The routes
Three programmes, three sizes of ambition
Indicative grant ranges
Erasmus+ Sport
Small-Scale Partnerships are designed for grassroots organisations and newcomers: simpler administration, smaller grants, shorter durations. Priorities explicitly include the HealthyLifestyle4All initiative and promoting physical activity as a tool for health. Cooperation Partnerships scale the same idea to €120k–€400k.
EU4Health
The EU’s €4.4bn health programme funds public and private entities, with action grants up to €2M for projects tackling risk factors and improving health literacy. Calls are competitive and favour multi-partner, multi-country consortiums — which is why we build ours early.
Horizon Europe — Cluster 1: Health
Horizon already funds European research into social prescribing. With the Universitat de les Illes Balears as scientific partner, our pilot’s dataset becomes publishable research — and eligible for research-grade funding.
Regional & recovery funds
ERDF/ESF+ structural funds and Next Generation EU allocations flow through the Govern Balear. A direct conversation with the Govern’s EU funds office belongs in the first 90 days.
The funding strategy in one line
Apply for an Erasmus+ Sport Small-Scale Partnership now to fund the launch, while the consortium prepares a larger EU4Health or Horizon bid with UIB for the full 12-month pilot and its evaluation. EU grants typically cover ~80% of costs and take 6–12 months to arrive — the promoter should plan bridge funding accordingly.
Methodology
Recruitment, tracks and the link worker
Who can join, and how they arrive
- ✓Eligibility: adults resident in Palma or Calvià, currently doing little or no structured exercise, able to give informed consent. Chronic stable conditions welcome with GP sign-off — they are the population the fiscal case is about.
- ✓Three recruitment channels: GP referral (the gold channel), gym and walking-group sign-up desks, and municipal outreach — town-hall newsletters, community centres, local press.
- ✓Comparison group: volunteers who complete the same assessments but keep their habits unchanged, recruited from the same channels. Imperfect but powerful — it lets us say “versus people like them who didn’t exercise.”
- ✓Why 300–500: large enough to detect meaningful change in wellbeing scores with realistic drop-out (~25% over 12 months is typical), small enough for two municipalities to recruit in three months.
Three activity tracks, one principle
- 1Walk: guided community walking groups, twice weekly — zero cost, zero intimidation, the on-ramp for the least active.
- 2Move: group classes at partner gyms and municipal facilities — swimming, yoga, fitness classes — for those ready for structure.
- 3Train: supervised resistance and cardio programmes — the track where physical measures move fastest.
- ♥The link worker: every participant gets a named contact who matches them to a track, calls when check-ins stop coming, and adjusts the plan. Across all European evidence, this human role — not the activity choice — is the strongest predictor of people still showing up at month 12.
Governance
Who decides what
- One seat per consortium partner
- Owns budget, timeline and political strategy
- Signs off interim and final publications
- Owns methodology and analysis plan — pre-registered before launch
- Independent: the promoter cannot alter findings
- Submits ethics application to the Balearic research ethics committee (CEI-IB)
- Project coordinator + link workers + app support
- Tracks recruitment, attendance and check-in rates
- Escalates risks to the steering committee
- GDPR compliance, consent management, breach response
- Conducts the impact assessment (DPIA) before launch
- First point of contact for participants’ data rights
Money & measures of success
Indicative budget and the KPIs we answer to
Working figures for a 12-month, 300–500 participant pilot — to be refined with partners. Roughly €250k total, of which EU funding targets ~80%.
- ✓Recruitment KPI: 300+ enrolled by month 6 of the project (month 3 of the pilot window).
- ✓Retention KPI: 70%+ still submitting monthly check-ins at month 12.
- ✓Data KPI: 90%+ of active participants complete every full assessment (0/3/6/12).
- ✓Outcome KPI: statistically meaningful improvement in wellbeing scores versus baseline and comparison group.
- ✓Fiscal KPI: measurable reduction in self-reported GP visits and sick days among adherent participants.
- ✓Political KPI: formal Govern review of the dossier at month 18 — secured in writing at endorsement.
Eyes open
The risk register, honestly stated
- !Drop-out. The biggest threat in every referral scheme. Mitigation: link workers, the 3-minute check-in (short enough to sustain), and over-recruiting by ~25%.
- !Self-reported data bias. People over-report virtue. Mitigation: validated instruments, automatic activity data as a cross-check, and a comparison group facing the same bias.
- !EU funding delay or rejection. Mitigation: the bridge commitment, parallel applications, and a minimum-viable pilot (~300 participants, walking track only) costed as fallback.
- !“Industry-funded study” attack. Mitigation: UIB’s independent, pre-registered analysis; GP referral; publication of methods before results exist.
- !Political change mid-pilot. Elections happen. Mitigation: cross-party PNL early, both major-party sympathies on record nationally, and a dossier addressed to institutions, not parties.
- !GDPR incident. The one risk that could end everything. Mitigation: DPO, DPIA before launch, anonymised IDs from day one, health data held on a certified research platform.
Applying, no detours
Direct links to every counter
Each card goes straight to where the application is submitted or the process starts. Verified June 2026 — specific calls change yearly, the portals do not.
Funding & Tenders Portal
The single gateway to ALL EU grants. This is where calls are searched and applications submitted.
Open → ec.europa.euEntity registration (PIC number)
Mandatory first step: register the promoter's legal entity to obtain the PIC code every application requires.
Open → ec.europa.euErasmus+ Sport calls
The sport calls (small-scale and cooperation). The 2026 call closed 5 March; the next is expected late 2026 — fitting our months 2–4.
Open → erasmus-plus.ec.europa.euOfficial Erasmus+ application guide
Explains the application process step by step and which agency manages each action (sport: EACEA, centralised).
Open → hadea.ec.europa.euEU4Health calls (HaDEA)
The HaDEA agency publishes the health programme calls here — our Route 2, the grants of up to €2M.
Open → research-and-innovation.ec.europa.euHorizon Europe — Cluster 1: Health
The health cluster page, linking to its open calls — the research route the UIB would lead.
Open → www.caib.esGovern de les Illes Balears (caib.es)
For ERDF/ESF+ and Next Generation funds: find the Directorate-General for European Funds and request a direct meeting — it is a conversation, not a portal.
Open →