From knowledge gaps to roadmaps on soil mission objectives

Activities under this topic will contribute to all of the following outcomes:

• improved understanding of main gaps in our knowledge as well as of causes and consequences, drivers and barriers to soil health in line with the mission’s objectives^[1];
• improved capacities to assess potential trade-offs between the mission objectives;
• establishment of dynamic roadmaps to support the development and coordination of a coherent portfolio of R&I and other activities for each mission objectives;
• increased capacities to develop, monitor and evaluate the mission’s activities based on a common understanding of needs, identified priorities for action and up-to-date information on new knowledge emerging from mission activities and other programmes.

For effective coordination and implementation of the mission’s activities, it is necessary to have a detailed view of already existing knowledge, main knowledge gaps and drivers of soil health along with a common understanding of pathways (R&I and other actions) to act on soil health in line with the mission’s specific objectives.

Such “roadmaps” for action for each of the mission’s specific objectives should integrate the needs from different disciplines and sectors and address various soil types, land uses and climatic zones across Europe. Particular attention should be given to identifying R&I needs for land uses other than agriculture that have received less attention in the past.

Proposed activities will

• provide a comprehensive, practice-oriented analysis of drivers of soil health considering different socioeconomic dimensions, including public policies, and cultural diversity;
• take stock, integrate and synthesize existing knowledge and knowledge gaps in relation to the eight specific objectives of the mission. This analysis should be constantly updated throughout the project as evidence from new science emerges. It should also allow to display the overall R&I efforts on soils geographically distributed across Member States and Associated Countries, proposing additional actions to overcome an unbalance, where relevant. Activities should result in structured, easily accessible and up-to-date overview of major recent and on-going R&I projects and their results in relation to the eight specific mission objectives. The overview should consider projects funded by the EU (e.g. under the EU R&I Framework Programme and the LIFE programme) as well as at the level of Member States and Associated Countries. Major international initiatives should be taken into account, as appropriate;
• develop roadmaps for mission implementation according to each of the mission's objectives. Roadmaps should include interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary R&I priorities and expected results as well as the technical and socio-economic options to reach each of the mission’s specific objectives, both in the short-term and in the long-term. The roadmaps should provide a timeline for action, including expected outputs and outcomes, and suggest measurable R&I key performance indicators to monitor progress towards each of the specific objectives. The roadmaps should be continuously updated over the lifetime of the project and feed into the various phases of the mission.
• provide an operational framework to oversee, monitor and assess the mission’s evolving R&I portfolio against the identified objectives and expected outcomes, within the proposed timeframe.

In carrying out activities, projects should

• build on available knowledge and activities of ongoing Horizon 2020 projects related to soil health;
• involve a range of actors, e.g. researchers, land managers, policy decision makers, economic actors, civil society, social partners and other stakeholders to identify and prioritize the knowledge gaps and R&I needs;
• capitalise on the potential of digital technologies including artificial intelligence (AI) and the internet of things (IoT);
• address synergies and trade-offs across the roadmaps (and mission specific objectives) to provide an integrated assessment of pathways towards healthy soils.

Activities should be undertaken in close cooperation with the mission secretariat and the Mission Board and build upon existing national and European resources such as of the Horizon Results Platform, the European Innovation Partnership EIP AGRI, relevant Knowledge Centres of the Joint Research Centre and the emerging EU Soil Observatory.

Project duration should be a minimum of 4 to 5 years to allow as much as possible the constant update of the eight roadmaps with input stemming at least from the mission’s induction and pilot phase (2021 - 2025) and partly from the mission’s expansion and innovation phase (2024 - 2030).

Digital Agenda
Artificial Intelligence

[1]see Soil Deal mission objectives in implementation plan: https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/default/files/research_and_innovation/funding/documents/soil_mission_implementation_plan_final_for_publication.pdf