A Soil Deal for Europe: 100 Living labs and lighthouses to lead the transition towards healthy soils by 2030

The EU Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’ aims to foster healthy soils by 2030 through the creation of 100 living labs and lighthouses. This initiative emphasizes soil's crucial role in sustaining life, food systems, clean water, biodiversity, and climate resilience. Despite its importance, up to 70% of EU soils are unhealthy, necessitating urgent action.

The Mission leads the transition towards healthy soils by  funding an ambitious research and innovation programme with a strong social science component; putting in place an effective network of 100 living labs and lighthouses to co-create knowledge, testing solutions and demonstrate their value in real-life conditions; developing a harmonized framework for soil monitoring in Europe; and raising people’s awareness on the vital importance of soils.

The Mission includes 8 objectives:

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

Why this Mission?

Healthy soils are indispensable for ecosystems, cultural heritage, and economic prosperity. Yet, they face threats such as desertification, pollution, and erosion. Soil is a fragile resource, requiring centuries to regenerate but can be irreparably damaged in moments. The Soil Mission supports the EU’s ambition to lead on global commitments, including the Green Deal and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), aiming to combat soil degradation and enhance sustainable farming, biodiversity, and zero pollution. It is also an important component of the long-term vision for rural areas.

Mission Living Labs and Lighthouses

Living labs are collaborative, real-world experimental hubs where researchers, farmers, and other stakeholders co-create innovations for a jointly agreed objective. Living Labs will be established at territorial, landscape or regional scale, with several experimental sites covered underneath.

Lighthouses are single demonstration sites like farms or parks that showcase and share successful practices. In lighthouse sites, researchers also work together with land managers to ensure that research responds to concrete needs encountered in the field. Both foster practical solutions, peer learning, and research-driven responses to land management challenges.

Mission Platform

The Mission Soil Platform serves as a central hub for engaging with the mission. It offers comprehensive resources, including project details, funding opportunities, news, events, and a helpdesk for inquiries.

Funding

• All calls for proposals under the Soil Mission can be found on the Funding and Tenders Portal.
• Other sources for funding include Horizon Europe Cluster 6: Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment.
• CARE4BIO is the official network of Cluster 6 NCPs and provides useful resources for applicants.
• The LIFE Programme also includes funding for soil conservation and other environment and climate related topics.