Social, economic and cultural drivers, and costs of land degradation
HORIZON-MISS-2025-05-SOIL-02
Funding Amount
€5.5M - €5.5M
Deadline
30/09/2025
Eligible Organization Types
Non-profit, Private Business, Research Institution, Public Institution
Trusted by
What is the Social, economic and cultural drivers, and costs of land degradation Call?
Grant Description
This Research and Innovation Actions call seeks to advance understanding of the social, economic, cultural, political and regulatory drivers of soil management and degradation, quantify the costs of land degradation across Europe, carry out cost-benefit analyses of soil conservation and sustainable land management measures, evaluate socio-economic impacts of Green Deal policies, and develop a toolbox of policy solutions. It emphasises interdisciplinary research, multi-actor co-creation with poli...
Required Results for Successful Funding
Expected Outcomes
Funded projects are expected to deliver:
• Enhanced understanding, among policy makers and stakeholders, of the key social, economic, cultural, political and regulatory drivers of soil management and degradation and the interplay of these factors.
• Improved estimates and awareness of the socio-economic costs of land degradation (e.g., GDP losses, negative externalities) and its impacts on food security, ecosystem services, human well-being, markets and finance.
• Increased access for policy makers (EU, national, regional, local), land managers and stakeholders to cost-benefit analyses, and strengthened capacity to develop evidence-based, integrated strategies and policies that overcome barriers to soil health protection, restoration and sustainable land management.
• A practical, governance-level-tailored toolbox of policy solutions to prevent land degradation and sealing, adaptable to diverse cultural, political and pedo-climatic contexts.
• Strengthened stakeholder co-creation processes, leading to replicable peer-to-peer learning models and adoption of sustainable human-soil relations.
• Open-access, interoperable data and knowledge outputs, integrated into the EU Soil Observatory and supporting the EU Soil Strategy for 2030, Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’ objectives and SDG 15, contributing to the EU’s land-based climate neutrality by 2035.
• Enhanced understanding, among policy makers and stakeholders, of the key social, economic, cultural, political and regulatory drivers of soil management and degradation and the interplay of these factors.
• Improved estimates and awareness of the socio-economic costs of land degradation (e.g., GDP losses, negative externalities) and its impacts on food security, ecosystem services, human well-being, markets and finance.
• Increased access for policy makers (EU, national, regional, local), land managers and stakeholders to cost-benefit analyses, and strengthened capacity to develop evidence-based, integrated strategies and policies that overcome barriers to soil health protection, restoration and sustainable land management.
• A practical, governance-level-tailored toolbox of policy solutions to prevent land degradation and sealing, adaptable to diverse cultural, political and pedo-climatic contexts.
• Strengthened stakeholder co-creation processes, leading to replicable peer-to-peer learning models and adoption of sustainable human-soil relations.
• Open-access, interoperable data and knowledge outputs, integrated into the EU Soil Observatory and supporting the EU Soil Strategy for 2030, Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’ objectives and SDG 15, contributing to the EU’s land-based climate neutrality by 2035.
Funded areas
Scope Requirements
Proposals must:
1. Provide an interdisciplinary analysis of the drivers of soil management and degradation, explicitly addressing factors related to gender, education, social inequalities and land access.
2. Review existing socio-economic methods and models, and perform Europe-wide quantification of the costs of land degradation processes (organic carbon loss, erosion, biodiversity decline, nutrient loss, contamination, sealing, subsidence) across all land use types, integrating soil bio-physico-chemical indicators with socio-economic approaches.
3. Conduct robust cost-benefit analyses of soil conservation and sustainable land management practices, building on outputs from relevant EU-funded projects.
4. Evaluate socio-economic impacts and run scenarios of EU Green Deal policies on land degradation, quantifying both costs and benefits of policy implementation.
5. Investigate and propose methods to shift existing patterns of thought and behaviour towards sustainable land management, including peer-to-peer learning and capacity building based on successful case studies.
6. Develop a practical toolbox of policy solutions for different governance levels, taking into account varied cultural, political, administrative, land use and pedo-climatic contexts in the EU and Associated Countries.
7. Ensure continuous, structured engagement with policy makers and stakeholders throughout the project lifecycle to co-create and assess mitigation strategies.
8. Allocate dedicated resources for coordination and joint activities with other projects under this topic and relevant Mission “A Soil Deal for Europe” initiatives.
9. Demonstrate a clear pathway for open access, long-term sustainability and interoperability of data and outputs via collaboration with the EU Soil Observatory and the Soil Wise project.
1. Provide an interdisciplinary analysis of the drivers of soil management and degradation, explicitly addressing factors related to gender, education, social inequalities and land access.
