Topic description
ExpectedOutcome:
Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:
- increased evidence on the main factors driving land management and land degradation as a basis for actions by policy makers, land managers and other stakeholders;
- availability of a toolbox for policy solutions to shape conditions and promote practices that are conducive to better soil health and avoid land degradation;
- enhanced capacities for risk assessment and risk management through increased awareness and knowledge on hotspots of land degradation, in particular in Europe.
Scope:
Avoiding soil degradation and fostering soil health is for a large part conditional upon the land management practices implemented by land managers, together with pressures on natural and semi-natural habitats. Those practices are framed by several factors (economic, social and cultural) and by the policies applied (agriculture, spatial planning, environment, economic, land tenure, etc.). It is necessary to understand those factors and the manner to influence them, so that farmers and other land managers in rural and urban areas are supported in implementing practices that are conducive to soil health and related ecosystem services.
Proposed activities will:
- study in-depth the role of the following factors in soil health and land degradation: (1) economic factors, e.g. in relation to subsidies and other policy instruments, the polluter pays principle, payments for ecosystem services, costs and benefits of prevention, price of agricultural products, income, land markets, land tenure and prices; (2) social factors, e.g. in relation to civil society, social cohesion, income inequality, population density, farm structures, rural economy, farm demography; (3) cultural aspects, e.g. in relation to values and norms, strength of governance and public institutions, environmental awareness, product preferences, representation of soil and land in Member State rural cultures, education;
- identify the most important aspects that drive land management and land degradation with a view to elaborate integrated approaches, policies and (funding) strategies contributing to lifting the constraints impeding soil health recovery and land improvement and enable sustainable land management;
- develop and test (interactive) tools to assess risks as well as identify and visualise hotspots of land degradation across Europe;
- provide testing grounds for the demonstration of solutions in response to specific types of land degradation[1].
In carrying out the tasks, projects should
- take account of the diversity of land uses (agriculture, forests, abandoned land, residential, mining and industry, recreational, etc.) and of geographical diversity in the EU;
- work in an interdisciplinary manner and involve the effective contribution of social sciences and humanities (SSH) disciplines (including economics, sociology, history, geography);
- include a task to collaborate with other projects financed under this topic;
- take due account of the potential of digital technologies including artificial intelligence;
- capitalise on activities and results from on-going, relevant Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe projects such as projects financed under Horizon 2020 RUR-03-2018 (CONSOLE[2], Contract2.0[3] and EFFECT[4]) and under topic HORIZON-CL6-2021-GOVERNANCE-01-13 “Modelling land use and land management in the context of climate change”.
While having a main focus on Europe, activities should tap into international expertise and encourage international cooperation, as deemed necessary to implement the above listed tasks.
Cross-cutting Priorities:
Social Innovation
International Cooperation
Social sciences and humanities
Artificial Intelligence
Societal Engagement
Digital Agenda
[1]see objectives of Soil Deal mission: https://ec.europa.eu/info/publications/implementation-plans-eu-missions_en
[2] https://console-project.eu/
[3] https://www.project-contracts20.eu/
[4] https://project-effect.eu/
Keywords
Soil improvement
Soil pollution (FN/I3)
Sedimentology, soil science, palaeontology, earth
Long-term soil monitoring
Bioremediation, biodegradation
Soil biodiversity
Social Innovation
Soil conservation
Digital Agenda
Soil cultivation equipment
Spatial development and architecture, land use, re
Pollution (water, soil), waste disposal and treatm
Soil science
Soil ecology
International Cooperation
Soil disinfestation
S3 - Land monitoring (Copernicus service)
Hydrology, water and soil pollution
Soil management
Soil contamination
Grassland management
Ecosystem services provided by soils
Soil amendment
Soil remediation
Landscape heritage
Societal Engagement
Soilborne pests
Artificial Intelligence
Soil functions
Terrestrial ecology, land cover change
Social sciences and humanities
Soil fertility
Agriculture related to crop production, soil biolo
Soilborne pathogens
Soil protection
Soil morphology
Soil erosion
Soil physics
Soil biology
Soil chemistry
Forest soils
Tags
Land manager
soil carbon
Soil biodiversity
Soil pollution
Consumer demand
Citizen
Common Agricultural policy
Digital
Data Cloud
Smart sensor
Farm to Fork Strategy
Monitoring system
Brown field
EU Mission
Land take
EU soil observatory
Climate adaptation strategy
Biodiversity Strategy
Soil sealing
Urban soil
Forest soil
Soil erosion
Industrial soil
Land use
Soil manager
Soil health
Interactive map
research and innovation
Soil Strategy
Land degradation