The European Mission Soil Week is an annual event aimed at promoting the Horizon Europe Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’ (Mission Soil) raising awareness about the importance of soil health, and driving action to protect and restore our soils.

The European Mission Soil Week, organised by the European Commission, Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development (DG AGRI) in the context of the Mission Soil together with the EU funded project PREPSOIL and the Joint Research Centre – EU Soil Observatory (EUSO) will be held from 21 to 23 November 2023. The conference will be locally hosted by INIA-CSIC at the central facilities of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) in Madrid, Spain, under the Spanish Presidency of the EU Council.

The European Mission Soil Week is a major European gathering that brings together the European soil community. Researchers, policymakers, farmers, foresters, spatial planners, landowners and land managers, businesses, and organisations as well as the general public will meet to discuss the challenges for making and keeping EU soils healthy.

The event will be an opportunity to communicate and disseminate solutions based on the latest research results and innovations for healthy soils. Therefore, the European Mission Soil Week will bring together and mobilise communities to protect and restore soil health.

This first edition of the European Mission Soil Week is particularly significant in the context of the proposed EU Directive on Soil Monitoring and Resilience. The Commission’s proposal was published on 5 July 2023 with the aim to ensure healthy soils by 2050, in close connection with the Mission Soil goals and the support the Mission can provide to reach the objectives promoted by the Directive.

Soil health is high on the EU political agenda. The European Green Deal and other policies recognise soil health as an essential element for achieving their objectives, such as climate neutrality, stopping desertification and land degradation or reversing biodiversity loss. This first edition of the European Mission Soil Week adds momentum to the ongoing efforts to improve soil health and provides a platform to discuss how soil health, related innovation, experimentation, demonstration, monitoring, increased public awareness and citizen engagement through the Mission Soil can contribute to the green transition.

Additionally, it brings together the Mission Soil Ambassadors and the signatories of the Mission Soil Manifesto providing visibility for their engagement and offering exchange and networking opportunities.