What to expect from LIFE in 2025

The European Union’s flagship initiative for funding projects to improve the environmental and climate, the LIFE programme, turns 33 this year. That is a third of a century of supporting innovative and ground-breaking work to make Europe a cleaner, greener and more sustainable place. 

Here are a few notable events in the LIFE calendar for the year: 

LIFE Calls for proposals 2025 

The next round LIFE Calls for proposals will go out on the Funding & tender opportunities portal in April 2025. CINEA will hold virtual information sessions to guide potential applications through the process. You can see previous recordings on the LIFE YouTube channel. The results of the LIFE Call for proposals 2023 STRAT projects will be announced in February and those of the 2024 calls will be announced later this year.  

LIFE Awards 2025 

The most successful LIFE projects will be recognised at the 19th edition of the LIFE Awards. Prizes will be awarded in three categories: nature, circular economy and quality of life, climate action and LIFE citizens’ prize. Last year saw awards go to projects that restored river floodplains, used food waste to create an animal feed made from insects and attempted to tackle the urban heat island effect with trees. The award ceremony takes place during EU Green Week, Europe’s largest environmental event.  

The EU Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy 

This major European initiative brings together thousands of local governments from across Europe to help support actions on climate and energy. By joining the initiative, local authorities voluntarily commit to implementing EU climate and energy objectives. Many LIFE projects work as partners with cities participating in the Covenant of Mayors initiative. In 2025, the EU Covenant of Mayors’ Award is tied to the Cities Heat Detox campaign and will give cities the chance to highlight projects aiming at decarbonising the heating and cooling sector. The winners will be announced in March 2025. 

European Sustainable Energy Week 

One of the most important events for European renewables and energy efficiency, the European Sustainable Energy Week, will take place on 10-12 June. Consisting of a high-level Policy Conference, the EUSEW Awards, the European Youth Energy Day and the Energy Fair, it is an opportunity to discuss the latest policies, innovations and ideas to transform the future of energy in Europe. Applications are already open for those planning to hold a policy session, host a stand at the Energy Fair, or compete in the EUSEW Awards. You can get more information here.  

LIFE at events   

There will be several important events happening across Europe in 2025 where LIFE will feature. These will include a LIFE Platform Meeting on plastic waste prevention and reuse systems between 10-12 February 2025 in Brussels and Mechelen, Belgium. Hosted by the LIFE-IP project C-MARTLIFE, several key LIFE projects and other stakeholders will participate to focus on innovative solutions to the problem of plastic waste. Another LIFE Platform Meeting on forest restoration will be held in Brasov, Romania, from 3-5 June. LIFE projects are also expected to join more than 800 exhibitors and 20,000 experts at the Aquatech expo in Amsterdam on 11-14 March, where the focus will be on drinking water and wastewater. The POLLUTEC 2025 meeting in Lyon between 7-10 October will aim to build on the success of POLLUTEC 2024, where LIFE projects from all over Europe highlighted their contributions to the European Green Deal and their solutions to environmental challenges.  

Keep in touch!     

Don’t forget to stay up-to-date with all LIFE news on LIFE’s X (Twitter), LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram pages, or sign up for our monthly LIFE Newsletter.