Circular Cities and Regions Initiative’s project development assistance (CCRI-PDA) The CCRI-PDA services will be provided to public and private project promoters such as local and regional authorities or their groupings, public/private infrastructure operators and bodies, utilities and services, industry (including SMEs). The action will support building technical, economic and legal expertise needed for project development and leading to the launch of concrete investments.The purpose of the CCRI-PDA is to help project promoters develop their projects and to bring together the technical, economic and legal expertise needed for developing circular economy investment projects at local and regional scale resulting in the actual launch of investments during the action. Ultimately, PDA projects should demonstrate the financial viability and sustainability of circular economy investment projects at local and regional scale and provide tangible showcases that should trigger further market replication.The CCRI-PDA will pay for those activities necessary to prepare and mobilise finance for investment programmes, such as feasibility studies, stakeholder and community mobilisation, business plans and preparation for tendering procedures or setting up a specific financing scheme/financial engineering.Proposals should address the development or replication and implementation of innovative financing schemes for circular economy investments at local and regional scale.The CCRI-PDA services should support public and private project promoters to launch investments for activities aimed at increasing circularity in economic sectors that are relevant for the transition towards a sustainable circular economy at local and/or regional scale. The economic sectors involved in each CCRI-PDA service should be selected according to local and/or regional circular economy needs, resources and potential. This selection must be clearly justified and explained.Proposals should clearly focus their activities on the launch of significant circular economy investment programmes at local and regional scale. Ideally, the proposed investments should be launched before the end of the action, which means that projects should result in signed contracts for circular economy investments at local and regional scale to that effect.In addition, proposals should include some of the following features:Clearly focus their activities on the launch of significant circular economy investment programmes at local and regional scale;An exemplary/showcase dimension in their ambition to increase circularity in specific sector(s) at local and regional scale and/or in the size of the expected investments and leverage factors[[ i.e. the amount of circular economy investment triggered for each euro of Horizon Europe support.]];Deliver organisational innovation in the mobilisation of the investment programme (e.g. bundling, pooling or stakeholder engagement); Moreover, all proposals should demonstrate a high degree of replicability and include a clear action plan to communicate experiences and results towards potential replicators across EU Member States and Associated Countries.Indicatively, the CCRI-PDA focuses on small and medium-sized circular economy investments of up to EUR 20 million.[[The Circular Economy Technical Assistance Facility (CETAF) will focus on projects and programmes with a minimum total investment volume of EUR 20 million.]]The EU contribution per proposal should not exceed 10% of the respective investment.Proposals should justify the budget for the PDA provided to public and private project promoters based on the expected investment portfolio to be set up including the expected amount of investments to be triggered and the respective leverage factors to be achieved.Proposals are expected to ensure synergies and complementarities with other EU financial schemes for circular economy projects. Examples and background information on already existing PDA facilities are available at: https://ec.europa.eu/easme/en/project-development-assistance-pda
