To enhance the impact of the Path4Med project and contribute to the reduction of water and soil pollution across the Mediterranean and associated regions, Path4Med will launch an Open Call.
The Path4Med Open Call will provide a significant opportunity to strengthen the capacity of public authorities to implement innovative solutions that reduce fertiliser use and prevent, minimise, and remediate pollution caused by excess nutrients.
This will be achieved through an Open Call offering Financial Support to Third Parties (FSTP), serving as a mechanism to enhance the adaptability, uptake, and scaling of Path4Med solutions while accelerating network expansion across the Mediterranean and associated regions.
For the purposes of this Open Call, only local and/or regional public authorities are eligible to apply.These refer to governmental or administrative entities. established under public law that operate within a specific sub-national geographical area (region, city, town, etc.) and are responsible for exercising public functions and providing services to the population within that area.
The Path4MED open call seeks applications from public authorities with clearly defined responsibilities including (but not limited to): Water management, Soil management, Environmental protection, Meteorology, and Agricultural policies. Public authorities active in other domains relevant to the implementation and testing of the innovative solutions described in the applicant's guide and Annex 10 are also welcome to apply.
Specifically, the Open Call aims to:
- Promote and empower public authorities and citizens to take action against soil, water and ocean pollution.
- Reproduce the approaches developed by the project and demonstrate their functionality for future uptake at different scales and across different regions.
- Accelerate the uptake of innovative solutions, particularly in less developed regions.
Key Figures and Information:
Only single applicants allowed
5 sub-projects to be funded
Total Open Call Budget: 500.000€
Budget per sub-project: up to €100.000
Who can apply
The Path4Med Open Call will only accept applications from public authorities established in one of the countries listed below:
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South Mediterranean |
West Balkans |
Black Sea |
Baltic Sea |
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Algeria |
Bosnia and Herzegovina |
Austria |
Estonia |
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Egypt |
Croatia |
Bulgaria |
Finland |
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Israel |
Montenegro |
Hungary[1] |
Latvia |
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Jordan |
Kosovo[2] |
Georgia |
Lithuania |
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Libya |
Slovenia |
Moldova |
Sweden |
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Lebanon |
North Macedonia |
Romania |
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Morocco |
Serbia |
Slovakia |
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Palestine |
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Syria |
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Tunisia |
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[1] At the time of writing, Hungary is not eligible. The Open Call will adhere to the Council Implementing Decision 2022/2506 stipulating that legal commitments must not be entered into with any public interest trusts established on the basis of the Hungarian Act IX of 2021 or any entity maintained by such a public interest trust. Path4Med will adhere to any subsequent changes to the decision during project implementation.
[2] This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.
Applicants must select at least one category of the Path4Med solutions and implement one or more solutions from it, based on the needs and priorities of their region. Applicants are encouraged to combine solutions either within the same category or across different categories, provided this approach aligns with their regional needs and remains feasible within the sub-project scope.
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Path4Med categories of solutions |
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1 |
Novel monitoring strategies (including IoT, water sampling and DNA extraction protocols) |
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2 |
Integrated indicators for water management and water quality/quantity monitoring |
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3 |
Earth Observation data sources and analysis techniques representing states and fluxes of the Agro-Hydro System. |
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4 |
Innovative data aggregations and interpretation methodologies (incl. digital twins, modelling, AI) improving capacity on risk assessment and response. |
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5 |
Framework of effective cascades of solutions/toolbox of agricultural approaches, practice and technologies |
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6 |
Location-based information services for farmers and advisors |
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7 |
Technologies to reduce presence of excess nutrients and agrochemical residues in water bodies. |
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8 |
Policies design and evaluation through the integrated, policy enabled modelling platform |
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9 |
Information based precision irrigation and nutrient management system. |
More information about the solutions can be found in the Open Call Kit below and specifically in Annex 10 - Solution descriptions.
Timeline
The Open Call, launching on 29 October 2025, will close on 30 January 2026 at 17:00 CET. All selected sub-projects will start in July 2026 and will have an implementation period of nine months, divided into three phases
Submission Procedure
Applications for the Path4Med Open Call must be submitted electronically via the opencalls.fund platform no later than 30 January 17:00 CET.
All necessary information regarding the Path4Med Open Call is provided in the Open Call Kit available below. Applicants are strongly encouraged to read all documents carefully — particularly the Applicants’ Guide, which outlines eligibility requirements, evaluation criteria, and submission procedures.
By submitting an application, applicants automatically accept the terms and conditions of the Open Call as described in the Path4Med Open Call Kit.
Path4Med is looking for evaluators
We are looking for independent evaluators, who will be able to assess the quality of applications received within the Path4Med Open Call, once it closes.
Evaluators must be citizens, or tax residents, of one of the following:
European – EU nationals Member States (MS) of the European Union (EU), including their outermost regions and the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT) linked to an EU Member State, as well as nationals of countries associated with Horizon Europe (full list here).
Experienced in technical and/or business domains related to the topics of the call, with knowledge indicatively in the following domains, i.e. agriculture, ecosystem and biodiversity management and restoration, soil and water ecosystem monitoring, application of management solutions, agri-environmental techs, policy frameworks, Mediterranean agro-hydro systems.
Experienced in evaluating EC proposals or similar experience.
An evaluator should not work for an organisation that aims to apply for the Path4Med Open Call, nor in an organisation participating in the Path4Med consortium.
All evaluators must adhere to the guiding principles for independent experts set out by the EC including independence, impartiality, objectivity, accuracy and consistency.
The evaluators will be in charge of providing a neutral yet technical/scientific review of the received applications on the following aspects:
- Excellence
- Impact
- Capacity
The full evaluation criteria and more details can be found in Annex 1 - Call for evaluators and the Open Call kit.
Expression of interest
If you are interested in becoming an evaluator, create an evaluator profile on the opencalls.fund platform, fill in all necessary fields and upload your CV (as .pdf) - the application shouldn’t take you more than 5 minutes!
By applying to the Path4Med Call for Evaluators, applicants automatically accept all the rules and conditions described in the OC Kit.
