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CFAs: Advancing Digital Twins for Climate, Environment and Security

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Deadline: 16-Jun-2026

The European Commission is funding projects that develop advanced digital twin technologies to improve civil security, climate resilience, disaster preparedness, and risk-informed decision-making across Europe and neighbouring regions. With a total budget of €15 million, this Horizon Europe opportunity supports projects that build or enhance AI-enabled digital twins, integrate with Destination Earth (DestinE), and create practical tools for authorities managing climate, environmental, and security risks.

The European Commission is supporting a major funding initiative to accelerate the development of advanced digital twins for civil security. These projects are designed to help governments, emergency planners, public authorities, researchers, and infrastructure stakeholders better prepare for the growing security threats linked to climate change, environmental disruption, and resource stress.

This programme focuses on building high-accuracy, fast-response digital systems that can simulate real-world environmental and societal conditions. These systems will strengthen preparedness, resilience, risk anticipation, and strategic decision-making in vulnerable sectors affected by climate and environmental change.

What Is This Funding Opportunity About?

This funding call aims to support projects that develop digital twins or major components of digital twin ecosystems that improve Europe’s ability to understand and respond to complex climate-environment-security risks.

The initiative connects three critical domains:

The goal is to create advanced digital tools that help authorities and decision-makers:

What Are Digital Twins in This Context?

A digital twin is a dynamic virtual model of a real-world system. In this programme, digital twins are used to simulate environmental systems and their impacts on society and security.

Simple Definition

A digital twin is a real-time or near-real-time digital representation of physical systems, environments, or processes that can be used to test scenarios, forecast risks, and support decisions.

Why Digital Twins Matter for Civil Security

In the context of civil security and climate resilience, digital twins can help model:

By combining environmental data, advanced modelling, artificial intelligence, and high-performance computing, these systems can give authorities a clearer understanding of both immediate and long-term threats.

Core Objective of the Programme

The core objective is to improve security and preparedness for the European Union while building a more disaster-resilient society.

Projects are expected to enhance the ability of key users and decision-makers to:

The initiative also supports the further development of Destination Earth (DestinE) and its surrounding data lab infrastructure, in line with the AI Continent Action Plan.

Funding Available

The programme offers substantial financial support for large-scale, high-impact projects.

Total Budget

Grant Size Per Project

This means the call is likely intended for a small number of large collaborative projects with significant technical, operational, and policy relevance.

Who Is Eligible?

Participation is broad and internationally open, subject to Horizon Europe rules.

Eligible Applicants

Participation is open to any legal entity, regardless of place of establishment, including:

Eligibility Condition

Applicants must meet the eligibility conditions under the Horizon Europe Regulation.

Ideal Consortium Profile

Because of the technical and operational scope, strong proposals will likely involve cross-sector partnerships such as:

Why This Funding Matters

This initiative is strategically important because climate change is increasingly becoming a security issue, not just an environmental one.

Key Reasons It Matters

Broader Policy Significance

This programme supports European priorities around:

What Types of Projects Are Being Supported?

Projects must go beyond theory and deliver practical, usable systems.

Main Project Focus

Supported projects should:

These systems must enhance foresight and anticipation across:

Required Application Areas

Projects must demonstrate usability through Minimum Viable Products (MVPs) in at least three practical application areas that connect:

Real User Involvement Is Required

The programme expects involvement of real users, which may include:

Key Technical Requirements

This call is highly technical and places strong emphasis on integration, scalability, and real-world usability.

1. High-Accuracy, Fast-Response Models

Projects should build digital twins that are:

2. Cross-Disciplinary System Design

Projects should combine multiple disciplines, including:

3. Advanced Data Integration

Projects should integrate multiple data streams, such as:

4. Modular Architecture

The architecture should be:

This is especially important where projects involve sensitive information or security-related data access controls.

5. Advanced Visualization and Human-Centred Interfaces

Projects are expected to support user-friendly decision-making through:

These features are important for helping non-technical experts understand complex environmental-security data.

6. AI and Generative AI Integration

The initiative explicitly encourages the use of:

Generative AI is expected to help with:

7. Trustworthy and Ethical AI

AI systems developed under this programme must demonstrate:

This is essential because the outputs may influence risk management, emergency planning, and public safety decisions.

