LIFE 2026 Calls: Advancing Blue Literacy & Circular Futures

LIFE 2026 Calls: Advancing Blue Literacy & Circular Futures in Europe’s Water Territories. The European Commission has launched the LIFE 2026 Calls for Proposals, unlocking €601.5 million to support projects driving Europe’s green transition and long-term competitiveness. For organizations like BalticLivingLab.org, this is more than funding — it is a strategic opportunity to embed blue literacy and circular thinking into the heart of Europe’s environmental transformation.

Why This Matters for Blue Literacy

Since joining the EU Mission Ocean support network as the SHORE project's resource center for the Baltic Region, we have made it our mission to promote Blue literacy (as opposed to "Ocean" Literacy) as an understanding of the interconnected systems of rivers, coasts, seas, and communities — and translating that awareness into action. The LIFE program creates space for projects that can reconnect citizens with aquatic ecosystems, integrate science, culture, and local knowledge into programming, and transform water from a resource into a shared responsibility and identity. In regions like the Baltic Sea basin, this is critical; Addressing this challenge requires integrated, place-based solutions at scale, and it is within this context that strategic European funding plays a decisive role.

Circularity Meets the Blue Economy - in this context, circularity in water territories means:

• reducing pollution at source

• rethinking material flows across watersheds

• designing regenerative systems that respect ecological limits

LIFE 2026 supports projects that move from linear exploitation → circular regeneration, particularly in coastal and inland water systems.

Four LIFE Priority Areas — A Blue Perspective

1. Nature & Biodiversity - Protecting marine and freshwater ecosystems while restoring the living networks that sustain them

2. Circular Economy & Quality of Life - Innovating circular solutions for water use, waste, and materials that directly impact coastal and riverine communities.

3. Climate Mitigation & Adaptation - Addressing sea-level rise, flooding, and ecosystem degradation through nature-based and community-driven solutions.

4. Clean Energy Transition - Exploring renewable energy solutions that are compatible with marine ecosystems and coastal resilience.

The calls are open to public bodies, municipalities, school ecosystems, and regional authorities, NGOs, businesses (SMEs, startups, blue economy innovators), universities and research centers, and public-private partnerships. In practice: actors working to connect water, communities, and circular systems. Projects can be submitted individually or in partnerships, as long as participants are legal entities based in the EU or associated countries. Baltic Living Lab will be actively pursuing opportunities under the LIFE calls; those wanting to join our applicant consortia, send us a note to info@balticlivinglab.org.

From Innovation to Demonstration

LIFE is designed for real-world impact. It prioritises projects that test solutions in real environments, demonstrate scalability, and create models that can be replicated across Europe - aligning perfectly with the Baltic Living Lab core mission:

Turning knowledge into practice through experimentation within living lab environments

Join the next wave of consortia as we bring together expertise in blue literacy, circular economy, and territorial innovation. Key Deadlines:

• 16 September 2026 → Clean Energy Transition

• 22 September 2026 → Environment, Circular Economy, Nature & Climate (SAPs)

Catch up on the LIFE Info Days here:

https://vo-europe.swoogo.com/eu-life-info-days-2026/

Europe’s future is inseparable from its waters. By investing in blue literacy and circular systems, LIFE 2026 offers a pathway to transform how we understand, use, and care for our aquatic environments. The question is no longer whether we act—but how collaboratively and how systemically we do so.

Let’s shape that future—together!