Living labs to enhance soil health in managed forests and in natural/semi-natural lands

The Horizon Europe call titled "Living labs to enhance soil health in managed forests and in natural/semi-natural lands" (HORIZON-MISS-2026-05-SOIL-02-two-stage) focuses on fostering partnerships to improve soil health across Europe. The total funding available for this initiative is EUR 24 million, with an expectation to fund two projects, each receiving around EUR 12 million.

Eligible applicants include a wide range of stakeholders such as researchers, landowners, foresters, and industry representatives, emphasizing a multi-actor approach. This collaborative initiative encourages participation from diverse entities, including civil society groups and public administration, enabling even smaller players like land managers and SMEs to receive support.

The funding is provided as a grant under the Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Action (RIA), intended for projects that will establish four to five interconnected living labs across at least three different Member States or Associated Countries. Each living lab will address specific soil health challenges through participatory research, co-developing and co-implementing solutions.

Geographically, the projects must be situated within the EU or Associated Countries, although there are provisions for participation from non-associated third countries under specific circumstances.

The applications will follow a two-stage submission process, with the first stage due on April 14, 2026, and the second on September 15, 2026. Each proposal must demonstrate engagement with local communities to monitor improvements in soil health, using standardized indicators to assess outcomes.

Moreover, while not mandated, co-funding is encouraged, with an emphasis on presenting strategies to ensure long-term sustainability for the living labs beyond the funding period.

This initiative forms part of the broader Mission Soil framework, aiming to establish a network of 100 living labs and lighthouses across Europe by 2030, contributing to soil health management, biodiversity, and addressing climate change through improved practices in agriculture and forestry.

The call's ultimate goal is to lead a transition toward healthier soils in Europe, representing a significant opportunity for organizations working on soil health and sustainability to collaborate and implement effective, scalable solutions.

This is a Horizon Europe (HORIZON) call for proposals titled "Living labs to enhance soil health in managed forests and in natural/semi-natural lands," with the topic ID HORIZON-MISS-2026-05-SOIL-02-two-stage. It falls under the call "Supporting the implementation of the Soil Deal for Europe Mission (HORIZON-MISS-2026-05-two-stage)." The action type is HORIZON-RIA (Research and Innovation Actions), utilizing a HORIZON Action Grant Budget-Based [HORIZON-AG] Model Grant Agreement (MGA).

The call employs a two-stage deadline model. The planned opening date is 12 February 2026, with the first deadline on 14 April 2026 at 17:00:00 Brussels time and the second deadline on 15 September 2026 at 17:00:00 Brussels time.

The expected outcomes of this call are: enhanced capacities for participatory, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary research and innovation to co-create and co-implement economically viable soil health solutions tailored to managed forests or natural/semi-natural lands; improved soil health monitoring and increased availability of high-quality, standardized soil data at local and regional levels; increased availability of practice-oriented knowledge for land managers and land users, leading to better adoption of effective soil health solutions in diverse contexts; and policymakers being more informed about local needs regarding soil health, including its drivers, to design and implement more effective policies that enhance soil health, while considering the economic sustainability of solutions.

The scope of this call focuses on forest soils, which play a fundamental role in global environmental protection by supporting biodiversity, preventing soil erosion, regulating floodings, and mitigating climate change through carbon sequestration. Europe's forests cover nearly 40% of its land area, with over 90% classified as managed forests. Maintaining and enhancing soil functions in these forests is essential for productivity and long-term resilience, making the development of a sustainable forest bioeconomy strategically important for Europe’s green transition. The call also addresses the remaining 5–10% of Europe’s forested land, which consists of unmanaged or natural forests. Monitoring soil health in these areas is crucial for their conservation, as they are vulnerable to degradation processes from surrounding managed lands and diffuse pollution.

The call aims to deploy living labs as a novel approach to research and innovation in soil health. These labs facilitate a green transition by involving multiple actors in real-life sites within a local/regional setting to co-create soil health solutions and achieve large-scale impacts on soil health and soil governance. Projects funded under this topic should deploy a number of living labs to expand and complement the network of soil health living labs initiated in previous Mission Soil topics to gradually establish 100 living labs and lighthouses to lead the transition towards healthy soils 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 (10 to 20 sites in each living lab). Applicants can propose living labs with fewer sites depending on the level at which each living lab operates and the specific context. These living labs can address soil health challenges in or across two land uses: managed forest or natural/semi-natural lands. Individual sites can be park plots, nature reserves parcels, protected areas, etc., where work is carried out and monitored under real-life conditions. Sites that are exemplary in their performance in terms of soil health improvement and serve as places for demonstration of solutions, training and communication are lighthouses. Lighthouse sites can be part of a living lab or be situated outside a living lab. Projects funded under this topic are expected to kick-start a participatory process or build on existing ones. If building on existing processes, the new proposed living labs should complement the existing network of Mission Soil Living Labs and deliver unique results. While on average projects run for around four years, the duration of the projects should accommodate longer timescales required to establish participatory processes and/or for soil processes to take place.

