EU Soil Observatory (EUSO) - Newsletter February 2025
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EU Soil Observatory (EUSO)

Newsletter
No. 174 - March 2025
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Dear Readers, 

 The March edition of the EU Soil Observatory (EUSO) newsletter is now available, providing the latest highlights and insights on soil-related research and policy developments within the European Union. 

Highlights

Soil Carbon Risk Index

This dataset includes the a) Soil organic carbon risk index b) SOC fractions predicted by visible near-infrared c) the mineral-associated organic carbon (MAOC) saturation. This repository accompanies the Nature Communication publication and can be used to access the results, data and code.

Link to dataset

Link to publication

Data on Texture 2009-2015/2018

Textural data for all soil samples from the LUCAS SOIL campaigns. This data from the LUCAS SOIL campaigns of 2009/2012, 2015 and 2018 was assembled in a single file which includes the particle size distribution (clay, silt, sand) and the textural classification according to USDA, FAO and INTERNATIONAL. The datafile refers to 27,819 sample points.

Link to dataset

SOLACE - Understanding the Links between SOiL Pollution and CancEr

Soil pollution is a significant environmental and health concern in Europe, with potential links to cancer incidence. The Exploratory Research project “Understanding the links between SOil pollution and CancEr” (SOLACE)” aims to investigate the complex relationships between soil properties, pollution, land use and human health.

Link to article

Collaborative Doctoral Partnership 2025 - Call for Expressions of Interest

In this call, HEIs/universities can apply to partner up with the JRC on one of 25 Collaboration Topics. Successful HEIs/universities will then proceed to jointly design, host, and supervise PhD projects with the JRC. Successful applicants will have the opportunity to define a PhD project in collaboration with the JRC. The application deadline for this call is 18 March 2025. Please apply to Topic 12 (of 25): Improving soil health to increase water quality and reduce eutrophication.

Apply here

Recent Publications

Empirical estimation of saturated soil-paste electrical conductivity in the EU using pedotransfer functions and Quantile Regression Forests

Delivering the EU Green Deal - Progress towards targets

Microbial Bioindicators for Monitoring the Impact of Emerging Contaminants on Soil Health in the European Framework

Events

Managing organic resources in agriculture: opportunities and challenges

We warmly invite you to the 19th international RAMIRAN conference in the university city of Wageningen, NL, from 15-17 October 2025. The conference will focus on the management of organic residues and manures in agriculture. In the context of climate change and environmental pressure, safe and sustainable utilisation of existing and emerging organic resources becomes increasingly important, as is taking into account potential trade-offs or synergies.
Permalink
permalink Main URL
Date
date 15/10/2025 - 17/10/2025
Venue
venue WICC hotel, Wageningen, Netherlands

REMTECH EXPO

RemTech Expo is the only Environmental Technology Hub, specialized in the themes of remediation, regeneration and sustainable development of territories. It is characterized by a qualified and large community, composed of government entities, public bodies, control bodies, private companies, innovative start-ups, universities, research centers, trade associations, professionals.
Permalink
permalink Main URL
Date
date 17/09/2025 - 19/09/2025
Venue
venue REMTECH EXPO
Registration
Registration Register here

The 6th WASWAC World Conference

Resilient Landscapes: Innovations and Traditions in Climate-Adaptive Soil and Water Conservation (RISE-SWC)
Permalink
permalink Main URL
Date
date 15/09/2025 - 17/09/2025
Venue
venue Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)
Registration
Registration Register here

EUSO webinar on phosphorus knowledge for EU decision support tools

Phosphorus: An essential plant nutrient, pollutant and a critical raw material. The EUSO Technical Working Group on Nutrients is organising a webinar to present the existing soil phosphorus knowledge at EU scale, and to discuss the way forward to improve the knowledge for EU policy and decision support tools.

Link to registration
Permalink
permalink Main URL
Date
date 14/04/2025
Venue
venue Online (link to come)
Organiser
Organiser EUSO

Post-event report

2nd European Mission Soil Week 2024
The European Mission Soil Week 2024 was organised by DG AGRI in collaboration with the EUSO (JRC), DG RTD and REA. The event aimed at promoting the Mission Soil and driving action to protect and restore our soils. Held in Brussels on 12 and 13 November 2024, the European Mission Soil Week attracted 280 on-site participants and over 1 300 online attendees via live streaming.

Link to report
Date
date 12/11/2024 - 13/11/2024

EUSO Components

ESDAC Datasets

The European Soil Data Centre (ESDAC) currently contains numerous soil data and information; most of the data on offer are at a European scale, while when possible, links to national or global datasets are provided.
 
more
 

Knowlege for Policy

The EUSO Soil Policy Dashboard is a rolling assessment of progress on formal policy commitments on soil.
 
more
 

EUSO Soil Degradation Dashboard

The EUSO Soil Degradation Dashboard provides a spatial assessment of where unhealthy soils may be located in the EU and which degradation processes affect them.
 
more
 

Research & Innovation

A key objective of the EU Soil Observatory is to support research and innovation, and to intensify targeted research, data and monitoring on soils. This includes supporting the Mission Soil, and the EUSO’s in-house research activities.
 
more
 

Soil Monitoring

EUSO supports the development of an operational EU-Wide Soil Monitoring System, through the LUCAS Soil Module.
 
more
 

Stakeholders

The EUSO Stakeholders Forum is an open and inclusive platform bringing together soil scientists, policy makers, regional and national representatives, land managers and interested citizens.
 
more
 

This is an edition of newsletter published by EU Soil Observatory (EUSO) in the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre https://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/euso

Contact us: EC-ESDAC@ec.europa.eu

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Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2025.
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ISSN: 2811-9541 | Catalogue number: KJ-01-25-175-EN-N