Calls & funding

EIT Water SKILLS BOOSTER Pilot Delivered in partnership with the Poul Due Jensen Foundation

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EIT Water's SKILLS BOOSTER pilot is bringing together universities, research networks and training organisations across six European countries to future-proof the water, marine and maritime sectors through targeted education and skills development.

These pilot projects aim to develop the skills, mindsets and interdisciplinary capabilities needed for the challenges and opportunities ahead. By fostering entrepreneurial thinking and cross-sector collaboration among students and professionals, these initiatives will help build a stronger, more resilient talent pipeline for the water, marine and maritime ecosystem.

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Participation is FREE. Register your interest to receive more information about the SKILLS BOOSTER entrepreneurial education activities and the application process.

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Who is it for?

These SKILLS BOOSTER activities are open to students, early-career scientists, young professionals and mid-career professionals looking to develop new skills and entrepreneurial capabilities in the water, marine and maritime sectors. Whether you're looking to strengthen your technical expertise, build entrepreneurial skills or explore new career pathways in the blue economy, there's a programme for you.

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Where and when?

Six regional SKILLS BOOSTER programmes will take place across Europe between August and November 2026:

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Aarhus, Denmark | 9 August - 30 November 2026 "Water Innovation Challenge and Entrepreneurial Accelerator" - Hosted by Water Valley Denmark

Building on their Advanced Water Cycle Management course, this SKILLSBOOSTER invites participants to develop their own ideas or work in interdisciplinary teams on water-related challenges. Activities include entrepreneurship workshops, innovation sessions, pitch training and presentations from SMEs, utilities, universities and global water companies. The winning team or individual will receive three mentoring sessions through Water Valley Denmark's mentor network to support further development of their idea, career pathway or innovation project. Register your interest with Jackie Van Tran Foged (jvt@wvdk.com)

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Leeds, England | 1 September - 30 November 2026 Hosted by University of Leeds

Built on an understanding that UK municipalities must develop new income streams while NGOs and private firms aim to export tools, techniques and products to maximise impact across Europe, this SKILLS BOOSTER adds modules and sessions to enhance the existing BlueGreen infrastructure programme with entrepreneurial thinking, identifying entrepreneurial opportunities, businessmodels and venture growth, and water export opportunities to scale water solutions across Europe and develop new revenue streams.

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Berlin, Germany | 16 September - 16 October 2026 "NatureRestoration Academy" - Hosted by SUBMARINER Network for Blue Growth

Building on an existing MOOC, this SKILLS BOOSTER amplifies the offer through new elements including a restoration module and a synchronous cohort of 15-30 participants building entrepreneurial, restoration-planning and decision-support skills. An introductory online session gives the cohort a shared baseline from existing course content, followed by a two-day event in Berlin delivering partner lectures (University of Tartu, FuE-Zentrum FH Kiel, BRYCK, Warsaw University of Life Science), restoration case studies (BLUECONNECT) and the MPA Game, a multi-stakeholder negotiation simulation.

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Budapest, Hungary | 1-5 October 2026 "Click Blue" - Hosted by MAHART Container Center

Click Blue links traditional water engineering education with river heritage through a 40-participant workshop lab that helps early-career scientists and young professionals apply their knowledge in the blue economy through stakeholder involvement, communication, value proposition thinking and pitching. Participants will learn to develop innovative solutions balancing ecological limits with social and economic needs, using ports and hydropower plants as intervention points for pollution prevention, extraction and circular solutions.

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Vigo, Spain | 1-31 October 2026 "BluePortRestoration" - Hosted by University of Vigo

This programme expands the existing educational offer of Campus do Mar and the Port of Vigo through a specialised programme focused on aquatic ecosystem restoration in port environments. Building on established expertise in marine science, environmental management and blue economy training, this SKILLS BOOSTER provides an integrated approach covering ecosystem characterisation, pollution assessment, impact analysis, Nature-Based Solutions, environmental governance and sustainable port management, using the Port of Vigo as a living lab with results targeting impact across European ports and coastal areas.