Proposals should support the establishment of four to five living labs to work together on shared soil health challenges affecting either managed forests or natural/semi-natural types. Proposals must clearly indicate which of one of these two land types they focus on. Living labs under each proposal should work on common soil health challenge(s) relevant to the selected land type. The living labs must 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 how the work undertaken will contribute to one or more of the Mission’s specific objectives.

Proposals should also establish an interdisciplinary, participatory, and multi-actor approach in the living labs to co-design, co-develop, and co-implement locally adapted solutions (practices, tools, strategies, etc.) for the common soil health challenges on managed forests or natural/semi-natural soils, 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.

Establishing a baseline of soil conditions for each living lab is required to allow for an accurate co-assessment of changes over time. Improvements on soil health and related ecosystem services should be monitored, using the set of soil health indicators/descriptors presented in the proposal for a Directive on Soil Monitoring and Resilience as a basis, complemented with additional indicators tailored to the addressed soil health challenges, pedoclimatic conditions, and other local/regional factors within the chosen land use.

The technical, social, economic, cultural, and environmental viability of the proposed solutions, as well as their potential scalability and transferability to diverse contexts, should be assessed and demonstrated. High-performing sites that may be converted into lighthouses should be identified, either at the proposal stage or during project implementation, and engagement with the SOILL project is expected to assess the growth and development of these lighthouses and to support the establishment of a labelling process that could formally recognize these exemplary sites.

Strategies (e.g., financial, organizational) to ensure the long-term sustainability of the established living labs beyond Horizon Europe funding should be proposed. These 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, foresters, industry representatives (e.g., SMEs), public administrators, and civil society representatives (e.g., consumers, residents, environmental NGOs, youth or other community organizations). The capabilities, roles, and resources of the different actors involved in the living labs should be 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.

Financial support to third parties (FSTP) is permitted to facilitate the active involvement of small actors (e.g., land managers and landowners such as farmers, foresters, SMEs, or civil society) in the living labs, either through calls or, if duly justified, without a call for proposals. Activities that could be funded include site management, implementation or monitoring of soil health solutions, hourly rates for data collection, sampling, participation in events, knowledge exchange, capacity building, demonstration and awareness initiatives, and/or compensation for loss of production. The maximum amount to be granted to each third party is EUR 60 000.

Dedicated tasks and resources should be allocated to collaborate with SOILL, the structure created to support soil health living labs and lighthouses, including capacity building, knowledge exchange, promotion, dissemination, networking, and monitoring activities.

Proposals are expected to build on existing knowledge (e.g., data from national soil health monitoring, LUCAS) and solutions developed and tested at national scale or in the frame of other Horizon projects including those funded under the Mission Soil. Collaboration with relevant projects and initiatives carrying out relevant activities under other initiatives in Horizon Europe is expected, including those funded under the topic HORIZON-CL6-2025-02-FARM2FORK-06: Improving grassland management in European livestock farming systems and topic HORIZON-CL6-2025-01-BIODIV-01-two-stage: Living labs co-creating innovative solutions for forests and freshwater ecosystems restoration. Engagement in Mission Soil clustering activities and cooperation with the Horizon Europe Partnerships on Forests and/or relevant networks active at local level, such as the EIP-AGRI operational groups, are encouraged. The data, expertise, and services offered by European research infrastructures (ESFRI) should be considered where relevant.

A route towards open access, longevity, sustainability, and interoperability of knowledge and outputs should be demonstrated through close collaboration with the European Union Soil Observatory (EUSO) and the project SoilWise. Data, maps, and information should be made available publicly through the EUSO, ensuring that the data produced is FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Re-usable).

To ensure that both land types are covered (managed forests and natural/semi-natural), grants will be awarded to applications not only in order of ranking but also to at least one project focusing on each of these two land types, provided that proposals attain all thresholds.

The admissibility conditions, eligible countries, financial and operational capacity, exclusion criteria, award criteria, scoring, thresholds, submission and evaluation processes, indicative timeline, and legal and financial setup are described in the relevant annexes of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes.

