CORDIS · SOILCHAINS
Global SOIL impacts of the bio-based value CHAINS from EU demand
- Code
SOILCHAINS- Programme
- HORIZON
- Call
HORIZON-MISS-2025-05-SOIL-05- Status
- SIGNED
- Period
- 2026-10-01 – 2030-09-30
Official data · CORDIS · synced 2026-10-17 10:16 · official record
Participants
| Organisations | Role | Country | Grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| EUROPEAN FOREST INSTITUTE | coordinator | FI | 1 289 500 € |
| SENCKENBERG GESELLSCHAFT FUR NATURFORSCHUNG | participant | DE | 965 375 € |
| LUONNONVARAKESKUS | participant | FI | 895 125 € |
| UNIVERSITY OF STUTTGART | participant | DE | 672 125 € |
| FRAUNHOFER GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FORDERUNG DER ANGEWANDTEN FORSCHUNG EV | participant | DE | 490 938 € |
| CENTRO INTERNACIONAL DE AGRICULTURATROPICAL, CIAT | participant | CO | 416 125 € |
| FORUM FOR AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH IN AFRICA, GHANA | participant | GH | 392 469 € |
| PREFERRED BY NATURE FMBA | participant | DK | 391 125 € |
| PENSOFT PUBLISHERS | participant | BG | 332 000 € |
| HAWASSA UNIVERSITY | participant | ET | 155 125 € |
| NEPCON COTE D IVOIRE | third party | CI | 0 € |
| PREFERRED BY NATURE S.A.C. | third party | PE | 0 € |
| Preferred by Nature Ghana LBG | third party | GH | 0 € |
| PREFERRED BY NATURE SPAIN SL | third party | ES | 0 € |
| Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia Goiano | associated partner | BR |
Description
Healthy soils are essential for biodiversity, climate regulation, food security, and the development of sustainable economies. However, global soils face pressure from unsustainable land use and land degradation, which are linked to the consumption of bio-based products such as food, feed, fibre, and wood. Current footprinting frameworks do not sufficiently capture these effects due to a lack of comprehensive, spatially explicit soil health indicators and data. SoilChains aims to co-design, implement, and demonstrate SoilTracker, an integrated global soil footprinting framework that assesses, mitigates, and communicates the impacts of soil degradation related to EU demand for major bio-based products, while promoting sustainable land management and consumption pattern.SoilChains adopts a multi-scale and interdisciplinary co-design approach, integrating harmonised soil health indicators with Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), dynamic material flow analysis, multi-regional input-output modelling, and scenario-based outlook development. Central to the framework is empirical evidence collected through synchronised soil sampling and analysis, as well as stakeholder engagement, at sites across Latin America (Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Uruguay) and Africa (Ethiopia, Ghana, Ivory Coast), focusing on essential commodities such as cacao, coffee, soy, and timber.SoilChains will deliver actionable outputs to empower policymakers, businesses, and consumers to make informed choices that relate to soil health. These outputs include a baseline for the EU's global soil footprint, a portfolio of soil-wise land management practices, a Soil Footprint Dashboard to demonstrate soil-health impacts from different commodities, land management practices, and future scenarios, guidelines for updating certification with more comprehensive approaches to soil health and labelling systems to cover soil health criteria, and evidence-based policy recommendations.
Official data · CORDIS · synced 2026-10-17 10:16 · official record · Licence: © European Union, CC BY 4.0 (Commission reuse policy).