The Europe Challenge 2025/26: Libraries, Communities, and Democracy

The Europe Challenge is an annual programme that brings together teams from libraries and communities across Europe to address pressing social, digital, and climate challenges. Libraries are invited to develop, share, and implement creative solutions with support from the European Cultural Foundation and its partners through an open call. 

The 2025/26 edition of The Europe Challenge has been launched and is calling on all libraries and community leaders in Europe to help tackle today's most pressing social, digital, and climate challenges through collaboration across European borders. 

The programme offers participating libraries and community groups the following opportunities:

• Funding of up to EUR 10,000 to implement a proposed project (optional).
• A series of online and in-person workshops and mentoring sessions.
• Additional peer-to-peer exchange opportunities, networking, and travel.

Priority on Europe's key transitions: social, digital green

The Europe Challenge 2025/26 is seeking initiatives that address one or more of Europe’s key transitions: social, digital, and green. 

• Social: Initiatives that strengthen social inclusion, equality, active citizenship, and community wellbeing. This includes initiatives that support vulnerable or underrepresented groups, address low voter turnout, promote civic engagement and democratic participation, tackle issues such as inequality and polarisation, or focus on issues such as social isolation, mental health challenges, declining literacy skills and reading habits, or intergenerational divides.
• Digital: Initiatives that enhance European digital citizenship by promoting tactics, skills, and behaviors that enable individuals to engage with digital content critically and democratically. These initiatives should foster more meaningful interaction and proactive democratic engagement in the digital
  space. This includes efforts to combat misinformation and disinformation, bridge digital divides, and encourage safe and responsible use of technology and social media. We are especially interested in initiatives that foster digital literacy among young people, tackle issues like fake news, and address challenges arising from rapid AI developments.
• Green: Initiatives that promote environmental sustainability, climate awareness, and resilience within libraries and communities. This includes initiatives focused on environmental education, sustainable practices, and community-led climate action. We particularly welcome creative green/climate projects implemented on the ground, from community gardens to installing beehives around library spaces.

Timeline

• Application deadline: May 29, 2025 at 12.00 CEST
• Selection of results: 3 July 2025 onwards
• Project implementation: September 2025 - September 2026. 

Eligibility and call specifics 

More details on the call, the timeline, and eligibility criteria can be found in the Open Call Document.