Contributing to the EU Mission: ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’ and the European Green Deal objectives, the selected projects gather more than 500 participants from 37 countries. Besides EU Member States, partners come from Horizon Europe associated countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Israel, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Tunisia, Türkiye, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom), but also non-associated (Egypt, Kenya, and Switzerland).
Among these are the first five soil health living lab projects funded under Mission Soil – LivingSoiLL, SOILCRATES, iCOSHELLs, GOV4ALL and LILAS4SOILS. They will contribute directly to the goal of the Mission of setting up 100 living labs to lead the transition to healthy soils by 2030.
What will the projects deliver?
Beyond co-creating solutions for soil health in living labs, including for carbon farming, the new research projects will address a wide variety of soil health challenges across Europe and beyond, such as:
- Help discover the subsoil;
- Improve the modelling of soil pollution processes;
- Develop digital technologies to monitor nutrients and chemical or biological stressors in soil and plants;
- Prevent and combat desertification;
- Develop soil-friendly practices for horticulture;
- Improve spatial planning strategies.
How were the projects selected?
In 2023, three different calls for proposals on soil health were launched. In addition to the annual call under Mission Soil, there were two other joint calls: Mission Ocean and Waters and Mission Soil and Mission Climate adaptation, Mission Ocean & Waters and Mission Soil. Independent experts evaluated more than 130 applications received. The top proposals for each topic were invited to sign a Grant Agreement with the European Commission. Most of the projects have already started.
More details on the projects, including budget and beneficiaries, can be found in the overview of the projects.
About the EU Mission: ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’
The EU Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’ (Mission Soil) is one of five Missions funded under the EU Research and Innovation (R&I) Programme Horizon Europe. It focuses on protecting as well as restoring soils and promoting sustainable management practices in urban and rural areas. Its aims to create 100 Living Labs and Lighthouses by 2030 to promote sustainable land and soil management in urban and rural areas.