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Ukraine | 1-30 October 2026 "Boost Resilience Towards Climate-Related Extremes and External Threats (Booster4Resilience)" -Hosted by National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine

This SKILLS BOOSTER expands an existing programme into an interactive experience addressing the challenge of increasing resilience to climate extremes and external infrastructure threats. Areas include water scarcity, a digital focus through MARINA models and RStudio to simulate pollutant transport, an entrepreneurial track covering green taxation and corporate financial metrics, and tailor-made project development for shell-resistant infrastructure using transdisciplinary tools. Learn more.

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How to get involved

Participation is FREE. Register your interest to receive more information about the SKILLS BOOSTER entrepreneurial education activities and the application process. Based on your location or area of activity, we will connect you with the most relevant regional programme.

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Bridge4Water is launched as a 2026 pilot programme aligned with the EIT Water to help shape the future of collaborative water innovation in Europe. This new platform is designed to connect and accelerate water research through Open Innovation in Science (OIS). The first call for projects (2026) will focus on water efficiency and circularity in urban built environments and industry.

EIT Water WAVEMAKER Pilot Delivered in partnership with the PoulDue Jensen Foundation

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EIT Water's WAVEMAKER pilot is designed to identify and support high-potential start-ups and spin-outs across the water, marine and maritime sectors through eight regional business creation competitions across Europe. As part of EIT Water's Business Creation Mechanism, the WAVEMAKER Awards help accelerate early-stage ventures from idea to market. Participants will receive pitch training and engage in sparring sessions with relevant experts to help refine their business models, strengthen their value propositions, validate market opportunities and enhance their investment-readiness, preparing them to successfully commercialise their innovations and scale their ventures.

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The first-place winner at each of the eight regional events will earn a place in the final competition, where they will pitch for top honours at the EIT Water launch event in Málaga on 15 October.

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Participation is FREE. Register your interest to receive more information about the WAVEMAKER Business Creation Awards and the application process.

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Who is it for?

These WAVEMAKER Awards are open to early-stage start-ups, spin-outs and student-led ventures working on innovative solutions in the water, marine and maritime sectors. Whether you're developing a technology, refining a business model or looking for your first investor conversation, these events are designed to help you take the next step.

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Where and when?

Eight regional WAVEMAKER Awards will take place across Europe in September and October 2026:

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Oxford, United Kingdom | 4-8 September 2026 Hosted by Oxentia Ltd.

Shortlisted applicants will receive tailored support to refine their ideas before and during the event, including one-to-one diagnostics using Oxentia's commercial readiness framework, followed by targeted group masterclasses on topics such as IP, sustainable business models and pitching involving external experts. Finalists will receive two additional one-to-one sessions to strengthen technical and commercial readiness and rehearse pitches, generating lessons and networks that can support future initiatives.

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Thessaloniki, Greece | 1-5 September 2026 Hosted by Region of Central Macedonia

This WAVEMAKER event focuses explicitly on increasing resilience to climate-related extreme events including intensifying droughts, flash flooding and degraded water infrastructure across regional river basins. With breakout sessions led by relevant experts in smart water monitoring, early flood warning systems and drought-resilient agricultural water management, the event will catalyse downstream innovation with strong short-term commercialisation potential and long-term systemic impact across Southeastern Europe.

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Madrid, Spain | 10 September 2026 Hosted by Institute of Agri-Food Research and Technology (IRTA)

Focused on strengthening climate resilience in Mediterranean regions and supporting market-ready solutions across water, agri-food, aquaculture and the blue economy, this WAVEMAKER event will de-risk and accelerate early-stage ventures by connecting student-led ventures, spin-outs and start-ups with IRTA's scientific expertise, end-user network, validation capacity and business creation system. Each participant or team will work on concrete business creation outputs highlighting pilot-readiness needs and steps towards funding or partnership opportunities. Register here

