LUCAS Topsoil Data for the Western Balkans

The LUCAS Topsoil dataset for the Western Balkans (LUCAS WB 2015) presents the laboratory analysis of the samples taken in the 2015 survey for five countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia). The dataset includes soil properties like clay, silt and sand content, coarse fragments, pH (CaCl2 and H2O), organic carbon content, carbonates, total nitrogen, available phosphorous, extractable potassium, electrical conductivity and cation exchange capacity. These primary data are supplemented by reference ancillary data describing a range of environmental conditions for the LUCAS Soil locations. The dataset has 955 unique records with soil and agro-environmental data.

Soil Microbiome and Ecosystem Multifunctionality

These data were used to investigate the relationship between the soil microbiome and ecosystem multifunctionality across contrasting land-use types and pedoclimatic conditions. The dataset includes information on land-use categories, physicochemical properties, and climatic conditions for 484 locations where soil samples were collected as part of the LUCAS 2018 Soil Survey. It also integrates several biological variables derived from bacterial 16S and fungal ITS amplicon sequencing data (i.e., the relative abundances of major bacterial and fungal taxa), as well as six functional proxies used to assess ecosystem multifunctionality: soil basal respiration; xylosidase, N-acetylglucosaminidase, and phosphatase activities; soil aggregation; and primary productivity.

EUSO Publishes the Africa Dashboard

The EUSO Africa Dashboard is a policy-support tool for exploring soil health in Africa. The interactive tool allows the visualization of threats to soil health and their combinations, enabling the creation of customized indices. Each index can be compared to policy priorities such as food insecurity, import dependence, inequality and others. The tool also provides a fast approximation of the macroeconomic and food security impacts of soil health policies across the continent.

Soil Monitoring Law-EUSO/EEA Technical Workshops on Soil Organic Carbon and Organic Contaminants

On 01/10/26, the EUSO and EEA are organising two webinars dedicated to the scientific knowledge for the monitoring framework as well as the non-binding sustainable target values (STVs) and Operational Trigger values (OTVs) of the Soil Monitoring Law’s monitoring framework. 9:30 – 12:30: webinar on soil organic carbon (SOC). 14:00 – 16:30: webinar on organic contaminants.

A 4-day international conference held alongside the final AI4SoilHealth project event will feature keynotes, discussion forums, oral talks, workshops, demonstrations, and fieldwork focused on science, technology, and business intelligence for measuring monitoring and increasing soil health.

The fourth European Mission Soil Week will be hosted this year by Teagasc and the Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Organised by the European Commission, the conference will explore key topics including Living Lab sustainability, scaling up practical results, strengthening knowledge transfer from research to practice and policy, and building a robust soil-health innovation and financial ecosystem.

The conference will take place from the 21st to the 23rd of June 2027 in Ireland. The symposium will cover four main topics: sustainable foundations and climate action, environment and resource management, climate risks and digital innovation, and future modelling, policy and bioeconomy.

How can soil-health practices move from promising ideas to solutions that work in real farming contexts? This Soil Community webinar will bring together practical experiences from European research projects and Living Labs. Through short case studies, speakers will present the soil challenges they are addressing, the practices being tested, the results and experiences observed so far, and the lessons that could be useful in other regions. The session will feature experiences from InBestSoil, LILAS4SOILS and SOILCRATES, including work on rotational grazing in the dehesa and farmer-led experimentation within Living Labs.

The BioMonitor4CAP project aims to develop both simple and advanced agrobiodiversity monitoring and surveillance systems to support the design and implementation of outcome-oriented agricultural policies within the framework of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The project has already identified numerous stakeholders active in the fields of environment and biodiversity. The next step focuses on identifying institutions that hold relevant data, indicators, or monitoring activities specifically related to agrobiodiversity.

Healthy soils are central to Europe’s environmental and economic future, but turning promising approaches into real, large-scale solutions remains a key challenge. SoilValues, together with InBestSoil, will bring together policymakers, researchers, practitioners and industry actors to move this discussion forward.

Each document focuses on a specific group of pollutants: metals, PFAS, OCBs, and PETCO. The factsheets are a core component of Aragorn’s broader efforts to inform and engage stakeholders, targeting not only landowners and involved actors but also a wider audience interested in persistent pollutants affecting local land and water.

SOILSCAPE, a European project and working with the European institutions to help define a Soil Literacy Portal (such as project partner UNESCO's Ocean Literacy Portal). It aims to bring together data, education tools and art-based approaches to soil awareness in one place, and could become a genuinely useful resource across Europe. SOILSCAPE is currently working on expanding its website into a ‘soils & arts’ portal testing selected features, where contribution from the community will be key. Before such a portal takes real shape, the team wants to hear from people with real experience of soil: scientists, educators, land managers, communicators. This is your chance to help decide what the portal should contain, who it should reach, and where current resources are missing or under used. We are also very keen to amplify - not duplicate - information, making your input even more valuable.

Soil Literacy

The EUSO aims to support citizen engagement and the drive towards a societal change in the perception of soils.

ESDAC Datasets

The European Soil Data Centre (ESDAC) contains numerous soil data and information; most of the data on offer are at a European scale, while when possible, links to national or global datasets are provided.

EUSO Soil Degradation Dashboard

The EUSO Soil Degradation Dashboard provides a spatial assessment of where unhealthy soils may be located in the EU and which degradation processes affect them.

Research & Innovation

A key objective of the EU Soil Observatory is to support research and innovation, and to intensify targeted research, data and monitoring on soils. This includes supporting the Mission Soil, and the EUSO’s in-house research activities.

Soil Monitoring

EUSO supports the development of an operational EU-wide Soil Monitoring System, through the LUCAS Soil Module.

Stakeholders

The EUSO Stakeholders Forum is an open and inclusive platform bringing together soil scientists, policymakers, regional and national representatives, land managers and interested citizens.