Open Call for ProBleu Funding Initiative

The ProBleu project promotes ocean and water literacy in school communities, funded by the European Union within the Horizon Europe Programme. The central theme of ProBleu is the restoration of the ocean and waters by promoting education and the close connection between humans and the environment among children and youth.

Objectives

• The ProBleu funding scheme aims to support primary and secondary schools to mobilise and engage with children, youth, and the school community in the education for blue sustainability and the protection of marine and freshwater ecosystems.
• ProBleu invites schools to propose projects that contribute to:
  • Develop and implement ideas that contribute to achieving the objectives of the Mission “Restore the ocean and waters by 2030”;
  • Enlarge and strengthen the NEBS, contributing to the work of the EU4Ocean Coalition;
  • Engage students, youth, teachers, school leaders and the wider school community in the pursuit of ocean and water literacy and sustainability.

Topics

• The calls will support school projects covering a wide variety of topics within the theme of Blue Sustainability. Each project must fall into one of the following lots:
  • Lot 1: Ocean/marine projects
  • Lot 2: Freshwater projects
• Each project must address at least 1 and at most 3 topics listed:
  • The European Ocean Coalition (EU4Ocean) – each European is a citizen of the ocean and waters
  • Open access data on marine and freshwater
  • Protected waters
  • Using ecosystem-based services and nature-based solutions to protect the coast and seas
  • De-damming European rivers
  • Ending destructive fishing practices, e.g. overfishing
  • Removing single-use plastic / generate zero plastic litter
  • Reduce pesticides in seas and waters
  • Reduce micro pollution – zero spill
  • Reduce underwater noise pollution
  • Reduce CO2 emissions from the shipping sector
  • Promoting renewable ocean energy
  • Eat less fish, more algae – zero-carbon aquaculture
  • Create blue biotechnology
  • Carbon neutral marinas
  • Ocean and water governance
  • Biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction
  • Other (please specify)

Funding Information

• The overall available budget for this call is € 200.000 (two hundred thousand euros) and they aim to provide support to more than 40 schools.
• In this call, a 30% minimum rule will apply in terms of the proportion of the budget for each lot:
  • At least 30% of the budget of the call will be allocated to ocean/marine projects (Lot 1).
  • At least 30% of the budget of the call will be allocated to freshwater projects (Lot 2).
• ProBleu wants to provide funding opportunities to a wide range of schools across different regions. Therefore, besides the above lots, this call includes an additional limitation to the distribution of available funds among applicants. The aim is to prioritise countries which:
  • currently do not have schools as members of the Network of European Blue Schools; and
  • have not received funding from ProBleu.
• Geographic origin of the applicants:
  • The maximum duration of each project in this call is 12 (twelve) months and the minimum duration is 3 (three) months.
  • Group A
    • Maximum available funding: €90.000
    • Approximate number of projects to be funded: 14-18
    • Countries: Armenia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Faroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Israel, Kosovo, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Morocco, Norway, Ukraine, Tunisia.
  • Group B
    • Maximum available funding: €75.000
    • Approximate number of projects to be funded: 12-15
    • Countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Montenegro, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia.
  • Group C
    • Maximum available funding: €20.000
    • Approximate number of projects to be funded: 3-5
    • Countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, France, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Sweden.
  • Group D
    • Maximum available funding: €15.000
    • Approximate number of projects to be funded: 2-4
    • Countries: Spain, Portugal, Greece, United Kingdom, Türkiye.
• Project lump sum:
  • Large:
    • Maximum available funding: €75.000
    • Maximum/Minimum number of projects to be funded: 10
  • Medium:
    • Maximum available funding:  €85.000
    • Maximum/Minimum number of projects to be funded: 18-15
  • Small:
    • Maximum available funding: €40.000
    • Maximum/Minimum number of projects to be funded: 20-15