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Ostend, Belgium | 14-18 September 2026 Hosted by Blue Cluster

Blue Cluster will leverage their regional positioning as home to three of Europe's five largest ports and nearly half of the continent's port engineering organisations, giving participants increased visibility and first-hand exposure to these world-leading ports. This WAVEMAKER event connects leading port authorities with start-ups and SMEs, activating a broad network to accelerate scaling opportunities. Register here

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Sibenik, Croatia | 15 September 2026 Hosted by Digital Innovation Hub Innovamare

Innovamare will deliver a curated business creation process to address a key gap in the Adriatic-Ionian region, targeting ventures active in areas such as marine monitoring, smart maritime operations, coastal and water resilience technologies, marine robotics, environmental intelligence, circular blue economy and related water, marine and maritime domains. By providing mentorship, investor access, pilot opportunities and cross-border networks, the event will help early-stage ventures strengthen market readiness, scale their solutions and drive long-term innovation throughout the region. Register here

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Coimbra, Portugal | 16-17 September 2026 Hosted by University of Coimbra

By developing, mentoring and showcasing high-potential water-related spin-outs and start-ups, this WAVEMAKER event strengthens the innovation network of its participants and will build the entrepreneurial and investment ecosystem capable of delivering sustainable impact. Using mentoring and sparring, the event provides early-stage ventures which possess strong technological potential with the structured opportunities to refine their business models, test their value propositions, gain exposure to investors and end users, and access high-level expert feedback.

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Berlin, Germany | 16-30 September 2026 Hosted by SUBMARINER Network for Blue Growth

SUBMARINER will hold a major Blue Economy event supporting the development of start-ups focused on marine ecosystem restoration, marine protected areas, blue carbon, nature-based tourism and sustainable ocean management solutions, directly contributing to goals on ecosystem health and climate resilience. By addressing the chronic underfunding of European marine protected areas and linking innovation to the EU 30x30 biodiversity targets, the event will help develop scalable, investment-ready solutions with long-term market impact. This WAVEMAKER event will be aligned to the SPHERE project kick-off to maximise visibility, impact and networking potential for participants. Register here

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Klaipeda, Lithuania | 17 September 2026 Hosted by DEEP Ecosystems

This WAVEMAKER event will leverage the innovation ecosystem of Klaipeda FEZ, home to more than 100 companies and connected to Klaipeda University, the Klaipeda Science and Technology Park, the Port of Klaipeda and regional innovation stakeholders. This will provide direct access to industrial companies, researchers, investment potential and technology adopters active in industrial decarbonisation, resource circularity, sustainable mobility and blue economy innovation. The event addresses a critical market gap for early-phase start-ups: access to real-world deployment environments where solutions can be validated beyond laboratory conditions. Register here

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The Final

The first-place winner from each regional event will compete at the WAVEMAKER Final at the EIT Water launch event in Málaga on 15 October 2026.

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How to get involved

Participation is FREE. Register your interest to receive more information about the WAVEMAKER Business Creation Awards and the application process. Based on your location or area of activity, we will connect you with the most relevant regional event.

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EIT Water HACKATHON Pilot Delivered in partnership with the Poul DueJensen Foundation

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EIT Water's HACKATHON pilot is bringing together students, researchers, entrepreneurs and professionals across eight European cities this autumn to co-create innovative solutions to some of the most pressing challenges facing the water, marine and maritime sectors.

Through fast-paced, collaborative events, participants will work across disciplines and borders to transform real-world challenges into early-stage Proofs of Concept with potential for further development, validation and business creation.

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Participation is FREE. Register your interest to receive more information about the HACKATHON solution challenges and the application process.

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Who is it for?

These HACKATHONS are open to motivated participants who want to co-create innovative solutions, collaborate with diverse stakeholders and contribute to the development of early-stage ideas across the water, marine and maritime sectors. Whether you're a student, a startup founder, a researcher or a working professional, there's an event for you.

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Where and when?

