It will enable production and consumption to respect the boundaries of our planet while maximising the benefits for all parts of society, economy and territorial contexts in Europe. 

The ‘Industry’ pillar in Cluster 4 is divided into two 'Destinations':

Destination 1 – Climate neutral, circular and digitised production:

Activities under this Destination in 2023 and 2024 focus on:

-        Manufacturing Industry: High precision manufacturing and 3D printing, bio manufacturing, sustainable production, remanufacturing and circular manufacturing, Advanced Digital Technologies for Manufacturing and Manufacturing as a Service

-        A New Way to Build, accelerating disruptive change in construction: Digitalisation of the construction sector, Intelligent data acquisition, monitoring of infrastructures

-        Energy Intensive Industry Processes: Energy efficient and climate neutral process industries, Optimisation of the industrial processes, Circularity and Zero Pollution in process industry, electrification of processes, hydrogen in production routes and used as feedstock, industrial water consumption processes, Hubs for circularity, clean steel. New Act to be launched Net Zero Industry Act as part of the Green Deal Industrial Plan (europa.eu).

 The Destination 1, 2023 call is closed and the deadlines for the 2024 topics are Feb 7 for the Full submission topics and Feb 7 for the STAGE 1 topics (and Sept 24 for the STAGE 2). 

Some of the funding for these calls might be readjusted based on the new Net Zero Industry Act. There are other Destinations in Cluster 4 that include advanced processing and manufacturing topics, such as Destination 6: A Human centre and ethical development of digital and industrial technologies. Areas such as Industry 5.0 are included here. Check with your NCP for more information. 

Destination 2 – Increased Autonomy in key strategic value chains for resilient industry:

Activities in 2023 and 2024 will focus on the need to tackle missing segments in strategic areas and value chains to strengthen the EU’s industrial base as well as boost its competitiveness. 

The budget for the next two years is €559m with some of the proposed actions in the areas of: 

-        Raw materials for EU strategic autonomy and successful transition to a climate-neutral and circular economy under the new Critical Raw Materials Act (europa.eu): exploration, mining, processing, recycling 

-        Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) Chemicals and Materials: methods and frameworks for the assessment of chemicals and materials – modeling. More information about the SSbD assessment framework here

-        Strategic Innovation Markets Driven by Advanced Materials: bioinspired and biomimetic materials, biomaterials for medical applications, smart sensors, materials for agricultural applications, polymers for packaging, magnets for mobility and energy applications

-        Improving the resilience of EU businesses: standards and regulatory issues.

On 7 February 2022, a Materials 2030 Manifesto was presented by high-level representatives from European research institutes and industries to Commissioner Gabriel. It stressed the importance of EU’s technology leaderships, strategic autonomy and the role of advanced materials. It invites stakeholders to combine more closely upstream research with industry-driven applications in innovation markets. Please check the new Advanced Materials 2030 Initiative and the newly published (April 2023) Strategic Materials Agenda here.

The Raw Materials Act calls for a Coordinated Plan for Europe in Advanced Materials (please refer to Communication 'A secure and sustainable supply of critical raw materials in support of the twin transition' here). The EU-coordinated plan is in the making and it is expected to be launched by Q1 2024. More information will follow on the impact of this Act on Horizon Europe programmes.

The 2023 Destination 2 call is closed and the deadlines for the 2024 topics are Feb 7th for the Full submission and STAGE 1 topics (Sept 24th for STAGE 2). To find out more about the number of submissions in 2023, please check olut our Cluster 4 June newsletter here.  

There are other Destinations in Cluster 4 that include advanced materials and processing in Destination 4: Digital and Emerging Technologies. Areas such as Materials Modelling and Characterisation are included here. Check with your NCP for more information. 

BROKERAGE EVENTS: 

The 10th edition of KETs' EU Brokerage Event dedicated to the Key Enabling Technologies in "Horizon Europe", will take place on Oct 27th. The event will target upcoming 2024 calls in Destination 1 and 2 of Cluster 4 and Destination 2 of Cluster 5 (Batteries). The event will be held in Mainz (Germany), but also allows for long-term online matchmaking.

The Cluster 4 Info Days for the 2024 calls will take place on Oct 11-12th, 2023. This event aims to inform potential applicants about the funding opportunities of the 2024 calls of Horizon Europe Cluster 4 Work Programme 2024. This is a European Commission organised event.