The application form templates are available in the Submission System, and standard evaluation forms will be used with necessary adaptations. Guidance is provided in the HE Programme Guide, HE MGA, call-specific instructions, and information on financial support to third parties. Additional documents include the HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027, HE Framework Programme 2021/695, EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509, and other relevant guidelines and regulations.

The budget for both HORIZON-MISS-2026-05-SOIL-01-two-stage and HORIZON-MISS-2026-05-SOIL-02-two-stage is EUR 24,000,000 each for the year 2026. The opening date is 12 February 2026, with deadlines on 14 April 2026 and 15 September 2026. Approximately two grants are expected to be awarded per topic.

Partner search announcements are available, and LEARs, Account Administrators, and self-registrants can publish partner requests. The submission system will open on the date stated in the topic header.

This funding opportunity aims to establish and support living labs focused on enhancing soil health in either managed forests or natural/semi-natural lands across Europe. It seeks to foster collaboration among diverse stakeholders to co-create and implement sustainable solutions for soil health challenges, contributing to the broader goals of the Mission Soil and the European Green Deal. The emphasis is on participatory approaches, data-driven monitoring, and the long-term sustainability of the living labs, with the ultimate goal of transitioning towards healthier soils by 2030.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types are broad and include researchers, landowners or land managers, foresters, industry representatives (e.g., SMEs), public administrators, and civil society representatives (e.g., consumers, residents, environmental NGOs, youth or other community organizations). The call emphasizes a multi-actor approach, suggesting a preference for diverse partnerships.

Funding Type: The primary financial mechanism is a grant, specifically a HORIZON Research and Innovation Action (RIA) grant, which is budget-based. Beneficiaries may also provide financial support to third parties.

Consortium Requirement: A consortium is required. The living labs must be located in at least three different Member States and/or Associated Countries. The proposal should support the establishment of four to five living labs.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility includes EU Member States and Associated Countries. A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects.

Target Sector: The target sector is environment and agriculture/food, specifically focusing on soil health in managed forests and natural/semi-natural lands. It also touches upon the forest bioeconomy and the broader European Green Deal objectives.

Mentioned Countries: The opportunity requires living labs to be located in at least three different EU Member States and/or Associated Countries. Europe is mentioned as a region.

Project Stage: The project stage is geared towards development, validation, and demonstration, with an emphasis on co-creating and co-implementing solutions in real-life settings (living labs). The projects are expected to build on existing knowledge and solutions.

Funding Amount: The budget for the topic is EUR 24,000,000. The indicative number of grants is 2, suggesting an average funding of around EUR 12,000,000 per project.

Application Type: The application type is a two-stage open call.

Nature of Support: Beneficiaries will receive money in the form of a grant. They may also provide financial support to third parties, with a maximum of EUR 60,000 per third party.

Application Stages: The application process is two-stage. The first deadline is for initial submissions, and the second deadline is for full proposals. The overall threshold for the second stage evaluation will be 12, with a minimum threshold of 4 for the ‘Excellence’ criterion.

Success Rates: The success rate is not explicitly stated, but with a budget of EUR 24,000,000 and an indicative number of 2 grants, the competition is likely to be high, suggesting a success rate below 10%.

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

Summary:

This Horizon Europe call, HORIZON-MISS-2026-05-SOIL-02-two-stage, aims to enhance soil health in Europe's managed forests and natural/semi-natural lands by establishing and supporting living labs. The call is part of the Mission Soil initiative, which seeks to create 100 living labs and lighthouses by 2030. The projects should establish four to five living labs in at least three different EU Member States and/or Associated Countries, focusing on shared soil health challenges within either managed forests or natural/semi-natural lands.

The call encourages a multi-actor approach, involving researchers, landowners, foresters, industry representatives, public administrators, and civil society. Projects should co-design, co-develop, and co-implement locally adapted solutions, monitor soil health improvements, and assess the viability and scalability of the proposed solutions. Furthermore, projects should identify high-performing sites for potential conversion into lighthouses and propose strategies for the long-term sustainability of the living labs.

The funding is provided through Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Actions (RIA) grants, with a total budget of EUR 24,000,000 and an indicative number of 2 grants to be awarded, suggesting an average of EUR 12,000,000 per project. The application process is two-stage, with deadlines in April and September 2026. This call represents a significant opportunity for organizations and consortia working on soil health to contribute to the European Green Deal and the Sustainable Development Goals.