Objectives

As part of the vision to achieve healthy soils by 2050, the Work Programme positions the Mission A Soil Deal for Europe as a key instrument for implementation, alongside the EU Soil Strategy for 2030 and the proposal for a Directive on Soil Monitoring and Resilience. It recognises the Mission’s main target of establishing 100 living labs and lighthouses to support farmers to improve their soils in a challenging geopolitical and environmental context. The Work Programme 2026–2027 builds on previous projects, actions and results, introducing specific actions to engage more and new actors across value chains, achieve more advanced and closer-to-market solutions, and address remaining knowledge gaps. It aims to accelerate the development, deployment and adoption of cutting-edge technologies and practices to restore and protect soil health; foster collaboration between research institutions, land managers, industry, advisors, SMEs, consumers and other stakeholders (and with other EU initiatives) to drive innovation and knowledge transfer; strengthen the Mission’s business dimension by supporting economically viable models and sustainable value chains on the ground; and explore the interlinkages between human and soil health, contributing to a more integrated One Health approach.

In this 2026 call, actions cover: (i) equipping stakeholders to sample, analyse and interpret soil health indicators, improving reliability and accessibility of soil health data, strengthening understanding of soil data limitations and uncertainties, and supporting standards and reference frameworks; (ii) addressing antimicrobial resistance and antibiotic biosynthesis in soils through a One-Health approach, improving evidence-based strategies, access to enriched databases, and citizens’ awareness; (iii) enabling user-centred and open innovation initiatives to tackle soil health challenges in Ukraine and support EU’s efforts towards Ukraine’s long-term reconstruction; and (iv) leveraging long-term field experiments and other datasets to develop AI-ready decision support systems for sustainable soil management, improving adoption of impactful solutions and harmonised, interoperable data collection and integration.

Actions

This call covers the following topics:

HORIZON-MISS-2026-05-SOIL-01: Monitoring soil health in practice: equipping stakeholders to sample, analyse, and interpret soil health indicators

HORIZON-MISS-2026-05-SOIL-02: Antimicrobial resistance and antibiotic biosynthesis in soils: developing key understanding and counteractive strategies using a One-Health approach

HORIZON-MISS-2026-05-SOIL-03: Enabling user-centred and open innovation initiatives to enhance soil health in Ukraine

HORIZON-MISS-2026-05-SOIL-04: Leveraging long-term field experiments and other datasets to develop AI-ready decision support systems for sustainable soil management