimately leading towards a new generation of multidimensional, interconnected and knowledge-enhanced heritage data forming digital commons, where the ECCCH will play a key role.
- The architecture of the ECCCH will ensure an evolutionary design, which will allow the adaption and incorporation of new technologies and tools and to fulfil new user requirements, while discontinuing less used tools.
- An open Application Programming Interface will allow new functionality to be developed and incorporated in the ECCCH by different initiatives, and encourage interoperability.
- The ECCCH will be open and inclusive, both in terms of the users of the platform and the connections to other related initiatives/platforms such as the Data Space.
- The ECCCH should build on the wealth of existing knowledge, technologies and work processes in Europe. It should draw on previous experience and best practice. The ECCCH and the Data Space should complement each other towards the common vision.
- The ECCCH should ensure, through its Governance body, the engagement of a wide range of appropriate representatives from Member States and Associated Countries, as well as from related EU initiatives.
The ECCCH will thus be a genuine collaboration platform, which brings together a wide array of professions, researchers and technologies for museums and other cultural heritage institutions. It will include and develop interactive tools for research, curation, restoration, preservation and for reaching out to citizens and cultural and creative industries, properly protect and manage IPR and allow commercial as well as non-commercial collaboration with a wide range of players.
All topics under the ECCCH are subject to the following conditions:
- All software developed should be open source, licensed under a CC0 public domain dedication or under an open source license as recommended by the Free Software Foundation[8] and the Open Source Initiative[9].
- If the use of fully open source software would require disproportional efforts or significantly diminish the quality or performance of the software, and if suitable non open source function libraries exist, such libraries may be used provided that a full user license free of charge for an unlimited period of time is granted to the consortium responsible for the ECCCH as well as to all users of the ECCCH.
- All software and other related deliverables should be compliant with the data model and the software development guidelines elaborated by the project funded under topic ‘HORIZON-CL2-2023-HERITAGE-ECCCH-01-01’.
- All projects funded should participate in concertation activities with the project funded under topic ‘HORIZON-CL2-2023-HERITAGE-ECCCH-01-01’
Expected impacts:
Proposals for topics under this Destination should set out a credible pathway to contributing to the following expected impact of the Horizon Europe Strategic Plan:
- The full potential of cultural heritage, arts and cultural and creative industries and sectors as drivers of both sustainable innovation and a European sense of belonging is realised through a continuous engagement with society, citizens and economic sectors.
Legal entities established in China are not eligible to participate in Innovation Actions in any capacity. Please refer to the Annex B of the General Annexes of this Work Programme for further details.
[1] Council conclusions of 21 May 2014 on cultural heritage as a strategic resource for a sustainable Europe (2014/C 183/08) https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52014XG0614(08)
[3] The New European Bauhaus initiative was launched by European Commission President von der Leyen in her State of the European Union speech autumn 2020. More information here: https://europa.eu/new-european-bauhaus/index_en
[4] Recommendation (EU) 2021/1970 of 10 Nov 2021 on a common European Data Space for Cultural Heritage.
[5] European Commission, Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, Brunet, P., De Luca, L., Hyvönen, E., et al., Report on a European collaborative cloud for cultural heritage : ex – ante impact assessment, 2022, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2777/64014
[6] See further https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/staff-working-document-data-spaces
[7] In the context of the ECCCH calls, ‘professionals’ should be understood as the wide and interdisciplinary group of people working with cultural heritage in a professional or semi-professional way, researchers as well as people working with related activities such as within the cultural and creative industries.
[8] https://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list#SoftwareLicenses
Eligibility & Conditions
General conditions
1. Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout
As described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes.
Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System.
The page limit of the Part B of a Coordination and Support Action (CSA) using lump sum funding is 33 pages. In addition, it is mandatory to submit a detailed budget table using the template available in the Submission system.
2. Eligible Countries
As described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.
A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.
3. Other Eligible Conditions
If eligible for funding, legal entities established in non-associated third countries may exceptionally participate in this Coordination and support action as a beneficiary or affiliated entity.
In addition, as described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.
4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion
As described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.
5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds
The granting authority can fund a maximum of one project.
As described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes.
5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes
As described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual.
5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement
As described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes.
