UPSTREAM Open Call 2 – Prevention & Zero-Waste: Up to €70,000 for public authorities tackling river plastic pollution
Regional and local public authorities in eligible European regions can apply for lump-sum grants of up to €70,000 to design and trial prevention and zero-waste measures that stop plastic and microplastic pollution before it reaches rivers and seas, as part of UPSTREAM’s €140,000 second cascade funding call.
About UPSTREAM
UPSTREAM is working to restore water quality along seven European rivers that flow through several major capitals and into five sea basins. The project deploys and tests a suite of 15 solutions covering five intervention areas across five demonstration sites in different European ecosystems. These 5 Main Pillars are: monitoring, prevention, elimination at wastewater treatment plants, elimination directly from rivers, and valorisation of the plastics that are captured.
Its consortium brings together 22 partners from 11 countries, combining top research and technology organisations, industrial partners, and organisations focused on digital knowledge-sharing and citizen engagement
About UPSTREAM OC#2 PREVENTION AND ZERO-WASTE
This is the second of UPSTREAM’s two Financial Support to Third Parties calls, aimed at extending the project’s impact to regions outside its own consortium. Its objective is to enable these regions to design and trial circular and zero-waste measures that prevent plastic from leaking into rivers and seas in the first place, replicating and localising UPSTREAM’s prevention approach rather than the removal or monitoring technologies that are the focus of Open Call 1. Applicants can propose projects (8 months duration) across seven eligible activity areas:
- Monitoring and digitalisation of plastics and microplastics in rivers and tributaries
- Prevention and zero-waste measures, such as substitution with bio-based or biodegradable alternatives and other upstream interventions
- Removal, collection and recovery of litter, plastics and microplastics in freshwater systems
- Recycling and valorisation pilots for captured plastics, including pre-treatments that enable recycling
- Nature-based solutions and restoration in riparian and urban water systems
- Citizen science and co-creation, such as living labs and behaviour-change campaigns that directly support the above
- Open data and knowledge-sharing with UPSTREAM’s platforms
Why apply to UPSTREAM OC#2 PREVENTION AND ZERO-WASTE
UPSTREAM is putting €140,000 total behind this call, distributed as lump-sum grants of up to €70,000 per project, with 2–3 projects expected to be funded. Grants are paid in three tranches: 40% on signature of the Grant Agreement, 40% after mid-term deliverables, and 20% on final acceptance.
Beyond the money, beneficiaries will gain technical assistance from the UPSTREAM consortium to replicate, scale and localise its prevention solutions, plus access to the project’s open-data platforms.
Who can apply?
Applicants must be a regional or local public authority, or a body directly representing one, based in an eligible associated region within the EU or an Associated Country applying as a single entity (consortia aren’t eligible). Only one application per authority is allowed, while unsuccessful applicants from Call 1 can resubmit for this second call, but not from the regions already funded.
In terms of regions, priority is indicatively given to regions with high plastic leakage to rivers and seas, such as parts of the Balkans, the Mediterranean and North African river basins. Additionally, a geographical diversity rule applies the whole programme (only one award per region).
Applicants from the following regions aren’t eligible:
- The 11 UPSTREAM beneficiary countries (Spain, Belgium, Slovenia, Portugal, Serbia, Greece, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Italy and the UK).
- Regions already funded under the sister project INSPIRE through FSTP calls (Cork City Council in Ireland, the Municipality of Stari Grad Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina, İstanbul Boğazı Belediyeler Birliği, Khotyn City Council in Ukraine, and Opština Jezero in Bosnia and Herzegovina).
- Regions already funded under UPSTREAM’s own Open Call 1 (Turkey’s West Marmara/Tekirdağ sub-region and Mediterranean/Antalya sub-region, and Cyprus’s Nicosia District).
How to apply to UPSTREAM OC#2 PREVENTION AND ZERO-WASTE
Applications must be submitted by email to opencall@upstream-project.eu, in English and in PDF format, with the subject line naming the call. A complete submission requires the OC2 Application Form (Annex A), the OC2 Declaration of Honour (Annex D), and proof of legal status; guidelines for completing the application form are published separately on the project website.
Important dates
- Applications open: June 16, 2026, 12:00 CET
- Application deadline: August 17, 2026, 17:00 CET
Proposal requirements
Funded projects are expected to deliver three milestones:
- Kick-off package covering the work plan, risk and ethics checklist, data plan and communications plan at month one.
- Mid-term update evidencing activities and preliminary results at the project’s midpoint
- Final pack covering the technical report, datasets, photos and videos, a replication and exploitation plan, and communication assets in the project’s final month.
Projects select their own KPIs from an illustrative list that includes capture efficiency, tonnes or items of litter collected, microplastic concentration trends, number of citizens engaged, policy changes enacted, percentage of bio-based substitutions achieved, valorisation outputs, and open datasets published.
Evaluation and selection process
Applications go through five stages: an admissibility and eligibility screening, remote evaluation by three internal consortium experts, an internal consensus meeting to produce the final ranking and funding cut-off, ethics and risk checks, and finally award and grant preparation.
Proposals are scored out of 100 points across four equally-weighted criteria (25 points each): concept & innovation; team capacity & excellence; alignment & work plan; and impact & European dimension
To be funded, a proposal needs a minimum overall score of 60/100, with at least 12/25 on each individual criterion. Ties are broken first by the Impact score, then by the Concept score, and finally by geographic balance.
Additional support beyond funding
Beyond the lump-sum grant itself, beneficiaries get technical assistance from the UPSTREAM consortium to help replicate, scale and localise its prevention and zero-waste solutions in your own region. Projects are expected to publish non-sensitive results on UPSTREAM’s open-data platforms and Portal, giving visibility within the project’s wider knowledge-sharing network, and awardees will need to use Mission Ocean, EU and UPSTREAM branding and provide consented media assets, tying their work into the project’s broader communication effort.
Final thoughts on UPSTREAM OC#2 PREVENTION AND ZERO-WASTE
Open Call 2 is a compact but well-defined opportunity for regional or local authority, particularly in Balkan, Mediterranean or North African river basins, looking to move from plastic clean-up toward genuine prevention. It suits authorities able to run a focused, evidence-generating pilot within a tight 8-month window and a fixed €70,000 budget, rather than those looking to fund large-scale infrastructure.
Because subcontracting is permitted (recommended below 30% of the budget), it’s also realistic if beneficiaries need to bring in specialised technical partners without holding all the expertise in-house. With only 2–3 grants available across the whole eligible territory, competition will be tight, so strong alignment with the eligible activities list and a credible, well-verified work plan will matter as much as ambition.
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