Harness the power of the arts
The topic examines how artistic research and practice can address complex challenges and create new routes to innovation.
HORIZON EUROPE · CLUSTER 2 · ARTISTIC INTELLIGENCE
EURAN BRIDGES — ARTISTIC INTELLIGENCE
Code Name HCL2261
EURAN's proposal under HORIZON-CL2-2026-01-HERITAGE-01
Call closure date · 23 September 2026, 17:00 (CEST)
COUNTDOWN
EURAN is preparing a consortium proposal targeting this contribution range. The topic's total indicative budget is €15 million. The €4.5–5 million range is the Commission's estimate; proposals requesting other amounts are not excluded. Official work programme, pp. 77–80 →
01 · WHAT THE CALL WANTS
The opportunity in brief
Two focuses; EURAN develops Focus 2
Focus 1 concerns soft skills through creative practices. Focus 2 concerns artists working in interdisciplinary teams on emerging-technology pilots. EURAN is developing its proposal around Focus 2.
Evidence and transferable knowledge
Methods, evaluation tools and practical guidance should support wider use of art–science–technology collaboration, alongside stronger networks and opportunities for artists.
02 · WHAT EURAN PROPOSES
Artistic Intelligence as a cross-industry operating capability
EURAN proposes to investigate Artistic Intelligence as a structured capability for addressing complex challenges through art, design, emerging technologies and real-world environments. EURAN BRIDGES — HCL2261 builds on COS™, Constellation research, existing project concepts and defined pilot propositions.
Artists contribute substantively inside interdisciplinary research and innovation teams, working with researchers, technology specialists, industries, institutions and real users. EURAN's artistic and conceptual direction and the consortium's scientific expertise will shape the precise research questions, methodology, demonstrators, evaluation framework and scientific work packages.
The proposed research portfolio comprises at least three small-scale demonstrators in selected operational environments. It will test a coherent research architecture and examine which methods and results can transfer across contexts and industries.
EURAN organises its development around two complementary Universes: Commercial Projects and European Cooperation. Its projects lead; selected European programmes support their research, experimentation and development. The Horizon proposal gives a defined research scope to selected questions within this broader programme.
03 · WHY EURAN
Relevant foundations already exist
160+ original propositions
The Constellation body provides an unusually broad authored source of research questions, hypotheses, use cases and project concepts.
Explore Constellation →COS™ / cultural instruments
EURAN has developed proprietary conceptual instruments for examining cultural value, organisational environments and cross-industry activation.
Defined pilot concepts
Existing project and prototype work gives the consortium a starting landscape of concrete environments rather than a purely theoretical proposition.
Explore the project landscape →Cross-industry access
EURAN can help open pathways toward relevant artistic, cultural and industrial environments for research and demonstration.
Explore the industries →04 · RESEARCH ARCHITECTURE
What the Horizon project must establish
Artists as R&I actors
Artist contribution must be explicit in the research question, decisions, experimentation, outputs and evaluation.
Emerging-technology demonstrators
At least three small-scale demonstrators at a low technology readiness level (TRL) test defined hypotheses in real or credible operational environments.
Evidence & transfer
Methods, evaluation and results must explain what works, why it works and what can transfer to other contexts and industries.
05 · PRE-HORIZON COMMERCIAL OPERATIONS
MYS26 — Superyachting
EURAN is preparing four independent commercial pilot operations in Monaco for the Monaco Yacht Show period. Preparations and participation discussions are under way.
Monaco Yacht Show 2026 opens on 23 September, the same date as the Horizon submission deadline. Preparatory work and discussions completed before submission can inform the proposal; observations gathered during the show will become available during and after it.
01 · ACTIVATE
The Hour of Greece™
Distributed Greek maritime cultural activation across relevant MYS26 relationships and presences.
Open operation →
02 · ACTIVATE
Fashion as Art on Board a Superyacht
Fashion × art × superyacht proposition designed to open a long-term cross-industry relationship.
Open operation →
03 · INTELLIGENCE
Superyacht Art Collection Index™
Cultural-intelligence proposition supported by CCPI™ field observation and comparison with the MYS25 baseline.
Open CCPI / index evidence →
04 · RECOGNITION
Art & Superyachting Prize™
Independent recognition architecture developed from EURAN's Monaco Art & Superyachting work.
Open prize foundation →These Monaco activities are independently initiated and are not Horizon-funded demonstrators. The final Horizon demonstrators, consortium and work plan remain under development.
06 · THE CONSORTIUM
Defined capabilities — not symbolic association
The consortium is now being structured around the work: scientific leadership, artists and creative organisations, technology, pilot environments, social sciences and humanities, evaluation, governance and exploitation.
Scientific leadership / research organisation
A strong research organisation, including a university or research institute, able to lead scientific methodology, proposal architecture, ethics and evaluation. Scientific leadership and formal consortium coordination will be defined through agreement.
Artists and creative practitioners
Artists able to participate as research and innovation actors, with substantive roles in the questions, experimentation and knowledge produced.
Emerging-technology partners
Organisations capable of supplying appropriate technologies and technical expertise for the selected demonstrators.
Pilot hosts
Eligible organisations able to provide real environments in which artistic-intelligence methods can be tested and evaluated.
Impact / SSH expertise
Researchers able to address social, organisational, human-factor, policy and impact dimensions, including evaluation across pilot environments.
Governance and exploitation
Capabilities in consortium administration, financial planning, intellectual property, dissemination and the development of pathways for using research results.
International participation
Eligible organisations from all 27 EU Member States and the 23 associated countries and territories covered by the Commission's current list may participate under the applicable rules. These include Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Norway, Canada, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand; the association scope relevant to this topic is Horizon Europe's Pillar II.
Organisations from other countries may also participate under the applicable eligibility and funding rules. Participation and entitlement to EU funding are distinct questions, to be checked for each organisation and proposed role. Official participating-country list, 31 July 2026 →
07 · WHY THIS MATTERS
A concrete opportunity for participants
For research organisations, this is an opportunity to work with an unusually developed artistic proposition base and access real-world cultural and cross-industry environments.
For artists and technology partners, it offers a route into a European research and innovation framework where artistic practice is treated as a source of knowledge and innovation.
For industrial and institutional pilot hosts, participation offers the opportunity to investigate a defined operational question with artists, researchers and technology specialists, and assess its relevance to their own environment.
Artistic Intelligence moves artistic practice from the periphery of innovation into the interdisciplinary processes through which new knowledge, environments and possibilities are created.
08 · PARTICIPATION
EURAN BRIDGES — HCL2261 is now being structured
EURAN welcomes expressions of interest from organisations able to contribute to the proposed research or its independent commercial operations.
- Express your interest Email EURAN with “Interested, send us details”. You may indicate your organisation, country, relevant expertise and the project or role that interests you.
- Discuss relevance, eligibility and role We will discuss the contribution, operational fit, available capabilities and participation conditions.
- Form the appropriate team EURAN will select collaborations for the quality of their contribution, strategic relevance and coherence with the project programme.
Expression of interest does not constitute partnership. No organisation is presented as a partner until eligibility, role and participation have been discussed and formally agreed.
management@euran.com · Alexandre Mimoglou · EURAN European Art Networks · Paris, France