6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants
Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2021-2027) – and in actions under the Research and Training Programme of the European Atomic Energy Community (2021-2025). [[This decision is available on the Funding and Tenders Portal, in the reference documents section for Horizon Europe, under ‘Simplified costs decisions’ or through this link: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/horizon/guidance/ls-decision_he_en.pdf]].
As described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Specific conditions
described in the [specific topic of the Work Programme]
Application and evaluation forms and model grant agreement (MGA):
Application form templates — the application form specific to this call is available in the Submission System
Standard application form (HE CSA)
Evaluation form templates — will be used with the necessary adaptations
Standard evaluation form (HE CSA)
Guidance
Model Grant Agreements (MGA)
Call-specific instructions
Detailed budget table (HE LS) (version 3.3)
Additional documents:
HE Main Work Programme 2025 – 1. General Introduction
HE Main Work Programme 2025 – 5. Culture, creativity and inclusive society
HE Main Work Programme 2025 – 14. General Annexes
HE Framework Programme 2021/695
HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764
EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509
Decision authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme
Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment
EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement
Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual
Support & Resources
Online Manual is your guide on the procedures from proposal submission to managing your grant.
Horizon Europe Programme Guide contains the detailed guidance to the structure, budget and political priorities of Horizon Europe.
Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ – find the answers to most frequently asked questions on submission of proposals, evaluation and grant management.
Research Enquiry Service – ask questions about any aspect of European research in general and the EU Research Framework Programmes in particular.
National Contact Points (NCPs) – get guidance, practical information and assistance on participation in Horizon Europe. There are also NCPs in many non-EU and non-associated countries (‘third-countries’).
Enterprise Europe Network – contact your EEN national contact for advice to businesses with special focus on SMEs. The support includes guidance on the EU research funding.
IT Helpdesk – contact the Funding & Tenders Portal IT helpdesk for questions such as forgotten passwords, access rights and roles, technical aspects of submission of proposals, etc.
European IPR Helpdesk assists you on intellectual property issues.
CEN-CENELEC Research Helpdesk and ETSI Research Helpdesk – the European Standards Organisations advise you how to tackle standardisation in your project proposal.
The European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for their recruitment – consult the general principles and requirements specifying the roles, responsibilities and entitlements of researchers, employers and funders of researchers.
Partner Search help you find a partner organisation for your proposal.
Latest Updates
CALL UPDATE: PROPOSAL NUMBERS
Call HORIZON-CL2-2025-01 has closed on 16/09/2025.
1122 proposals have been submitted.
The breakdown per topic is:
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-DEMOCRACY-01: 16
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-DEMOCRACY-02: 5
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-DEMOCRACY-03: 23
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-DEMOCRACY-04: 18
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-DEMOCRACY-05: 80
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-DEMOCRACY-06: 6
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-DEMOCRACY-07: 45
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-DEMOCRACY-08: 46
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-DEMOCRACY-09: 65
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-DEMOCRACY-10: 91
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-DEMOCRACY-11: 15
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-DEMOCRACY-12: 3
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-HERITAGE-03 : 76
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-HERITAGE-04 : 78
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-HERITAGE-05 : 34
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-HERITAGE-06 : 14
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-HERITAGE-07 : 49
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-HERITAGE-08 : 24
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-HERITAGE-09 : 20
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-TRANSFO-01 : 51
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-TRANSFO-02 : 29
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-TRANSFO-03 : 16
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-TRANSFO-05 : 14
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-TRANSFO-06 : 27
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-TRANSFO-07 : 71
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-TRANSFO-08 : 77
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-TRANSFO-09 : 96
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-TRANSFO-10 : 21
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-TRANSFO-11 : 12
Evaluation results are expected to be communicated in February 2026.
Please read the published frequently asked questions and answers in the `Topic Q&A` section of the topic.
Please note that the technical issue has been solved and the details of the Destination of the topic are now displayed on the topic page.
Please note that the topic page does not display the description of the destination due to a technical issue, but the full description of the 3 destinations (Democracy, Heritage, Social and Economical Transformations) that are relevant for the call are available in the Work Programme 2025 “Culture, creativity and inclusive society”. Please select from the Work Programme the destination relevant to your topic and consider the description when preparing your proposal.