PREPSOIL kick-off meeting
Internal event UPDATE: The PREPSOIL kick-off meeting took place on 14 and 15 September 2022 in Aarhus, Denmark. You can read more in our post-event report and watch the video interview with our project coordinator Niels Halberg.
This first physical meeting provided an opportunity for the consortium to further discuss and plan the future activities towards a successful implementation of the project.
It also provided a great opportunity for the consortium to meet each other in person, after having met virtually since July 2022, when the project started.
The PREPSOIL project
It is estimated that between 60 and 70% of European soils are unhealthy.
Lack of knowledge and awareness of the importance of long-term soil health are major drivers of soil degradation and affects its capacity to provide the ecosystem services crucial to our planet and society.
In the EU Mission “A Soil Deal for Europe”, raising awareness and knowledge on soil health is seen as a key approach to the transition towards healthy soils by 2030.
The Mission proposes a novel approach to R&I for impact, based on Open Science and strong stakeholder and citizen engagement.
PREPSOIL will adopt a proactive approach to co-create with stakeholders, leveraging on both offline and online facilities, with the ultimate purpose of generating long-lasting interaction spaces.
Furthermore, PREPSOIL will provide the first assessments and efforts towards an improved knowledge base and awareness level of soil health for multiple stakeholders.
PREPSOIL’s web portal is envisaged as the European “one-stop-shop” for all information, resources and digital engagement tools for the Mission’s stakeholders. It will offer an open-source workspace, including collaboration instruments, ready to be expanded to meet further requirements from the Mission.
This interaction and engagement strategy supports stocktaking and dialogue to understand how a regional ‘soil needs’ assessment, supported by harmonised monitoring mechanisms, can lead to action in Living Labs (LLs) and LightHouses (LHs) for soil health. An ambitious 'soil needs' appraisal campaign will be carried out. In combination with other actions, it will provide direction and capacities for the future national soil health monitoring mechanisms, as well as mapping and preparing the implementation of regional LLs through business plan model guidance.
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