Summary
- Profile Type
- Research & Development Request
- POD Reference
- RDRES20260320014
- Term of Validity
- 28 March 2026 - 28 March 2027
- Company's Country
- Spain
- Type of partnership
- Research and development cooperation agreement
- Targeted Countries
- Latvia
- Poland
- Bulgaria
- Lithuania
- Hungary
- France
- Estonia
General information
- Short Summary
- An Andalusian engineering company is preparing a proposal for call HORIZON-CL5-2026-10-D6-09. The project aims to enhance road safety and resilience in rural areas through data‑driven assessment, behavioural analysis, vehicle technologies and improved post‑crash response. A rural road authority is sought as demonstration partner and operational reference user.
- Full Description
-
An Andalusian engineering company is preparing a project addressing road safety and resilience in rural areas through an integrated approach inspired by the Safe System framework. The project recognises that safety in rural networks depends on the interaction of infrastructure, road users, vehicle technologies and the effectiveness of emergency response systems.
The project is structured around five innovation pillars:
- Infrastructure & environment assessment: development of advanced data‑driven methods and digital tools to assess rural road infrastructure safety and environmental risk factors, building on the Network‑Wide Road Safety Assessment (NRWSA) framework.
- Road users in rural contexts: analysis of rural user behaviour, risk exposure and targeted interventions supported by data analytics.
- Vehicles for rural conditions: exploration of vehicle technologies, intelligent safety systems and vehicle‑to‑infrastructure communication adapted to rural road characteristics.
- Post‑crash resilience & response optimisation: new solutions for accident detection, communication and emergency response coordination in rural territories.
- Road safety and resilience DSS: development of an integrated Decision Support System enabling authorities to identify risks, prioritise interventions and plan safer and more resilient rural road networks.
The project will progress towards TRL 6–7, with demonstrations in operational environments across different European regions. Rural road authorities participating as partners will validate tools and methodologies from functional, operational and impact perspectives.
Expected outcomes:
Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:
- Implementation of the NWRSA methodology for secondary rural roads;
- Innovative and effective enforcement strategies, incentive mechanisms and measures raising risk awareness for fostering safer behaviour;
- Prevention strategies for reducing road fatalities and serious road traffic injuries on rural roads along with the respective implementation guidelines and policy measures tailored to the responsible stakeholders (regional authorities, police, healthcare professionals, national governments, etc.);
- GIS-based application to assist local and regional authorities in identifying and mapping the impact of extreme weather phenomena and other natural disasters (such as floods, fires, storms, heavy snowfall etc.) on the safety and resilience of the road network in their jurisdiction.
Main Conditions and Characteristics:
HORIZON-CL5-2026-10-D6-09
Submission Deadline: 08 October 2026
EOI deadline: 17 April 2026
Type of Action: Innovation Action (IA)
Indicative budget: Expected contribution 6.00 M€ per project.
Technology Readiness Level (TRL): projects are expected to reach TRL6-7 by the end of the action.
Project duration: 42 months.
Type and role of the partner: rural road authority willing to participate as demonstration partner and operational reference user. - Advantages and Innovations
-
The proposed project introduces an innovative approach to improving road safety in rural areas by combining advanced digital technologies, data-driven analysis and the Safe System approach. It integrates infrastructure, road users, vehicles and emergency response into a unified framework, going beyond isolated interventions.
A key advantage lies in the development of advanced digital tools and analytics to assess rural roads infrastructure and environmental conditions, building on the Network-Wide Road Safety Assessment (NRWSA) methodology and incorporating new data sources and climate risk indicators. This allows identification of high-risk locations and supports proactive planning.
From an innovation perspective, the project uses AI-enabled analysis to understand road user behaviour, optimise vehicle–infrastructure interactions, and support effective, targeted safety interventions. It also advances post-crash detection and emergency response technologies, reducing response times and mitigating the impact of accidents in remote rural areas, while accounting for climate-related disruptions to ensure infrastructure and response systems remain reliable under extreme conditions.
Finally, all capabilities are integrated into an innovative Decision Support System (DSS) for road authorities, combining safety and resilience insights to enable data-driven planning, prioritisation, and operational decision-making across rural road networks. - Technical Specification or Expertise Sought
-
a rural road authority (at any level: national, regional, or local) responsible for planning, managing, and/or maintaining rural roads networks. The partner will act as an operational reference user and technology validator, providing real-world perspective and access to road safety data.
Key functions will include:
- Requirements definition: providing expert knowledge of rural road operations, infrastructure constraints, and safety priorities.
- Co-design and validation: collaborating with the project team to review workflows, tools, and interfaces for field applicability.
- Supporting demonstrations in actual rural environments.
- Providing data and insights to evaluate system performance, usability, and impact.
- Impact evaluation: contributing to the assessment of safety improvements, enhanced decision-making, and integration into existing operational procedures - Stage of Development
- Lab tested
- Sustainable Development Goals
- Goal 13: Climate Action
- Goal 10: Reduced Inequality
- Goal 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
- IPR status
- Secret know-how
Partner Sought
- Expected Role of a Partner
-
A rural road authority responsible for rural network management.
The partner will act as operational reference user, co‑designer and validator, contributing to demonstrations, data provision and impact evaluation. - Type and Size of Partner
- Other
- Type of partnership
- Research and development cooperation agreement
Call details
- Framework program
- Horizon Europe
- Call title and identifier
-
HORIZON-CL5-2026-10-D6-09 Road Safety and resilience of rural areas
- Submission and evaluation scheme
-
Single-stage submission
- Anticipated project budget
-
EUR 6 million
- Coordinator required
-
No
- Deadline for EoI
- Deadline of the call
- Project duration in weeks
-
168
- Web link to the call
- https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders
- Project title and acronym
-
Road Safety and resilience of rural areas
- Horizon Europe
Dissemination
- Technology keywords
- 01003016 - Simulation
- 01004003 - Applications for Transport and Logistics
- 01004016 - Analysis Risk Management
- 01003025 - Internet of Things
- 01003008 - Data Processing / Data Interchange, Middleware
- Market keywords
- 09001007 - Other transportation
- 09003007 - Other services (not elsewhere classified)
- 09001005 - Motor vehicles, transportation equipment and parts
- 09001002 - Trucking
- 01004008 - Other data communications
- Sector Groups Involved
- Aerospace and Defence
- Mobility - Transport - Automotive
- Targeted countries
- Latvia
- Poland
- Bulgaria
- Lithuania
- Hungary
- France
- Estonia