Living labs to enhance soil health in Continental, Boreal and Alpine biogeographical regions

The Horizon Europe grant opportunity under Mission "A Soil Deal for Europe" is designed to establish 100 living labs and lighthouses focused on enhancing soil health across the Continental, Boreal, and Alpine regions by 2030. It encourages a multi-actor approach, requiring participants from academia, industry, civil society, and public sectors. Eligible applicant types include universities, research institutions, SMEs, NGOs, and public-private partnerships, all working collaboratively in at least three EU Member States or Associated Countries.

The funding is provided as grants with a total budget of EUR 12 million for the specific topic HORIZON-MISS-2025-05-SOIL-02, with two indicative grants available for this call. The application process is divided into two stages. The first stage involves submitting a 10-page outline due by September 4, 2025, and the second stage requires a full proposal by February 18, 2026. The nature of the support is primarily monetary and may extend to providing financial assistance to third parties involved in the projects.

The projects are expected to focus on practical solutions for soil health, aiming for development and validation through living labs that incorporate real-world testing. A multi-actor cooperation mechanism is imperative to foster interdisciplinary collaboration in addressing soil challenges. Proposals should demonstrate how they will adapt to varying socio-economic and environmental contexts, monitor soil health indicators, and ensure the sustainability of operations beyond the funding period.

Although specific success rates for this call are not directly provided, competitive rates typical of Horizon Europe funding suggest a success rate of around 10 to 39%. Co-funding requirements are not strictly stated, but collaboration with existing initiatives is encouraged.

Projects are planned to utilize existing data for monitoring soil conditions, engage local stakeholders, and contribute to various European environmental strategies, including the EU Biodiversity Strategy and the Zero Pollution Action Plan. The initiative supports the integration of social sciences and humanities to encourage innovative practices and policy awareness.

Key expectations include establishing baseline soil conditions, evaluating the effectiveness of proposed solutions over time, and identifying exemplary sites for designation as lighthouses. Each proposal must also address the viability of long-term operational models for living labs, aligning with the overarching goals of the European Green Deal and promoting sustainable agricultural practices.

The overall call for proposals seeks to foster the development of soil health solutions through collaborative efforts across regions, ensuring a comprehensive approach to improving soil management practices in Europe.

The EU Funding Opportunity: HORIZON-MISS-2025-05-SOIL-01-two-stage and HORIZON-MISS-2025-05-SOIL-02-two-stage

This opportunity is part of the Horizon Europe program, specifically under the call "Supporting the implementation of the Soil Deal for Europe Mission" (HORIZON-MISS-2025-05-two-stage). It aims to support the Mission Soil's goal of establishing 100 living labs and lighthouses to facilitate the transition to healthy soils by 2030. The projects funded under this topic will contribute to the European Green Deal, the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, the EU Soil Strategy for 2030, the Soil Monitoring and Resilience Directive, the Zero Pollution Action Plan, the Communication on Boosting Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing in the EU, and Sustainable Development Goals 15 (Life on Land) and 3 (Good Health and Well-being).

The expected outcomes of this funding opportunity include: Increased capacities for participatory, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary Research and Innovation to co-create and co-implement economically viable soil health solutions. Improved soil health monitoring and increased availability of high-quality, standardized soil data at both local and regional levels. Enhanced availability of practice-oriented knowledge and tools for land managers and users, leading to increased consideration and uptake of effective soil health solutions. Greater awareness among policymakers of local needs regarding soil health, including the economic sustainability of solutions, enabling them to design and implement more effective policies.

The scope of this opportunity involves deploying living labs as a novel approach to research and innovation in soil health. These living labs will involve multiple actors in real-life sites within a local or regional setting to co-create soil health solutions and achieve large-scale impacts on soil health and soil governance. The projects should expand and complement the existing network of soil health living labs to reach the goal of 100 living labs and lighthouses by 2030.

Soil health living labs are defined as long-term collaborations between multiple actors to address common soil health challenges in real-life sites at local or regional level, typically involving 10 to 20 sites per living lab. The living labs can address soil health challenges across different land uses, including agricultural, peri-urban, post-industrial, forest, and semi-natural areas. Individual sites can include farms, forest holdings, urban green areas, and industrial areas. Sites that demonstrate exemplary performance in soil health improvement and serve as demonstration, training, and communication centers are designated as lighthouses.

