Soil Salinity in Europe: Drivers, indicators, current levels and temporal changes
Mission: A Soil Deal for Europe
Funding Amount
€6.0M - €6.0M
Deadline
30/09/2025
Eligible Organization Types
Non-profit, Private Business, Research Institution, Public Institution
Trusted by
What is the Soil Salinity in Europe: Drivers, indicators, current levels and temporal changes Call?
Grant Description
This topic supports research and innovation actions to halt and reduce secondary soil salinization in Europe. It aims to develop harmonized high-resolution monitoring methods integrating remote sensing and laboratory protocols, create quantitative models predicting future soil salinization under climate change scenarios, identify hotspots and assess saltwater intrusion impacts, and co-develop sustainable land management strategies with stakeholders. Projects contribute to the EU Mission ‘A Soil ...
Required Results for Successful Funding
Expected Outcomes
- Enhanced policy-maker and stakeholder access to improved indicators, quantitative data and knowledge on current soil salinity levels in Europe and its impacts on key ecosystem services (food production, clean water, biodiversity habitat).
• Strengthened understanding of primary drivers and mechanisms of soil salinization across different pedo-climatic regions.
• Availability of temporal analyses of soil salinity shifts over past decades and robust projections of future trends under multiple climate scenarios.
• Accelerated uptake of innovative, reproducible sustainable land management strategies in land-use planning to prevent, minimise and remediate soil salinization.
• Creation of harmonised, high-resolution monitoring tools and predictive models to support local management actions and evidence-based policy development towards halting and reducing secondary salinization (Mission target 4.6).
• Contribution to SDG 13 (climate action) and SDG 15 (Life on Land) by integrating soil salinity mitigation and adaptation into climate-resilient land stewardship practices.
• Strengthened understanding of primary drivers and mechanisms of soil salinization across different pedo-climatic regions.
• Availability of temporal analyses of soil salinity shifts over past decades and robust projections of future trends under multiple climate scenarios.
• Accelerated uptake of innovative, reproducible sustainable land management strategies in land-use planning to prevent, minimise and remediate soil salinization.
• Creation of harmonised, high-resolution monitoring tools and predictive models to support local management actions and evidence-based policy development towards halting and reducing secondary salinization (Mission target 4.6).
• Contribution to SDG 13 (climate action) and SDG 15 (Life on Land) by integrating soil salinity mitigation and adaptation into climate-resilient land stewardship practices.
Funded areas
Scope Requirements
- Address excessive soil salinity as a driver of soil degradation impacting fertility, biodiversity, microbiome, ecosystem services (food, water, habitat) and carbon/water cycling under climate change.
• Fill current gaps: no existing quantitative model predicting soil salinization at local management resolution across Europe under changing climate.
• Cover diverse pedo-climatic regions and land-use types, including cropland, grassland, forests, urban soils.
• Integrate multi-source data (remote sensing, in situ measurements, laboratory analyses), harmonise protocols and develop statistical methods for data fusion.
• Produce temporal analyses of salinity shifts over past decades and scenario-based projections for future trends.
• Co-design strategies with end-users in a multi-actor co-creation process (researchers, land managers, advisors, planners, industry, NGOs, policymakers).
• Coordinate and exchange with ongoing Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’ projects, Soil Wise, and the Mission Soil Platform to avoid duplication and foster synergies.
• Align proposals with the Mission’s operational objectives and Strategic Plan 2025-2027 orientations, and contribute to long-term impacts on governance, monitoring adoption, and stakeholder engagement.
• Provide CAP-specific ‘practice abstracts’ in EIP-AGRI format or equivalent dissemination products for non-CAP domains.
• Fill current gaps: no existing quantitative model predicting soil salinization at local management resolution across Europe under changing climate.
• Cover diverse pedo-climatic regions and land-use types, including cropland, grassland, forests, urban soils.
• Integrate multi-source data (remote sensing, in situ measurements, laboratory analyses), harmonise protocols and develop statistical methods for data fusion.
• Produce temporal analyses of salinity shifts over past decades and scenario-based projections for future trends.
• Co-design strategies with end-users in a multi-actor co-creation process (researchers, land managers, advisors, planners, industry, NGOs, policymakers).
• Coordinate and exchange with ongoing Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’ projects, Soil Wise, and the Mission Soil Platform to avoid duplication and foster synergies.
• Align proposals with the Mission’s operational objectives and Strategic Plan 2025-2027 orientations, and contribute to long-term impacts on governance, monitoring adoption, and stakeholder engagement.
• Provide CAP-specific ‘practice abstracts’ in EIP-AGRI format or equivalent dissemination products for non-CAP domains.
Additional Conditions for Applicants
Special Conditions
- Projects must follow a multi-actor approach: genuine, ongoing involvement of end-users (farmers, foresters, advisors, planners, citizens, NGOs, policymakers) from inception to exploitation, ensuring co-creation and co-ownership of results.
• Allocate tasks and resources for coordination with other Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’ projects, cluster activities, the Mission Secretariat, EUSO (JRC) and Soil Wise.
• Ensure all generated data and outputs are FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) and plan for open access, sustainability and interoperability.
• Encourage use of European research infrastructures (ESFRI-listed) for data, expertise and services.
• Summarise relevant results in ‘practice abstracts’ using the common EIP-AGRI format for CAP-related outputs; involve EIP-AGRI operational groups or equivalent innovation networks for non-CAP areas.
• Proposals must demonstrate credible pathways to contribute to the EU Missions’ objectives and long-term impacts, and outline cross-project coordination to avoid duplication.
• Grants are awarded as lump sums under the Horizon Europe framework; applicants must comply with general admissibility, eligibility, evaluation, and financial rules (Work Programme General Annexes, Lump Sum Decision, MGA).
• Allocate tasks and resources for coordination with other Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’ projects, cluster activities, the Mission Secretariat, EUSO (JRC) and Soil Wise.
• Ensure all generated data and outputs are FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) and plan for open access, sustainability and interoperability.
• Encourage use of European research infrastructures (ESFRI-listed) for data, expertise and services.
• Summarise relevant results in ‘practice abstracts’ using the common EIP-AGRI format for CAP-related outputs; involve EIP-AGRI operational groups or equivalent innovation networks for non-CAP areas.
• Proposals must demonstrate credible pathways to contribute to the EU Missions’ objectives and long-term impacts, and outline cross-project coordination to avoid duplication.
• Grants are awarded as lump sums under the Horizon Europe framework; applicants must comply with general admissibility, eligibility, evaluation, and financial rules (Work Programme General Annexes, Lump Sum Decision, MGA).
Important dates
Open from: 06/05/2025
Deadline:30/09/2025
Application period has ended
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