HORIZON-CL2-2026-01-TRANSFO-07: Fostering Competences for the Green Transition

This Horizon Europe topic, officially titled “Fostering competences for the green transition,” funds sector-specific research into what skills people actually need for the green transition, and how education and training systems can deliver them. The call’s own diagnosis is that robust quantitative data remains limited at national and international level, and that most existing research focuses on macro-level policy while overlooking how workers and communities drive change.

Call at a Glance

Expected Outcomes

Projects should contribute to all of the following:

• A solid understanding for policymakers, education and training institutions, and social partners of which competences young people and workers need to move the EU economy towards the green transition, reaching carbon neutrality and protecting natural ecosystems.
• Actionable advice on which education and training programmes and policy measures promote acquisition of those competences in a lifelong perspective, including the gender and disability dimensions.
• Guidance for policymakers on the interconnection between competences for the green transition and those for the digital transition.

Scope: Pick One of Five Sectors

The call is explicit that the green transition covers a wide, diverse set of activities with no single set of generic competences: skills vary strongly by sector. Citing Cedefop, it notes that among high climate impact sectors, demand for green skills is highest in energy.

Proposals must therefore focus on one of the following:

1. Sustainable agriculture and food production
2. Automotive industry
3. Energy
4. Construction
5. Nature and climate adaptation

Research Questions

Proposals should use quantitative and qualitative methods, including from SSH disciplines, and apply a lifelong perspective to questions including:

• Which competences are most relevant for actively contributing to the green transition in the chosen sector?
• Which assessment methods and frameworks are most effective in measuring readiness for green jobs and sustainable innovation?
• What role do digital skills and technological literacy play, and how can education and training systems exploit synergies between green and digital competences?
• How can policymakers, education and training institutions, and employers collaborate to identify and address skills shortages that may hinder the green transition?
• How can vocational education and training become more accessible and flexible in responding to evolving labour market needs?
• How can women and persons with disabilities benefit equally from the opportunities of the green transition?
• How does effective lifelong acquisition of green competences actually occur?
• How can inclusive systems improve career advice and support good decisions by all learners?
• What works to get disadvantaged children onto pathways leading to upward mobility, including those not in education, employment or training, and at what age are interventions most effective?
• How can policymakers best build collaborations with industry to increase training opportunities and reduce barriers for people from disadvantaged backgrounds?

Understanding attitudes, concerns, and behaviours matters as much as skills inventories: the call asks for better understanding of how young people and workers view climate change and climate action, biodiversity loss, pollution, circular economy, and sustainable growth. Skill transferability across occupations, and upskilling and reskilling of the current workforce, are treated as central.

Frameworks and Synergies

The topic references GreenComp, the European sustainability competence framework, and the Union of Skills. Proposals should explore synergies with the New European Bauhaus Facility, notably the NEB Academy on skills for sustainable construction, and the European Partnership on Social Transformations and Resilience. Clustering with other selected projects and with results from the Horizon 2020 European Green Deal Call is strongly encouraged.

Gender and disability dimensions should be considered throughout the analysis.

Eligibility and Consortium Requirements

Standard Horizon Europe eligibility applies (General Annex B): at least one independent legal entity established in an EU Member State, plus at least two further independent entities from different Member States or Associated Countries. Costs take the form of a lump sum.

Where to Apply

Proposals are submitted through the EU Funding & Tenders Portal. Check the official topic page and the Cluster 2 work programme for authoritative conditions.

Related Calls in This Destination

Also closing 23 September 2026 under Innovative Research on Social and Economic Transformations:

• HORIZON-CL2-2026-01-TRANSFO-10 — SSH-STEM cooperation
• See all HORIZON-CL2-2026-01 calls

Building a Proposal for This Topic?

We partner in Horizon Europe consortia on the software, data, and adoption layer. Sector 5 — nature and climate adaptation — is where we work day to day: data foundations and models for deciding what to adapt and in what order. See climate risk assessment, climate risk assessment software, and climate risk data quality. The assessment-methods and green–digital strands in this topic are the closest fit.

Read more about how we work in Horizon consortia, or browse our wider projects and research.