Each proposal should: Support the setup of four to five living labs at regional or local level in the Continental, Boreal or Alpine biogeographical region, to work together on common shared soil health challenge(s). Proposals should clearly indicate which of one of these three biogeographical regions they focus on, and should establish the majority of the living labs within the chosen biogeographical region. However, the remaining living labs can be still located in other biogeographical regions outside of the one selected. The living labs should work on relevant soil health challenges in the selected biogeographical region. The living labs should be located in at least three different Member States and/or Associated Countries. Proposals should explain the rationale and mechanism for cooperation within and across the living labs and explain how the work undertaken will contribute to one or more of the Mission’s specific objectives. Proposals with all living labs located in brownfield areas are excluded from this topic as a dedicated topic is opened in this work programme (HORIZON-MISS-2025-SOIL-01-02: Living Labs for soil remediation and green redevelopment of brownfields). Establish an interdisciplinary, participatory and multi-actor approach in the living labs to co-design, co-develop, and co-implement locally adapted solutions for the common shared soil health challenge(s) taking into account relevant soil health drivers and pressures. Proposed solutions should be adapted to the different environmental, socio-economic and cultural contexts in which the living labs are operating. Establish for each living lab a baseline of the soil conditions to allow for an accurate co-assessment of the changes in the different sites over time, and to monitor soil health improvements. The set of soil health indicators/descriptors presented in the proposal for a Directive on Soil Monitoring and Resilience should be used, as a basis; proposals may complement with additional indicators depending on the soil health challenge(s) addressed, pedoclimatic conditions, land use, etc. Monitor and evaluate the effects of the proposed solutions on soil health and associated ecosystem services, demonstrating their viability - technical, social, economic, cultural and environmental - scalability and transferability to diverse contexts. Identify sites that demonstrate high performance and that may be converted into lighthouses. This can be performed both at proposal stage or later on, during the living lab operation. Propose strategies (e.g., financial, organisational) to ensure the long-term sustainability of the established living labs beyond the Horizon Europe funding. Strategies should include the identification of possible business models and actions involving a mix of public or private funding schemes, financial instruments, cooperation with local authorities, engagement of social economy entities, social enterprises, business communities, SMEs, as well as attracting investors and entrepreneurs.

The multi-actor approach is mandatory, involving researchers, landowners or land managers, industry representatives (SMEs), public administrators, and civil society representatives (consumers, local residents, environmental NGOs, youth organizations). The capabilities, roles, and resources of the different actors should be clearly described. An effective contribution of social sciences and humanities and the arts (SSHA) is expected to foster social innovation, knowledge transfer, and socio-cultural and behavioral change.

Applicants are reminded of the various participation options under Horizon Europe, including beneficiaries, affiliated entities, associated partners, third parties with in-kind contributions, subcontractors, and recipients of financial support to third parties. Financial support to third parties (FSTP) can be provided to facilitate the active involvement of small actors (e.g., land managers, landowners, farmers, SMEs, or civil society), with a maximum amount of EUR 60,000 per third party.

Collaboration with SOILL, the structure supporting soil health living labs and lighthouses, is required, including regular reporting on living lab performance. Proposals should build on existing knowledge and solutions, including data from national soil health monitoring (e.g., LUCAS) and other Horizon projects. Collaboration with relevant projects and initiatives, engagement in Mission Soil clustering activities, and consideration of data, expertise, and services offered by European research infrastructures (ESFRI) are encouraged. Cooperation with the Horizon Europe Partnerships on Agroecology and on Sustainable Food Systems and relevant local networks (e.g., EIP-AGRI operational groups) is also recommended.

Proposals should demonstrate a route towards open access, longevity, sustainability, and interoperability of knowledge and outputs through collaboration with the European Union Soil Observatory (EUSO) and the project SoilWise. Data should be FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Re-usable).

To ensure coverage of all three biogeographical regions (Continental, Boreal, and Alpine), grants will be awarded to at least one project focusing on each region, provided the proposals meet all thresholds.

The admissibility conditions include proposal page limits and layout as described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes and Part B of the Application Form. Eligible countries are listed in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes, with specific provisions for non-EU/non-Associated Countries as detailed in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.

The evaluation process is two-stage. The overall threshold for the second stage evaluation is 12, with a minimum threshold of 4 for the ‘Excellence’ criterion. The indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement is described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes.

