Research projects

EJP SOIL was a five-year European Joint Programme aimed at advancing knowledge and developing solutions for climate-smart and sustainable agricultural soil management. It brought together leading European research institutions and universities, fostering cooperation between researchers, policymakers, farmers and other stakeholders.

The programme’s main objective was to enhance the contribution of agricultural soils to addressing key societal and environmental challenges, particularly climate change adaptation and mitigation, sustainable agricultural production, ecosystem service provision, and the prevention and restoration of land and soil degradation.

Main Activities and Results

EJP SOIL contributed to building an integrated European research community on agricultural soils and developing a shared research roadmap for their sustainable management.

The programme focused on:

• Implementing joint research projects and international research calls.
• Developing and sharing knowledge on sustainable soil management, soil quality and the role of soils in climate change mitigation.
• Harmonising soil data collection, monitoring and reporting practices across Europe.
• Strengthening research capacities and supporting early-career researchers.
• Transferring scientific knowledge into agricultural practice and providing evidence-based recommendations for European policies, particularly the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and climate policies.

Particular attention was given to overcoming barriers to the adoption of innovative agricultural practices, improving access to soil data and raising awareness of the importance of healthy soils for food production, biodiversity and climate resilience.

Partnership and Slovenian Participation

EJP SOIL was coordinated by the French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE) and brought together 26 leading European research institutions and universities from 24 countries.

In Slovenia, the programme was managed by the University of Ljubljana, Biotechnical Faculty, under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Helena Grčman. The Slovenian programme owner was the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food (MAFF), which provided national co-funding.

The Agricultural Institute of Slovenia and the University of Maribor, Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences, participated as linked third parties of the University of Ljubljana.

Funding

EJP SOIL received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No. 862695.