British Embassy Zagreb invites bids for Impact Fund 2025 to 2026
Source: gov.uk (2025-03-17)

British Embassy Zagreb invites organisations to submit proposals by 14 April 2025 for projects demonstrating impact in areas of strengthening inter-community relations in Southeast Europe.

The British Embassy in Zagreb is inviting organisations to submit project proposals for funding from our Impact Fund. As the name suggests, the purpose of the fund is to achieve impact, so we’re looking for projects that make a real difference in the highlighted priority areas. Project proposals which strengthen and nurture relationships between Croatian and UK people and organisations are particularly welcome.

Themes

This year, the call will focus on organisations, projects and activities, which link to the following thematic areas:

Regional stability and development: connecting and strengthening societies in Southeast Europe

Projects which promote harmonious and constructive relations between communities within Croatia, and between communities in Croatia and its neighbours, to enable stability, European integration and socio-economic advancement in the context of global and domestic challenges. We will prioritise projects in the following areas:
- strengthening inter-community understanding, tolerance and constructive cooperation, both domestically and cross-border within Southeast Europe
- defending against threats to inter-community relations in Southeast Europe, e.g. countering hate speech, historic distortion, and disinformation; supporting a healthy media landscape; and promoting factual, inclusive public discourse and narratives
- empowering women and girls, enhancing female civic participation and equality, contributing to prosperity and security in the region
Special emphasis should be placed on activities which generate change, with wider and lasting social impact.

Innovation for growth: building and nurturing UK-Croatia research & innovation, science, technology, and business partnerships.

Projects which nurture long-term research & innovation, science, technology, and business partnerships, with a special emphasis on fostering economic growth and UK-Croatia cooperation. We will prioritise projects in the following areas:
- establishing new partnerships between researchers, businesses and institutions in the UK and Croatia. In particular, large-scale UK-Croatia collaboration between researchers and organisations within Horizon Europe and other programmes (note: while we cannot directly fund research covered by these other programmes, but we can support establishing the research connections)
projects focused on policy and regulation, exchanging knowledge and best practice and other activities which promote and support research (this excludes direct funding) relating to AI, quantum technologies, high-performance computing, nuclear fusion, semiconductors, Health tech and engineering biology. Including values-based governance and regulation of new and emerging technologies, especially AI

building expertise on the commercialisation of innovation, connecting Croatian companies to venture capitals and tech ecosystems, and enabling the UK and Croatian business partnerships
- addressing barriers to market access between the UK and Croatia (e.g. policy, implementation of regulations)
Energy and climate: promoting green growth and energy transition

Projects which promote green and sustainable growth, support the transition to clean energy sources such as offshore wind, hydrogen and nuclear, and deeper UK-Croatia cooperation. Also, projects that tackle the climate crisis and mitigate its impacts, as well as tackling and reversing bio-diversity loss will be considered for funding. We will prioritise projects in the following areas:
- establishing UK-Croatia commercial and scientific partnerships in the development of net zero technologies, with focus on hydrogen and nuclear fission and fusion (e.g. joint initiatives, building partnerships within Horizon Europe, exchange programmes between the UK and Croatian institutions)
- establishing UK-Croatia commercial and scientific partnerships in energy efficiency and storage, emission reduction, and accelerating to achieving net zero
- establishing UK-Croatia commercial and scientific partnerships in tackling the climate crisis, mitigating its impacts by strengthening social, economic and ecological resilience, unlocking climate and nature finance
Activity bid guidance

The British Embassy will support projects with activities taking place between 20 June 2025 and 15 February 2026, with no expectation of continued funding beyond the stated period.

Maximum project budget limit: 11,500 Euros.

Project bids will be assessed against the following criteria:
- alignment with thematic priorities and likelihood of achieving a real-world impact
- outcomes that are achievable within the funding period and offer value for money
- activity design that includes clear evaluation procedures and measures of impact
- activity design that includes risk and financial accountability procedures
- that the organisation’s safeguarding policies ensure protection of beneficiaries, especially vulnerable individuals and children
Bidding process
- proposals must be submitted using the online application form (https://forms.office.com/e/qhrunBFCng).
- all proposals must be received by 12:00 pm on 14 April 2025. Late proposals will not be considered
- successful bidders will be notified by the end of May
Transparency and further questions

The British Embassy in Zagreb will organise an online question and answer session about the bidding process on Wednesday 26 March 2025 at 2pm (CET). You can join the live session using this link (https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_MDExZjJiMmQtYmYyMC00YzMzLTkzYTgtNzY2NmNlNTkwNDc0%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%22d3a2d0d3-7cc8-4f52-bbf9-85bd43d94279%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22ed4d6dd6-3547-4f0f-9405-203961e0082f%22%7d).

Additional information and documentation

All project implementers will be expected to sign a standard contract or grant agreement with the Embassy provided by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO).

The terms of the contract or agreement are not negotiable.

All projects are expected to have achieved 85% spend by end of December 2025. Proposed budgets must reflect this requirement.