Sustainable urban development as part of ERDF funding has already initiated many positive urban developments in Thuringia's municipalities in previous funding periods. European funding is once again available for this in the current 2021 - 2027 funding period.

In the negotiations in preparation for the ERDF funding period 2021 - 2027, the Thuringian Ministry of Infrastructure and Agriculture (TMIL) has ensured that the municipalities and central locations in Thuringia can continue to be offered funding for traditional sustainable urban and local development projects. Around 84 million euros in ERDF funding will be available for this in the coming years. With an ERDF funding rate of 60%, investments with a total volume of 140 million euros can be realized. In addition, EU funding can be combined with federal/state and regional urban development programs, which significantly increases its attractiveness.

A further 90 million euros in funding has been earmarked for energy-efficient urban redevelopment. Funding is available for projects to optimize the energy efficiency of buildings as well as for the expansion, conversion and refurbishment of heating networks. The aim is to improve the performance of the systems, increase the proportion of renewable energies and reduce the overall energy consumption of buildings and infrastructures.

In order to select the best projects for the 2021-2027 funding period, the TMIL initiated the "Sustainable urban development and energy-efficient urban refurbishment" competition in 2022, in which over 150 entries were submitted by a total of 48 municipalities. In a first step, the submitted projects were examined and evaluated by the Thuringian Energy and GreenTech Agency (ThEGA) - in coordination with the Thuringian Ministry of Infrastructure and Agriculture and the Thuringian State Administration Office as the approval authority - on the basis of the objectives and selection criteria of the ERDF program and the criteria formulated in the competition call. In a second step, the resulting selection was discussed and confirmed by a commission of experts.

The competition call was aimed at all central locations as important infrastructure anchors in the individual regions of Thuringia. In addition to already experienced ERDF municipalities, municipalities without ERDF experience were also explicitly addressed and were able to prevail in the competition.

The 69 projects that have now been approved for application are assigned to the following measures:

• Projects for the "construction or expansion of heating networks",
• projects for "increasing energy efficiency in public buildings and municipal infrastructure" and
• Projects for the "upgrading of urban districts and municipalities on the basis of integrated urban development concepts".

Due to the limited budget of ERDF funds, not all competition entries classified as fundamentally eligible for funding can receive confirmation in the first stage. In the event that further funding is added or projects are withdrawn during the funding period, all other eligible entries will initially be listed as "latecomers". This means that there is a chance of being admitted to the application process at a later date if necessary.

Applications for approval for successfully qualified competition entries are submitted via the ERDF portal 21-27. The municipalities are supported by the ThEGA and the Thuringian State Administration Office when submitting applications. Applications must be submitted by December 31, 2024 at the latest.