Scientific cooperation drives sustainable soil management
Fertile and productive soil is critical for ensuring a stable supply of food, in addition to delivering other valuable agricultural products such as timber and biomass. Furthermore, healthy soil not only sustains biodiversity; it also acts as the largest store of carbon on land. “As a result, a great deal of research on soil is currently being conducted,” explains EJP SOIL(opens in new window) programme coordinator Claire Chenu from the National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment(opens in new window) (INRAE) in France. “The challenge on EU and global level was that much of this research was scattered, and not all countries being fully aligned.” Chenu also notes that while soil is present in many policies, including the common agricultural policy(opens in new window) (CAP), there has been a lack of legislation that really puts the protection of soil front and centre.
Aligning European agricultural soil research
EJP SOIL therefore set out to align research forces in Europe on agricultural soils management. This was achieved through a series of activities, which included boosting the sharing and dissemination of soil information, and training up young scientists. In total, 44 institutes and universities were involved. A key success was the establishment of baseline assessments of the state of play on agricultural soil matters, such as estimates of the carbon sequestration potential in soil, or existing national soil monitoring systems. This soil data was gathered at the national level, harmonised and made available on the project’s website(opens in new window). “This transnational collaboration was very effective,” says Chenu. “We have built up databases and generated research outputs available for anyone to use. There is a metadata catalogue(opens in new window) where you can link to national databases and project results.”
National soil stakeholder hubs
The project also established stakeholder committees in each of 24 countries involved. “Ministries in each of these countries had mandated a research institute or university to participate in EJP SOIL,” adds Chenu. “This gave us a very strong anchoring at the national level.” There were also national stakeholder hubs established in the project countries, made up of scientists, farmers, food companies, citizens, NGOs, policymakers, and regulatory authorities. The EU’s Mission Soil(opens in new window) platform has now taken over the concept of national hubs, as Mirror groups which will help to ensure maintenance of operational and effective stakeholder involvement. Mission Soil aims to foster sustainable land and soil management in urban and rural areas through showcases and raising awareness.
Strong impact on soil legislation
EJP SOIL also contributed to the development of relevant European policies that were launched during the lifetime of the project. These policies included initiatives on carbon removals and carbon farming, as well as the proposed directive on soil monitoring and resilience. “Our impact on policy has been strong,” says Chenu. “The national soil baselines we established were used for the development of the Soils Directive. We also reacted at every opportunity to any policy consultation that came out.” In 2024, the project consortium was also asked to act as a taskforce, to help Member States trial the soil sampling protocol proposed in the new law. “To work as a taskforce, you need a strong team,” notes Chenu. “I see a lot of scientists from our programme joining forces to apply for new projects, which shows the sustainability of the network we created.”
