How to make our soil healthy
It's estimated that between 60% and 70% of all soils in the EU are unhealthy due to erosion, compaction, sealing, pollution, loss of organic carbon, nutrients, water, and biodiversity. To put the importance of healthy soils on the map, the European Commission has launched the mission 'A Soil Deal for Europe' with the aim of establishing 100 Living Labs & Lighthouses by 2030. Until June 2025, Deltares is committed to the mission in the project 'PREPSOIL' where we are working with 18 other EU partners to determine what is needed for healthy, vital soil, and to set up monitoring mechanisms. There will also be a platform for co-creation and knowledge sharing.
PREPSOIL compiled the soil needs of 20 regions from literature, interviews with local stakeholders and multidisciplinary workshops. Soil needs are socio-economic and biophysical needs that can improve soil health. In the selected regions, the different land uses in Europe such as agriculture, urban/industrial, forest/nature and mixed land uses are represented.
As coordinator of the urban and industrial area within PRESPOIL, Deltares' role was mainly focused on identifying what is needed for soil health in these two land uses.
What does soil need in the city
A unique feature of the urban area is that there are other uses besides housing such as industry, urban agriculture, private gardens, event sites and recreation. The pressure on urban subsoil is therefore not the same everywhere and depends on the use function.
To map urban soils, the first step is to healthy urban soil by use function. In addition, raising awareness of the importance of healthy soil is important. Citizens' initiatives also help here.
Cooperation between residents and the government works as a unifying force and can give a common sense of 'ownership' of the soil. Living Labs and Lighthouses can be used to test innovative solutions.
What are Living Labs and Lighthouses
Living Labs are research and innovation ecosystems where on-the-ground experimentation can take place. They involve landowners, scientists and other partners in co-designing, testing, monitoring and evaluating solutions to improve soil health and accelerate adoption and scale-up.
Lighthouses are individual locations where good solutions can be seen and training is given for improving soil health and to inspire people.
More information
Tips and Tricks
PREPSOIL facilitates the creation and development of Living Labs and Lighthouses. Thus, all insights and tools that contribute to this are bundled in a Tips and Tricks package. The package is suitable for all Living Labs to accelerate optimisation. The Tips and Tricks will soon be available on the PREPSOIL website.
Future
PREPSOIL is nearing the end of its term. In its final months, the project focuses mainly on sharing knowledge gained with upcoming Living Labs, other EU projects covered by the mission, and local and regional authorities. A concluding knowledge dissemination event will take place at the end of May.
Thijs Vlaar, Municipality of Amsterdam: 'The challenge is to show willingness together with all stakeholders to strive for healthier soil. I sometimes hear: the soil is already so crowded and besides all the ambitions, we are also fighting together for those places. If you also want to do something with the heat transition and put heat networks in the soil, it takes years to restore soil life. Then I say: despite this spatial pressure and all these different ambitions and interests, there is always room for optimisation. If we take that up together at an early stage and share the knowledge, there really is still room for a healthier soil.'
