The Creative Innovation Lab call supports the design, development, and replication of innovative tools, models or solutions that are applicable to the audiovisual and cultural and creative sectors.

Deadline: 24th April 2025, 4pm Irish time

What is the purpose of the funding?

Encourage cooperation between the audiovisual sector and other CCSs in order to accompany their environmental transition or to improve their competitiveness or the circulation, visibility, discoverability, availability, diversity and the audience of European content across borders. Enable the European audiovisual sector and other CCSs to better adapt to the opportunities offered by the development of Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Worlds. Improve the competitiveness of the European audiovisual and other cultural and creative sectors: transparency, data collection and the appropriate use of artificial intelligence/big data, adaptation to the challenges and opportunities driven by the ongoing changes in those sectors; Improve the adaptation of the European audiovisual and other cultural and creative sectors to the opportunities offered by the development of virtual worlds. Improve the production/financing and circulation of European audiovisual and cultural content in the digital age; Increase the visibility, discoverability, availability and diversity of European audiovisual and cultural content in the digital age; Increase the potential audience of European audiovisual and cultural content in the digital age. Accelerate the environmental transition of the European audiovisual, cultural and other creative sectors, in line with the priorities of the European Green Deal and the New European Bauhaus. Applicants are strongly advised to check the relevance of eligibility of their proposed project with their local Creative Europe Desk before submitting a proposal. Read the Creative Innovation Lab call document to check eligibility and requirements.

Who can apply?

In order to be eligible, the applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities)must:− be legal entities (public or private bodies)− be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e.:− Creative Europe Participating Countries:− EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories (OCTs))− non-EU countries: listed EEA countries and countries associated to the Creative Europe Programme (list of participating countries). Applications by single applicants are allowed (single beneficiaries; affiliated entities are allowed, if needed), as well as proposals submitted by a consortium of at least two applicants (beneficiaries; not affiliated entities). Read the Creative Innovation Lab call document to check eligibility and requirements.

What will be funded?

Projects must focus on one (or several) of the below topics

Virtual Worlds as a new environment for the promotion of European content, audience renewal and competitiveness of European content industries; Innovative Business Tools for production, financing, distribution or promotion enabled or enhanced by new technology such as AI, big data, blockchain, Virtual Worlds, NFT. Rights’ management and monetisation (including innovative bundled subscription offers to access diverse European cultural content from various existing European platforms), at the same time ensuring transparency and fair remuneration for creators and artists; Data collection and analysis, with particular emphasis on prediction for content creation and audience development (including innovative cross-sectoral tools to improve the quality of the subscriber service and a better valorisation of European content offered by European online platforms); Greener practices in order to lower the impact on the environment of the audiovisual and other cultural sectors in line with the Commission’s Green Deal and the New Bauhaus initiative. Cross-sectoral cooperation between the audiovisual and other cultural and creative sectors is at the heart of the Call. Therefore, applications must clearly demonstrate the extent of the cross-sectoral approach, the conditions for its implementation and the expected benefits for the sectors covered. A wide spectrum of organisations will be invited to participate, including private and public entities, tech companies and start-ups, audiovisual, cultural and creative organisations. The participation of business incubators and accelerators shall be encouraged, to provide space and time for creative ideas to be shaped. Content development and/or production costs can only be supported if they are clearly linked to the development of innovative tools or models proposed by the project. They must be proportionate and limited. Financial support to third parties is allowed for grants.

How much can you apply for?

Project budget (maximum grant amount): No limit. The grant will be a budget-based (actual costs, with unit cost and flat-rate elements). This means that it will reimburse ONLY certain types of costs (eligible costs) and costs that were actually incurred for your project (NOT the budgeted costs). The costs will be reimbursed at the funding rate fixed in the Grant Agreement (70%). Grants may NOT produce a profit (i.e. surplus of revenues + EU grant over costs). For-profit organisations must declare their revenues and, if there is a profit it it will be deducted from the final grant amount. Read the Creative Innovation Lab call document for details.

How to apply

Read the Creative Innovation Lab call document to check eligibility and requirements. Applications for all Creative Europe calls will be processed through the European Commission’s Funding & Tender Opportunities Portal (F&TP). Please ensure that you follow the guidelines on the funding and tenders portal when making your funding applications. Detailed information on how to access the F&T Portal. Further information on how to apply. The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by Creative Europe Desk Ireland and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk. You can read our full Disclaimer here.