2. Review existing socio-economic methods and models, and perform Europe-wide quantification of the costs of land degradation processes (organic carbon loss, erosion, biodiversity decline, nutrient loss, contamination, sealing, subsidence) across all land use types, integrating soil bio-physico-chemical indicators with socio-economic approaches.
3. Conduct robust cost-benefit analyses of soil conservation and sustainable land management practices, building on outputs from relevant EU-funded projects.
4. Evaluate socio-economic impacts and run scenarios of EU Green Deal policies on land degradation, quantifying both costs and benefits of policy implementation.
5. Investigate and propose methods to shift existing patterns of thought and behaviour towards sustainable land management, including peer-to-peer learning and capacity building based on successful case studies.
6. Develop a practical toolbox of policy solutions for different governance levels, taking into account varied cultural, political, administrative, land use and pedo-climatic contexts in the EU and Associated Countries.
7. Ensure continuous, structured engagement with policy makers and stakeholders throughout the project lifecycle to co-create and assess mitigation strategies.
8. Allocate dedicated resources for coordination and joint activities with other projects under this topic and relevant Mission “A Soil Deal for Europe” initiatives.
9. Demonstrate a clear pathway for open access, long-term sustainability and interoperability of data and outputs via collaboration with the EU Soil Observatory and the Soil Wise project.
Additional Conditions for Applicants
Special Conditions
General and administrative:
• Action type: Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Action (RIA), lump sum grant under Horizon-AG-LS.
• Single-stage submission; deadline 30 September 2025, 17:00 Brussels time.
• Proposals must comply with Horizon Europe General Annexes (A–G), including Page limits (Annex A, Part B Application Form), admissibility, eligibility of countries (Annex B), financial/operational capacity (Annex C), and evaluation rules (Annex D–F).
• Eligible costs under lump sum decision of 7 July 2021; use the lump sum MGA.
Scientific and technical:
• Mandatory interdisciplinary consortium combining environmental sciences and social sciences & humanities disciplines.
• Strict adherence to the multi-actor approach: genuine and continuous involvement of end users (farmers, foresters, advisors, planners, NGOs, local communities, etc.) from project inception to exploitation, in co-creation processes. Proposals must detail: targeting of end-user needs; balanced consortium composition; high-quality knowledge exchange activities; facilitation methods; and pathways to develop ready-to-use, freely accessible tools.
Collaboration and dissemination:
• Coordination tasks and resources for joint activities with other projects under this topic and wider Mission “A Soil Deal for Europe” cluster.
• Close cooperation with the EU Soil Observatory (EUSO) and the Soil Wise project to ensure open access, data longevity, sustainability and interoperability.
• Active liaison with the Mission Secretariat and contribution to the European Soil Observatory development.
• Production of ‘practice abstracts’ in the common EIP-AGRI format for CAP-related communication; involvement of EIP-AGRI Operational Groups or equivalent multi-actor networks recommended.
• Commitment to share data, knowledge and avoid duplication; align with existing Mission projects and platforms such as Soil Wise and the Mission Soil Platform.
• Action type: Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Action (RIA), lump sum grant under Horizon-AG-LS.
• Single-stage submission; deadline 30 September 2025, 17:00 Brussels time.
• Proposals must comply with Horizon Europe General Annexes (A–G), including Page limits (Annex A, Part B Application Form), admissibility, eligibility of countries (Annex B), financial/operational capacity (Annex C), and evaluation rules (Annex D–F).
• Eligible costs under lump sum decision of 7 July 2021; use the lump sum MGA.
Scientific and technical:
• Mandatory interdisciplinary consortium combining environmental sciences and social sciences & humanities disciplines.
• Strict adherence to the multi-actor approach: genuine and continuous involvement of end users (farmers, foresters, advisors, planners, NGOs, local communities, etc.) from project inception to exploitation, in co-creation processes. Proposals must detail: targeting of end-user needs; balanced consortium composition; high-quality knowledge exchange activities; facilitation methods; and pathways to develop ready-to-use, freely accessible tools.
Collaboration and dissemination:
• Coordination tasks and resources for joint activities with other projects under this topic and wider Mission “A Soil Deal for Europe” cluster.
• Close cooperation with the EU Soil Observatory (EUSO) and the Soil Wise project to ensure open access, data longevity, sustainability and interoperability.
• Active liaison with the Mission Secretariat and contribution to the European Soil Observatory development.
• Production of ‘practice abstracts’ in the common EIP-AGRI format for CAP-related communication; involvement of EIP-AGRI Operational Groups or equivalent multi-actor networks recommended.
• Commitment to share data, knowledge and avoid duplication; align with existing Mission projects and platforms such as Soil Wise and the Mission Soil Platform.
Important dates
Open from: 06/05/2025
Deadline:30/09/2025
Application period has ended
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