Eligible Activities

• Your project may include the following types of activities:
  • Activities to apply for or renew the accreditation as a member of the NEBS: if the applicant school is not a member of the NEBS, it will be automatically integrated in the NEBS upon the signature of the contract to receive the ProBleu grant, and requested to accept the respective code of conduct; if the applicant school is a member of the NEBS and aims to renew the accreditation, it is a compulsory requirement to renew its accreditation to the Network until the project conclusion. Activities to apply for the accreditation can be funded under this call.
  • Organisation or participation in events and activities with student involvement (inside and outside the school premises): workshops, meetings, conferences, training, field trips, exhibitions, local expeditions, technical trips, virtual educational activities, boat activities, virtual laboratories, laboratory trips, museum trips, technical field trips. Applicants are encouraged to design Open Schooling activities in collaboration with the local community and with external stakeholders. However, these types of activities cannot constitute the core of your project.
  • Development of in-classroom lessons and exercises: to promote ocean and water literacy. These lessons and exercises shall cover more than one school subject. Applicants are encouraged to design Open Schooling activities in collaboration with the local community and with external stakeholders.
  • Development of practical lessons and exercises: to promote ocean/marine and water literacy outside the classroom using citizen-science methodologies. Projects are encouraged to cover more than one school subject. Applicants are encouraged to design Open Schooling activities in collaboration with the local community and with external stakeholders.
  • Research-based activities: including e.g. laboratory testing and analysis of results. Applicants are encouraged to design Open Schooling activities in collaboration with the local community and with external stakeholders.
  • Communication, promotion and engagement activities: activities for promoting the learnings and results at the school level and within the wider community. Applicants are encouraged to promote the project impacts as widely as possible.
  • Organisation or participation in competitions: Competitions among students to promote their ocean and water literacy. These competitions can be used to stimulate collaborative and group work in the same classroom, at the school level and between schools (through twinning). Applicants are encouraged to design Open Schooling activities in collaboration with the local community and with external stakeholders.
  • Twinning: Activities linking a school with other schools (twinning). Applicants are encouraged to design Open Schooling activities in collaboration with the local community and with external stakeholders.
  • Other Open Schooling activities: Other activities promoting collaboration with the local community and with external stakeholders.

Eligible Expenses

• Travel, accommodation and subsistence:
  • Travel, accommodation and subsistence for students and/or teachers to visit exhibitions, museums, laboratories, research centres or other venues justified within the project activities.
  • Note: The maximum amount for travel, accommodation and subsistence costs is 50% of the lump sum requested.
• Purchase and renting of equipment:
  • Purchase or renting of lab equipment, photographic equipment, specialised software, and equipment for the development of resources.
• Other goods, works or services:
  • Purchase of consumables and supplies for the development of project activities.
  • Promotion, dissemination, publications.
  • Registration in conferences, training, or other events.
  • Membership to other initiatives, such as GLOBE.
• Subcontracting:
  • Fees for external services, e.g., experts/professionals who give workshops at the school as part of the project activities or support the development of specific project activities.
  • Translation services (including translation of in-classroom and practical lessons and exercises developed or any other ProBleu resources).
  • Note: The maximum amount for subcontracting costs is 30% of the lump sum requested.

Ineligible Expenses

• The following types of costs are not eligible:
  • Personnel costs: human resources working for the applicant organisation.
  • Purchase or renting of real estate, construction works.

Eligible Countries

• The applicant must be located in one of the EU-27 Member States and the third countries associated with Horizon Europe:
  • Albania, Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Cyprus, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Serbia, Tunisia, Türkiye, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.

Eligibility Criteria

• This call is directed at primary and secondary schools (including vocational schools) providing education from ISCED level 1 up to level 31 of the EU-27 Member States and the third countries associated with Horizon Europe.
• ProBleu grants will be formally awarded to schools as legal entities (and not to teachers or students individually). However, it is expected that students, teachers, school leaders and eventually other stakeholders also actively participate in the preparation of the applications.
• The school projects should foster the engagement of different stakeholders in the Blue Sustainability topics. When preparing a project, applicant schools are encouraged to:
  • Include collaboration among various stakeholders inside and outside the school community: teachers, parents, ocean professionals (for example, researchers, marine scientists), NGOs, visitor centres, maritime companies, authorities (including municipalities), the wider community (civil society);
  • Search for collaborative approaches with other schools, teachers and students (during and after the grant period). They encourage twinning among schools from different locations;
  • Ensure equal opportunities for participants with fewer opportunities.

Ineligibility Criteria

• Applicants are requested to declare that all information shared in their application is correct, complete, and legitimate and that the legal entity fully complies with the eligibility criteria set out in the call. ProBleu will not award a grant to an applicant who:
  • is in an exclusion situation established in the terms of the Declaration of Honour; or
  • has misrepresented the information required as a condition for participating in the procedure or has failed to supply that information; or
  • was previously involved in preparing documents used in the award procedure, which entails a breach of the principle of equal treatment, including distortion of competition, that cannot be remedied otherwise; or
  • has received a grant from previous ProBleu, SHORE or BlueLightS projects’ calls.

For more information, visit ProBleu.