Horizon Europe | Destination Innovative Research on Democracy and Governance 2026
The research funded by this call will support the ongoing EU efforts to address threats to democratic systems, arising from both internal and external sources, and to rebuild citizens' trust in democracy, including by responding to their social and economic needs.
Horizon Europe Cluster 2 "Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society" aims to meet EU goals and priorities on enhancing democratic governance and citizens' participation, on the safeguarding and promotion of cultural heritage and Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs), and on to responding to and shaping multifaceted social, economic, technological and cultural transformations.
Cluster 2 comprises three "destinations" with several topics each.
Topics in Destination 1 – Innovative Research on Democracy and Governance
The topics include among others:
- Tackling gender-based violence against politically active women and LGBTIQ people (HORIZON-CL2-2026-01-DEMOCRACY-01)
- Understanding the forms of local democracy in low-income and low-middle income countries (HORIZON-CL2-2026-01-DEMOCRACY-02)
- Supporting post-conflict democracy and reconstruction (HORIZON-CL2-2026-01-DEMOCRACY-07)
- Electoral integrity in the digital context (HORIZON-CL2-2026-01-DEMOCRACY-08)
- Citizenship education as part of lifelong learning (HORIZON-CL2-2026-01-DEMOCRACY-09)
- Digital and media literacy as drivers for democratic and civic resilience (HORIZON-CL2-2026-01-DEMOCRACY-10)
More information on the topics is available via the links above.
Submission
The submission period lasts from 12 May to 23 September 2026, 17 h.
More information is available on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal.