Soil Mission Support

Keywords	Agricultural production system Landscape / land management Fertilisation and nutrients management Soil management / functionality Forestry Climate and climate change Biodiversity and nature management
Main funding source	Horizon 2020 (EU Research & Innovation programme)
Project Identification	Multi-actor project
Project type	Research project
Starting date	2020
End date	2022
Project status	Completed
Website	Soil Mission Support

Title (in English):

Objective of the project (native language):

The SMS project supported the EU Soil Mission with two key products, being (i) the SMS platform and the (ii) the SMS roadmap, with the aim to have an impact on European soils also after the end of the project

Objective of the project (in English):

Description of activities (native language):

The SMS PLATFORM showcases pioneer work for the concept of soil health living labs and soil health light houses.
• CRITERIA FOR SOIL HEALTH LIVING LABS AND LIGHTHOUSES based on co-creation and engagement of all relevant stakeholders
• INTERACTIVE MAP of soil health living labs and soil health light houses
• A common language for soil health addressing all 8 objectives of the EU Soil Mission.
The SMS ROADMAP represents a European research agenda for soil health.
• The production was based on ACTOR ENGAGEMENT AND CO-CREATION and the methodological process is documented and described, so that it can be reproduced for future funding periods.

Description of activities (in English):

Project coordinator

Contact person:

Dr. Johannes Bender

Address:

Deichmanns Aue 29, 53179 Bonn

E-mail:

Johannes.Bender@ble.de

Phone:

0049 228 6845 3610

Partner category:

Researcher

Project partners

Contact person:

Dr. Johannes Bender

Address:

Deichmanns Aue 29, 53179 Bonn

E-mail:

Johannes.Bender@ble.de

Phone:

0049 228 6845 3610

Partner category:

Researcher

Contact person:

Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research

Address:

Eberswalder Str. 84, 15374 Müncheberg

E-mail:

helming@zalf.de

Phone:

0049 33432 82 155

Partner category:

Researcher

Contact person:

Environment Agency Austria

Address:

Spittelauer Lände 5, 1090 Wien

E-mail:

gundula.prokop@umweltbundesamt.at

Phone:

0043 1 31304 5923

Partner category:

Other

Contact person:

Stichting Deltares

Address:

BOUSSINESQWEG 1, 2629 HV, DELFT, NL

E-mail:

linda.maring@deltares.nl

Phone:

0031 6 20826140

Partner category:

Researcher

Contact person:

AGRARTUDOMANYI KUTATOKOZPONT - ATK

Address:

BRUNSZVIK STREET 2, 2462, MARTONVASAR, HU

E-mail:

laszlo.peter@atk.hu

Phone:

0036 30961 7389

Partner category:

Researcher

Contact person:

INSTITUT NATIONAL DE RECHERCHE POUR L'AGRICULTURE, L'ALIMENTATION ET L'ENVIRONNEMENT - INRAE

Address:

147 RUE DE L'UNIVERSITE, 75007, PARIS CEDEX 07, FR

E-mail:

antonio.bispo@inrae.fr

Phone:

0033 2 38 41 78 48

Partner category:

Researcher

Contact person:

TEAGASC - AGRICULTURE AND FOOD DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY

Address:

Oak Park, null, CARLOW, IE

E-mail:

David.wall@teagasc.ie

Phone:

00353 53 9171319

Partner category:

Researcher

Contact person:

AGENCIA ESTATAL CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS - CSIC

Address:

CALLE SERRANO 117, 28006, MADRID, ES

E-mail:

guy.vancanneyt@inia.es

Phone:

0034 91 347 3930

Partner category:

Researcher

Contact person:

STICHTING WAGENINGEN RESEARCH - WR

Address:

DROEVENDAALSESTEEG 4, 6708 PB, WAGENINGEN, NL

E-mail:

Peter.kuikman@wur.nl

Phone:

0031 317 486488

Partner category:

Researcher

Contact person:

ECOLOGIC INSTITUT gemeinnützige GmbH - ECOLOGIC INSTITUT gemeinnützige GmbH

Address:

Pfalzburger Strasse 43-44, 10717, BERLIN, DE

E-mail:

sandra.naumann@ecologic.eu

Phone:

0049 30 86880 111

Partner category:

Other

Practice summary

Practice abstract 1

Short title (in English):

Soil Mission Support Platform

Short summary for practitioners (in English):

The SMS platform showcases pioneer work for the concept of soil health living labs and soil health light houses.
• Criteria for soil health living labs and lighthouses based on co-creation and engagement of stake-holders from all relevant sectors were developed.
• A collection of candidates for soil health living labs and soil health light houses was carried out and is showcased as interactive map.
• Examples were produced how fully evaluated soil health living labs and soil health light houses could be presented in the future in the form of practice abstracts.
• A soil health ontology was produced, corresponding to a common language for soil health address-ing all 8 objectives of the EU Soil Mission.
• An agreement regarding the afterlife of the SMS platform was achieved: the platform will be fur-ther maintained by the PREPSOIL project under surveillance of the JRC and shall in the long term be hosted by the European Soil Observatory.

Short title (native language):

Soil Mission Support Platform

Short summary for practitioners (native language):

Practice abstract 2

Short title (in English):

Soil Mission Support Roadmap

Short summary for practitioners (in English):

The SMS roadmap represents a European research agenda for soil health from the current perspective. It was produced in collaboration with stakeholders from all relevant sectors.
• The production was based on actor engagement and co-creation and the methodological process is documented and described, so that it can be reproduced for future funding periods. The COVID situation has boosted innovation with regard to multi-stakeholder workshops. Instead of physical workshops it is easier to engage stakeholders in short but targeted on-line workshops. How to identify relevant stakeholders and how to engage them was in detail researched, tested and sum-marised in a guideline.
• For each Soil Mission objective a stocktaking of existing knowledge was undertaken and compared to actual actor needs. This method enabled the identification and prioritisation of research gaps.

Short title (native language):

Soil Mission Support Roadmap

Short summary for practitioners (native language):

Practice abstract 3

Short title (in English):

Soil Health Onthology

Short summary for practitioners (in English):

Ontology defines a common vocabulary for those who, for example, need to converse about a common issue or share information in a specific domain, such as soil and land management aimed to achieve the Soil Mission objectives.
Experts in the SMS project – jointly covering the fields of expertise related to all the 8 Soil Mission objectives – developed a first version of such an ontology. The ontology was divided in 3 levels: (1) soil and land and its use, (2) soil management and (3) achievement of the Soil Mission objectives. Objects of relevance were selected at each level. It was conceptualized how these objects interrelate and these objects were defined in a common language.
The ontology can be downloaded from the SMS website at: https://www.soilmissionsupport.eu/outputs

Short title (native language):

Soil Health Onthology

Short summary for practitioners (native language):

Further details

Audiovisual material:

Film about soil health living labs and lighthouses

Description of the context of the project:

The new research and innovation funding programme of the European Union (funding period 2021 – 2027) with the title Horizon Europe established the concept of mission oriented research. This means the setting of measurable goals within a set timeframe. The Horizon Europe programme is focused on the Green Deal and defines ambitious goals that are supposed to deliver tangible results by 2030.
The Horizon Europe programme includes five research missions, one of which is the Soil Mission 'A Soil Deal for Europe', with the overall objective to establish 100 living labs and lighthouses to lead the transition towards healthy soils by 2030.
The SMS project supported the EU Soil Mission with two key products (the SMS platform and the SMS roadmap), with the aim to have an impact on European soils also after the end of the project.

Additional information:

The production of the SMS roadmap was based on actor engagement and co-creation and the methodological process is documented and described, so that it can be reproduced for future funding periods. The COVID situation has boosted innovation with regard to multi-stakeholder workshops. Instead of physical workshops it is easier to engage stakeholders in short but targeted on-line workshops. How to identify relevant stakeholders and how to engage them was in detail researched, tested and summarised in a guideline.