SOILCRATES (SOIL-kruh-teez) is a four-year collaborative project funded by HORIZON Research and Innovation to support the implementation of A Soil Deal for Europe (HORIZON-MISS-2023-SOIL-01-08). Running from October 2024 to September 2028, the project focus on restoring and preserving soil quality across Europe by developing soil literacy and monitoring soil structure, biodiversity, and crop-growing conditions of mineral soils.

Bringing together 21 partners from academia, agriculture, and local authorities, SOILCRATES co-creates, tests, and implements sustainable soil management practices. This initiative responds to the urgent need to treat soil as a living resource, vital for food security, biodiversity, and climate resilience.

Operating through four Living Labs (LLs), in Ireland, France, Spain and The North Netherlands, SOILCRATES advances soil health monitoring and biodiversity assessment beyond the state-of-the-art. These Living Labs bring together landowners, farmers, scientists, policymakers, citizens, businesses, and local authorities to co-design, test, and evaluate innovative solutions in real-world settings. The Living Labs works closely with all parties to co-create, develop and monitor experiments. Starting spring 2025, stakeholders can apply for vouchers to initiate on-farm trials. Initial outcomes will include list of indicators for monitoring and a catalogue of factsheets soil management practices.