EU Mission: A Soil Deal for Europe | Cluster 6

The Mission will support the EU’s ambition to lead on global commitments, notably the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and contribute to the European Green Deal targets on sustainable farming, climate resilience, biodiversity and zero-pollution. It is also a flagship initiative of the long-term vision for rural areas.

Objectives

The main goal of the Mission 'A Soil Deal for Europe' is to establish 100 living labs and lighthouses to lead the transition towards healthy soils by 2030. It leads the transition towards healthy soils by

Funding an ambitious R&I programme with a strong social science component;
Putting in place an effective network of 100 living labs and lighthouses to co-create knowledge, test solutions and demonstrate their value in real-life conditions;
Developing a harmonized framework for soil monitoring in Europe; Raising people’s awareness on the vital importance of soils

In addition to creating knowledge and solutions for soil health, the Mission will advance the development of a harmonised framework for soil monitoring in Europe and increase people’s awareness on the vital importance of soils.

Horizon Europe. Work Programme 2023-2024: Missions

The 8 Mission objectives are:

1. reduce desertification

2. conserve soil organic carbon stocks

3. stop soil sealing and increase re-use of urban soils

4. reduce soil pollution and enhance restoration

5. prevent erosion

6. improve soil structure to enhance soil biodiversity

7. reduce the EU global footprint on soils

8. improve soil literacy in society

Mission Soil Manifesto

We are calling on regions, municipalities, private or public companies, organisations, associations, schools, educational institutes, universities, research institutions and a wide range of stakeholders as well as individuals to sign the Mission Soil Manifesto and become part of a community that cares for soil.

Please sign the Mission Soil Manifesto

Provides funding for	Projects that will be part of a wider portfolio of mission activities and will contribute to laying the foundations for a structured rollout of mission activities. The network of living labs will be created in phases to allow all actors involved to learn by doing and to enable adaptations along the mission implementation: Induction & pilot (2021-2024; Gradual expansion (2025- 2026); Scaling-up & mainstreaming (2027 onwards).
Funding dimension of projects	Between 3 and 12 Mio Euro/project, depending on the instrument & call
Dimension of consortium	Depends on the instrument, average size of consortia: 17-18 project partners
Envisaged impact	This Mission will support the transition towards healthy soils by 2030 by putting in place an effective network of 100 living labs and lighthouses in rural and urban areas. In addition to creating knowledge and solutions for soil health, the Mission will advance the development of a harmonized framework for soil monitoring in Europe and increase people’s awareness on the vital importance of soils. It will support the EU’s ambition to lead on global commitments, notably the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and contribute to the European Green Deal targets on sustainable farming, climate resilience ,biodiversity and zero-pollution
Average success rate	32% (based on participations, including Call 2021 and 2022)

Please download the Soil Mission Factsheet

Download it here