Innovative air mobility and services for sustainable and smart urban, peri-urban transport – Societal Readiness pilot

The main goal of this opportunity is to support the creation of a sustainable, smart, safe, and resilient ecosystem for urban air mobility (IAM) and related services, with a strong emphasis on improving urban logistics. The initiative seeks to enable very low-level unmanned aviation to make urban mobility more sustainable. It also aims to strengthen institutional capacities for IAM, and to develop practical tools and services for integrating IAM into city environments. Key focus areas include urban planning integration, addressing social concerns, developing drone infrastructure guidelines, evaluating environmental impacts, and demonstrating IAM applications such as cargo delivery to help reduce traffic congestion, noise, and pollution.

• Projects must contribute to sustainable and smart urban or peri-urban air mobility solutions.
• They should focus on integrating IAM into city planning and logistics.
• Proposals must address societal concerns, such as noise and environmental impact.
• Projects should aim to demonstrate practical IAM applications, like cargo or goods delivery.
• Applicants are expected to develop guidelines or tools for IAM infrastructure and services.

Examples:

• A project demonstrating drone-based parcel delivery to reduce urban congestion.
• Developing a digital platform for city planners to integrate IAM into urban transport systems.
• Testing new drone landing infrastructure in collaboration with local authorities to ensure safety and minimize noise.

• Development and testing of IAM technologies (e.g., drones, digital platforms)
• Costs for pilot demonstrations and real-world trials
• Personnel costs for researchers, engineers, and project managers
• Purchase or rental of equipment and materials for IAM infrastructure
• Travel and accommodation for project meetings and fieldwork
• Consultancy and subcontracting services related to IAM integration
• Workshops, stakeholder engagement, and dissemination activities
• Data collection, analysis, and environmental impact assessment
• Development of guidelines, standards, or digital tools for IAM

Restrictions: All expenses must be directly related to achieving the project objectives and must fit within the lump sum funding model of the Horizon Europe Programme.

• Budget for this Call: 15.000.000€
• Number of Grants attributed: 2
• Budget per project: 7.500.000€

• Applicants must be based in countries eligible under the Horizon Europe Programme.
• Participants from some non-EU or non-Associated Countries may be eligible if their country has made specific funding provisions.
• Applicants should be able to demonstrate capacity to carry out research and innovation activities related to IAM.
• Proposals must align with the goals of sustainable and smart urban or peri-urban transport.
• Projects may require collaboration between multiple organizations or networks.
• Applicants must submit proposals following the required format and page limits.
• All eligibility conditions provided in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide and annexes must be met.