Civic Innovation Fund (CIF) 2026 Call on Financial and Economic Literacy projects (€10,000 funding awarded)
Closing Date: 16 February 2026
Civic Innovation Fund (CIF) 2026 Call on Financial and Economic Literacy projects (€10,000 funding awarded)
The CIVICS Innovation Hub is opening a new call for projects under the Civic Innovation Fund (CIF).
With this call, CIVICS Innovation Hub seek to test concrete approaches that can make a substantial difference in practice. Selected projects will receive up to €10,000 to pilot, incubate or scale their work over an eight-month period.
Project proposals should address financial and economic literacy and demonstrate a clear connection to the wider aims of civic education, democratic participation, inclusion, and social resilience.
Civic Innovation Fund (CIF) 2026: Call on Financial and Economic Literacy projects
Across Europe, financial and economic literacy is increasingly becoming a cornerstone of civic education and democracy promotion. In times of rising living costs, increasing inequality, digitalisation of finance, and growing distrust in institutions, the ability to understand economic systems, manage personal finances, and make informed financial decisions is essential for active citizenship, social cohesion, and democratic resilience.
Financial and economic literacy goes far beyond budgeting or saving. It has proven to empower people – especially young people and vulnerable groups – to understand how economic policies affect their daily lives, how financial systems work, and how they can participate more confidently in society. Well-designed educational initiatives in this field can strengthen autonomy, reduce exclusion, and foster critical thinking about economic choices at both individual and societal levels.
To support innovative approaches and projects in this area, THE CIVICS Innovation Hub is launching the Civic Innovation Fund (CIF) 2026 Call on Financial and Economic Literacy.
If you are developing or planning a project that connects civic education and strengthening democratic societies with financial and economic literacy, but lack the resources to pilot or scale it, this call offers you the opportunity to turn your idea into reality.
Selected projects will receive €10,000 to support the piloting of new approaches, incubation of innovative educational formats, and the scaling up successful practices for implementation until December 2026.
Eligibility criteria:
- Projects should relate to the topic of financial and economic literacy, and should clearly link these topics with the broader goals of civic education, democratic participation, inclusion, and social resilience.
- Projects should focus on strengthening democratic competencies that promote participation, cohesion, and resilience. Project ideas can range from workshops, training courses, cultural or community based interventions, eyewitness talks, exhibitions, scientific studies, scenario methods, to apps, or augmented reality storyboards.
- While CIF encourages and welcome applications from all organisations, CIF is particularly interested in promoting projects from startups in civic education (i.e organisations that were established in the last 3 years) and youth led-organisations. Applications from these will therefore be more prioritised in the selection process.
- Projects should be carried out in a transnational partnership – with at least one partner (individual, organisation, etc.) from Europe, incl. wider Europe in addition to the lead partner. CIF can only provide financial support for projects based in Europe – as such, the main implementing organisation should be based in a European country. The partnership can be set up across sectors, but one of the partnering organisations should come from either the formal or non-formal/informal civic education sector.
- Projects should incorporate the principles of diversity, interdisciplinarity, and inclusiveness.
- The project implementation period for this CIF round is eight months (1 April to 1 December 2026). Applicants are therefore encouraged to take this into consideration when drafting and submitting their funding applications.
About CIF
Civic Innovation Fund (CIF) is a unique European pooled funding stream managed by THE CIVICS Innovation Hub. It aims at supporting projects that are pioneering new ideas in civil society and enhance their visibility.
The CIF 2026 Financial and Economic Literacy Call is supported by the ERSTE Foundation.
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