The budget for HORIZON-MISS-2025-05-SOIL-01-two-stage is EUR 36,000,000, with an indicative number of 3 grants. The budget for HORIZON-MISS-2025-05-SOIL-02-two-stage is EUR 12,000,000, with an indicative number of 2 grants. Both topics follow a two-stage submission process, with an opening date of May 6, 2025, a first-stage deadline of September 4, 2025, and a second-stage deadline of February 18, 2026.

Application form templates, evaluation form templates, the HE Programme Guide, Model Grant Agreements (MGA), call-specific instructions, and information on financial support to third parties are available in the Submission System and as additional documents.

This funding opportunity aims to foster the creation and expansion of living labs focused on soil health across Europe. By promoting collaboration among diverse stakeholders and supporting the development and implementation of innovative solutions, the initiative seeks to contribute to the Mission Soil's ambitious goals and the broader objectives of the European Green Deal. The emphasis on participatory approaches, data sharing, and long-term sustainability ensures that the projects will have a lasting impact on soil health and ecosystem services.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types include researchers, landowners or land managers, industry representatives (e.g., SMEs), public administrators, and civil society representatives (e.g., consumers, local residents, environmental NGOs, youth organisations). The multi-actor approach is mandatory, implying a consortium of various actors.

Funding Type: The funding type is a grant, specifically a HORIZON Research and Innovation Action (HORIZON-RIA) under the Horizon Europe program. The type of Model Grant Agreement (MGA) is HORIZON Action Grant Budget-Based [HORIZON-AG]. Beneficiaries may also provide financial support to third parties (FSTP) in the form of grants.

Consortium Requirement: A consortium is required. The call mandates a multi-actor approach, meaning that a variety of stakeholders must be involved in each living lab. The living labs should be located in at least three different Member States and/or Associated Countries.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility includes EU Member States and Associated Countries. The projects must focus on the Continental, Boreal, or Alpine biogeographical regions within Europe.

Target Sector: The target sector is primarily agriculture/food and environment, with a focus on soil health. It also touches on aspects of climate, innovation, and rural development. It aims to support the European Green Deal, the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, the EU soil strategy for 2030, the Zero Pollution Action Plan, and Sustainable Development Goals related to life on land and good health and well-being.

Mentioned Countries: At least three different Member States and/or Associated Countries must be involved in the living labs. The biogeographical regions mentioned are Continental, Boreal, and Alpine.

Project Stage: The project stage is validation and demonstration. The call aims to deploy living labs to test and implement soil health solutions in real-life settings. It builds on existing knowledge and solutions developed at the national scale or in other Horizon projects.

Funding Amount: For HORIZON-MISS-2025-05-SOIL-01-two-stage, the budget is EUR 36,000,000, with an indicative number of 3 grants. For HORIZON-MISS-2025-05-SOIL-02-two-stage, the budget is EUR 12,000,000, with an indicative number of 2 grants. Beneficiaries may provide financial support to third parties, with a maximum amount of EUR 60,000 to each third party.

Application Type: The application type is an open call with a two-stage submission process.

Nature of Support: The beneficiaries will receive money in the form of grants to support their projects. They may also provide financial support to third parties.

Application Stages: The application process involves two stages.

Success Rates: The success rates cannot be determined from the provided text. However, the indicative number of grants for each topic is provided, which can give an idea of the competition level.

Co-funding Requirement: The text does not explicitly mention a co-funding requirement from the applicant.

Summary: This Horizon Europe call, under the Mission 'A Soil Deal for Europe', aims to establish and support living labs focused on enhancing soil health in the Continental, Boreal, and Alpine biogeographical regions. The goal is to create a network of 100 living labs and lighthouses by 2030, contributing to the European Green Deal and related strategies. Projects should involve a multi-actor approach, bringing together researchers, land managers, industry representatives, public administrators, and civil society. Proposals should focus on setting up four to five living labs in the specified biogeographical regions, addressing common soil health challenges, and implementing locally adapted solutions. The projects should monitor and evaluate the effects of the proposed solutions, identify high-performing sites as potential lighthouses, and propose strategies for the long-term sustainability of the living labs. The call is structured in two topics, with a total budget of EUR 48,000,000 and a two-stage submission process. The call encourages collaboration with existing initiatives and the European Union Soil Observatory (EUSO) to ensure open access and interoperability of knowledge and outputs.