Eight regional HACKATHONS will take place acrossEurope between September and October 2026:

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Aarhus, Denmark | 17-19 September 2026 "Water from Space" - Hosted by Kitchen at Aarhus University

This HACKATHON is focused on improving resilience to water-related climate risks using data, Earth observation and digital tools.The event is organised around three tracks - Water Resilience, Water Systems and Environmental Monitoring - connecting climate adaptation, utility operations and environmental observation through water monitoring, protection of water environments and more efficient management of water systems. Winners will be presented with their award at the National Climate Summit in Lemvig, Denmark. Register here

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Sofia, Bulgaria | 23-25 October 2026 "Water-Driven Disasters in CEE: Prevention and Management" - Hosted by Mozaika Research Center

This HACKATHON will address how floods and droughts degrade water quality and ecosystems, exploring data-driven AI and Earth observation solutions to make water management smarter, and developing approaches to disaster prevention and response that improve the resilience of water and coastal sectors across Central and Eastern Europe.

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Munich, Germany | 28 September 2026 "Circular and Climate-Resilient Blue Economy for Central and Alpine Europe" - Hosted by DEEP Ecosystems

Targeting inland water challenges in Bavaria and neighbouring Central European regions, this HACKATHON focuses on droughts, floods, water quality and scarcity across utilities, cities, agriculture and inland waterways. The event takes place in a unique ecosystem-driven format embedded in the Bits & Pretzels Founders Festival. Register here

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Elblag, Poland | 1-15 October 2026 "PORThack Elbląg" - Hosted by SUBMARINER Network for Blue Growth

Ports concentrate multiple water challenges within a relatively small area, where dredging, runoff, bulk cargo and climate risks all meet. This HACKATHON will turn real port problems into early-stage water, marine and maritime solutions, covering circular reuse of contaminated dredged sediment in port expansion, dust capture at source in bulk cargo handling,runoff capture and treatment on port surfaces, and coordinated crisis response across a national port network.

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Zadar, Croatia | October 2026 Hosted by Digital Innovation Hub Innovamare

Participants will develop innovative concepts using AI, IoT sensors, GIS technologies, digital twins, robotics and data analytics, with solutions targeting the needs of water utilities, municipalities, environmental agencies and infrastructure operators. This HACKATHON is focused on supporting more efficient resource use, improved monitoring capabilities and accelerated adoption of innovative technologies within the water sector.

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Madrid, Spain | October 2026 Hosted by Institute of Agri-Food Research and Technology (IRTA)

With Mediterranean agri-food systems under increasing pressure from water scarcity, drought, heat, declining water quality and ecosystem degradation, this HACKATHON focuses on turning water stress on farms and in rural value chains into validation-ready Proofs of Concept for water efficiency, safe reuse and circular water flows. The event targets farmers, irrigation communities, cooperatives, agri-food SMEs and public authorities as end users.

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Toulon, France | 16-18 October 2026 OceanHackathon - Mediterranean Edition - Hosted by TVT Innovation

Part of the international Ocean Hackathon initiative of the Campus Mondial de la Mer, this edition focuses on the Mediterranean Sea as a climate and biodiversity hotspot. Teams will use open marine data to tackle the degradation of marine waters, addressing pollution and marine litter, eutrophication, loss of Posidonia seagrass and coastal water quality, and the shift to a circular, sustainable blue economy.

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Amsterdam, Netherlands | 26-31 October2026 "AI for Water" - Hosted by University of Amsterdam

This HACKATHON works across three tracks - urbancity water (catalysing swimmable cities), port circular industrial water (wastewater treatment, effluent reuse and circularity) and urban waters and PFAS (contamination and public health) - using AI and real-world datasets for innovative solution development with live challenge scenarios. At least three projects will be fast-tracked into the UvA Impact Challenge Incubator.

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How to get involved

Participation is FREE. Register your interest to receive more information about the HACKATHON solution challenges and the application process. Based on your location or area of activity, we will connect you with the most relevant regional event.