A Soil Deal for Europe: Supporting the implementation of the Mission Soil (Horizon Europe) - Two Stage

As part of the vision to achieve healthy soils by 2050, outlined in the EU Soil Strategy for 2030, the European Commission made a proposal for a Directive on Soil Monitoring and Resilience, with the Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’ (Mission Soil) as a key instrument for implementation. Moreover, the Vision for Agriculture and Food recognises the Mission and its main target of establishing 100 living labs and lighthouses as an unprecedented resource to support farmers to improve their soils in a challenging geopolitical and environmental context.

The Work Programme 2026–2027 builds on previous projects, actions and results, introducing specific actions to engage more and new actors across value chains, achieve more advanced and closer-to-market solutions, and address some remaining knowledge gaps. This Work Programme aims to:

• accelerate the development, deployment and adoption of cutting-edge technologies and practices to restore and protect soil health;
• foster collaboration between research institutions, land managers, industry, advisors, SMEs, consumers, and other stakeholders, and with other EU initiatives, to drive innovation and knowledge transfer;
• strengthen the Mission’s business dimension by supporting the deployment of economically viable models and sustainable value chains on the ground;
• explore the interlinkages between human and soil health, helping to fill key knowledge and policy gaps and contributing to a more integrated One Health approach.

Applicants should align their proposals with one or more of the key strategic orientations and long term expected impacts of the Strategic Plan of Horizon Europe and the EU Mission's goal of delivering concrete solutions to identified challenges by 2030, specifically contributing to the Mission’s objectives.

To further diversify the portfolio of actions and the stakeholders involved, and the impact of its actions, projects are encouraged to build synergies with other initiatives, programmes and organisations—at EU, national, and international level—ensuring coherence and mutual reinforcement of efforts in support of EU policy priorities and the Mission’s objectives.

Topics with submission deadline on 08 April 2027 (first stage) and 14 September 2027 (second stage):

• HORIZON-MISS-2027-05-SOIL-01-two-stage: Living labs to enhance soil health in Continental, Black Sea, Pannonian and Steppic biogeographical regions
• HORIZON-MISS-2027-05-SOIL-02-two-stage: Living Labs for co-creating solutions to reduce eutrophication from agriculture
• HORIZON-MISS-2027-05-SOIL-03-two-stage: Agroforestry for soil health at landscape level
• HORIZON-MISS-2027-05-SOIL-04-two-stage: Participatory research on the health of communities in contact with polluted soils
• HORIZON-MISS-2027-05-SOIL-05-two-stage: Innovative biotechnologies to restore soil health and improve agricultural competitiveness and resilience
• HORIZON-MISS-2027-05-SOIL-06-two-stage: Long-term drivers and consequences of soil degradation: learning from the past to improve future soil health

Find the full work programme “Missions " for 2026-2027 here.