Project description
Digital tools to reduce soil pollution
Soil pollution from metals, fertilisers, and microplastics poses a significant concern for European farming. In this context, the EU-funded SOILPROM project aims to enhance soil pollution modelling for contaminants such as metals, PFAS, nutrients, microplastics, and pesticides. It will use advanced digital tools to study soil pollution and its effects on soil, air, water, and plants. The goal is to reduce pollution levels and promote healthier soils across Europe. The work brings together scientists, practitioners, policymakers, land managers, and other EU projects. It will use existing European databases and collect new standardised local datasets in accordance with DestinE and EUSO requirements.
Objective
Thanks to a unique upgrade of knowledge and advanced digital tools, SOILPROM will improve the modelling of soil pollution processes for metals, PFAS, nutrients, microplastics, and pesticides through soil, air, water, and plants compartments, to reach reduced levels of pollution and healthier soils across Europe. Using both existing European databases and local newly collected standardised datasets in accordance with DestinE and EUSO requirements, project partners will upgrade, integrate and validate existing soil pollution models under field conditions in its 6 diversified use-cases. The upgraded and integrated models will be usable in an open-access Modelling Platform for scientists coupled with a decision-support tool for practitioners. It will allow to gain knowledge and to increase the capacities in describing key pollution processes and their long-term impacts with respect to the different soil processes, functions, and related ecosystem services. Particularly, emphasis will be placed on quantifying ecosystem services in the 6 SOILPROM use-cases and the related impact of local policies and practices, leading to the development of scenarios. Thus, SOILPROM will deliver suitable recommendations to enhance the uptake of policies and sustainable soil management practices for environmental and human well-being. All along the project and through regular workshops, consultations, and meetings, SOILPROM will work in close collaboration with its end-users, ranging from the R&D community to local, national, and EU policymakers, but also various land managers and related EU projects.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-RIA - HORIZON Research and Innovation ActionsCoordinator
6708 PB Wageningen
Netherlands