"net4SoilHealth" - Soil based decisions

The Bridge2ERA2021 project (integration of the Central Eastern and South Eastern European region into the European Research Area) entitled “net4SoilHealth” aims to establish a network to develop sustainable solutions to improve soil health in Europe and to promote their implementation in agricultural practice, especially in Central and Eastern Europe. The project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, while the technical management is under the responsibility of Professor Dr. Silvia Bachmann-Pfabe at Neubrandenburg University of Applied Sciences, who holds the Chair of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science in Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences.

The network currently consists of representatives from six research institutions from four European countries. In addition to Neubrandenburg University of Applied Sciences, the following are also involved:

Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology (INP) (Dr. Hans Sawade & Dr. Christine Zädow),
University of Rostock (Prof. Dr. Bettina Eichler-Löbermann),
Agroscope (Switzerland) (Prof. Dr. Lutz Merbold & Dr. Klaus Jarosch),
Vytautas Magnus University (Lithuania) (Prof. Dr. Vida Mildažienė, Prof. Dr. Gintare Sujetoviene & M.Sc. Auguste Judickaite) and
University of Zadar (Croatia) (Prof. Dr. Tomislav Kos)

As part of the first funding phase (01/2025 - 12/2025), the existing consortium is to be expanded to include additional stakeholders from science, business and society. The focus here is on involving both scientific and practice-oriented experts in the fields of soil protection, soil health and soil remediation and revitalization from Central and South-Eastern Europe. The aim of the second funding phase (01/2026 - 06/2026) is to submit a project application as part of the framework of the EU Horizon Program.

Updates

In order to achieve the project goals, 4 workshops are planned together with the European partners. The aim of these interdisciplinary meetings is to create synergies between the various disciplines of expertise. Soil physical, biological and chemical as well as social, economic and cultural findings will be integrated into the discourse in order to properly do justice to the country-specific framework conditions.

The first project meeting took place on March 12 and 13, 2025 at the Neubrandenburg University of Applied Sciences. During the two-day workshop, which was organized in close cooperation with the Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology (INP), four main topics were outlined that are relevant for future cooperation and set the basis for project applications.

The second project meeting took place online on July 2, 2025. The written and formulated key topics were discussed and compared with the future EU calls. In addition, existing and required areas of expertise were identified for the key topics and suggestions for potential new project partners were developed.

The third project meeting is scheduled to take place in Kaunas/Lithuania in November 2025.

The fourth and final project meeting is planned for March 2026 in Zadar/Croatia.