Opinion: Horizon Europe, a revolution for innovation!

By Camino Correia, Zabala Innovation

“Change comes via evolution or revolution. When it comes to Horizon Europe, we at Zabala Innovation consider the changes to be revolutionary, given the number of important modifications that have been made.

“Indeed, we find it the European programme that has changed the most in its format and form, as it focuses in on research and development that will have the greatest impact on society.

“While previous programmes were focusing primarily on the challenge to be solved – the scope, and in a later stage, the impact – Horizon Europe prioritises the expected outcomes.

“Current proposals start with the results, then the outcomes, and then the impacts. The European Commission is expecting to see how proposals contribute to the improvement of science, economy, and social aspects, and all of this through the key impact pathways.

Strengthening the impact

“This is the main change; impact must be much more structured. In the impact section of the proposal, project impacts and the key impact pathways must be well defined, including the chronological order to be followed.

Exploitation is also strengthened: business cases, business models, or business plans, must be at the core of proposals, including the role of key actors. And clearly, dissemination and communication gain value, as both are considered essential for the project to be known by both internal and external groups.

“Lastly, I must mention the principle of “as open as possible and as closed as necessary“, which means that while collaboration is necessary, we must understand why we are collaborating and whether the partner with whom we are collaborating is the right one.

Zabala Innovation’s contribution

“Europe has been in Zabala Innovation’s DNA since the company was founded more than 35 years ago. Writing and managing European innovation projects are one of our core business activities. The European projects department is made up of more than 100 excellent consultants who have made a great effort to fully understand the changes involved in the programme.

“The latest results support our way of working. In 2021 Zabala submitted more than 60 proposals under Horizon Europe, and I am happy to share that, despite the enormous and increasing competition, we have achieved an impressive 50% success rate, meaning €70 million return for our clients; a continuation of the excellent results obtained in the previous framework programme, Horizon 2020.

“Zabala searches the best programme for each project and we have excellent success rates in other relevant European programmes such as LIFE, CEF, and the Innovation Fund, where we have tripled the overall approval rate and manage more than the 10% of the funded proposals in Europe.”

Camino Correia is European Programmes Director at Zabala Innovation.

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