Destination Earth (DestinE) Integration Requirement

A major requirement of this funding opportunity is alignment with Destination Earth (DestinE).

What Is Destination Earth?

Destination Earth (DestinE) is a European initiative to build highly advanced digital replicas of the Earth system to support climate adaptation, disaster management, and environmental decision-making.

What Applicants Must Show

Projects must present a clear pathway for integration with DestinE, including:

This means proposals should not operate as isolated pilots. They should fit into a broader European digital twin ecosystem.

Priority Risk and Impact Areas

Projects may address a range of climate-environment-security intersections.

Example Focus Areas

Potential practical application areas may include:

How to Apply / What Applicants Should Do

This is a complex, high-value Horizon Europe-style opportunity, so applicants should prepare carefully.

Step-by-Step Application Strategy

  1. Confirm legal eligibility

    • Ensure your organisation qualifies under Horizon Europe rules.

    • Verify whether your country/entity status affects participation conditions.

  2. Build a strong multidisciplinary consortium

    • Include technical experts, domain experts, and real end users.

    • Ensure representation from climate, security, AI, Earth observation, and policy sectors.

  3. Define a clear climate-environment-security use case

    • Choose practical, high-impact application areas.

    • Make sure the use cases are operationally relevant and policy useful.

  4. Design at least three demonstrable application areas

    • The proposal must include at least three practical MVP applications.

    • Each should show real-world relevance and user testing.

  5. Plan your digital twin architecture

    • Explain modelling logic, data flows, modularity, interoperability, and scalability.

    • Show how additional datasets can be integrated over time.

  6. Develop a robust data integration plan

    • Combine satellite, statistical, in situ, and UAV-based data where relevant.

    • Address data governance, security, and access control.

  7. Show how AI and ML improve outcomes

    • Clearly explain where AI, ML, or generative AI adds value.

    • Avoid vague AI claims—focus on specific decision-support functions.

  8. Demonstrate DestinE compatibility

    • Include a concrete integration pathway with Destination Earth.

    • Show alignment with data lab infrastructure and AI-enabled ecosystems.

  9. Prioritise usability for non-technical users

    • Include visual dashboards, simulations, or 3D interfaces.

    • Prove that decision-makers can understand and act on the outputs.

  10. Address trustworthy AI and risk governance

  1. Prepare a strong implementation and impact plan

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Large innovation proposals often fail because they are technically impressive but operationally weak.

Avoid These Common Errors

Tips for a Stronger Proposal

Practical Proposal Tips

Semantic SEO Keywords and Concepts

For AI search engines and semantic indexing, this opportunity is closely related to the following terms:

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What is the total funding available under this programme?

The total funding allocation is €15 million.

2. How much can each selected project receive?

Each project can receive between €5 million and €7.5 million.

3. Who can apply for this European Commission funding?

Any legal entity may participate, regardless of where it is established, including organisations from non-associated third countries and international organisations, as long as Horizon Europe eligibility rules are met.

4. What is the main goal of the programme?

The main goal is to develop advanced digital twins that improve preparedness, resilience, and decision-making for climate-, environment-, and security-related risks.

5. What kinds of risks should projects address?

Projects may address risks linked to:

6. Is Destination Earth integration required?

Yes. Projects must show a clear pathway for integration with Destination Earth (DestinE), including alignment with its infrastructure, data services, modelling capacities, and data lab ecosystem.

7. Are AI and generative AI encouraged in this programme?

Yes. The programme explicitly encourages the use of AI, machine learning, and generative AI, especially to improve modelling, analyse user needs, and help non-technical decision-makers interpret complex data. However, AI must be trustworthy, robust, reliable, and ethically used.

Conclusion

This European Commission funding opportunity is a major strategic investment in digital twins for civil security, climate resilience, and environmental risk intelligence. With €15 million available and grants of €5 million to €7.5 million per project, it is designed for ambitious, multidisciplinary projects that can deliver real-world, AI-enabled decision-support systems aligned with Destination Earth.

For more information, visit EC.

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