Minding Soils

A Soil deal for Europe

Missions are a novelty of the EU research and innovation programme, Horizon Europe. They are a new way of bringing concrete solutions to some of our greatest challenges. Restoring and maintaining soil health is one of these major societal challenges.

Life on Earth depends on healthy soils. Soils are not only the foundation of our food systems. They also provide clean water and habitats for biodiversity while contributing to climate resilience.

Although we take soils for granted, they are a scarce, threatened resource. It is estimated that between 60 and 70% of EU soils are unhealthy. Indeed, one centimeter of soil can take hundreds of years to form, but can be lost in just a single rainstorm or industrial incident.

The Mission is firmly embedded in the wider EU policy frameworks: it will contribute to Europe’s ambition to become the first climate-neutral continent by 2050 and is an integral part of a number of Green Deal strategies2. Together with the EU Soil Strategy and the recently launched European Soil Observatory (EUSO), the Mission will carry out comprehensive actions for sustainable soil management and soil restoration across a range of land uses (e.g. agriculture, forestry, urban areas, natural/semi-natural areas). The Mission will be implemented in synergy with the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) to increase the uptake and the effectiveness of soil related measures funded under the CAP.

Funded by the European Union.