On the 15^th of October, the UIA Secretariat officially announced the launch of its 4^th call for proposals.

Set out in Article 8 of EU Regulation No 1301/2013 on the ERDF, the Urban Innovative Actions (UIA) is an instrument of the EU and is managed by the DG Regional and Urban Policy via indirect management. The main scope of the Initiative is to provide urban areas throughout Europe with resources to test new and unproven solutions to address urban challenges. Urban authorities have the possibility to take a risk and experiment the most innovative and creative solutions, outside the scope of the normal projects that could be financed through the ERDF funding.

Thematic coverage

Projects can be submitted under the following topics, in line with the priorities of the EU’s Urban Agenda:

• Digital transition
• Sustainable use of land and nature based solutions
• Urban poverty
• Urban security

Each project can cover only one of these topics.

Urban authorities should propose innovative, creative and durable solutions that go beyond the state of art and which have not previously tested or implemented in the urban area. Urban authorities should ensure a participative approach, establishing solid local partnerships with the right mix of complementary partners, actively involving entities such as agencies, universities, NGOs, businesses or other public authorities. The proposed projects need to demonstrate that the changes are measurable and directly attributable to the proposed innovation. The potential for transferability of the proposed innovative solutions will also be important as projects should be applicable and replicable by other organisations in Europe.

Project implementation should take place within a maximum period of 3 years.

Eligible authorities

The following authorities may apply for support to undertake Urban Innovative Actions:

• Any urban authority of a local administrative unit defined according to the degree of urbanisation as city, town or suburb comprising at least 50 000 inhabitants
• Any association or grouping of urban authorities of local administrative units defined according to the degree of urbanisation as city, town or suburb where the total population is at least 50 000 inhabitants; this can include cross-border associations or groupings, associations or groupings in different regions and/or Member States.

All partners must belong to the EU.

Budget

Each action can receive up to a maximum of EUR 5 Million. Projects receive ERDF co-financing up to 80% of the eligible costs; every partner receiving ERDF needs to secure 20% at least of public or private contribution to complete its budget either from its own resources or from other sources. There is no ideal size for UIA project budgets, but small projects, below EUR 1 million ERDF requested, may have a reduced probability of being selected.

The total indicative budget allocated for this call is between EUR 80-100 million.

Project proposals must be submitted by 31 January 2019. Further information and official documentation are available here.