Soil pollution processes – modelling and inclusion in advanced digital decision-support tools

Closed

Programme Category

EU Competitive Programmes

Programme Name

Horizon Europe (2021-2027)

Programme Description

Horizon Europe is the European Union (EU) funding programme for the period 2021 – 2027, which targets the sectors of research and innovation. The programme’s budget is around € 95.5 billion, of which € 5.4 billion is from NextGenerationEU to stimulate recovery and strengthen the EU’s resilience in the future, and € 4.5 billion is additional aid.

Programme Details

Identifier Code

HORIZON-MISS-2023-SOIL-01-02

Call

Soil pollution processes – modelling and inclusion in advanced digital decision-support tools

Summary

The capacity to carry out a comprehensive scenario analysis at EU level on the impact of key drivers on soil pollution (e.g. societal behaviour, changes in emissions, climate, land management practices) is currently lacking. Soil-oriented fate and transport models exist for certain pollutants (e.g. pesticides, radionuclides, nutrients, metals) but they are generally not integrated with each other, often lack a temporal capacity, and do not always provide a quantification of actual risk to human and environmental health. Models that address the extent, fate, and transport, of emerging contaminants (e.g. microplastics, pharmaceuticals, PFAS) are even scarcer.

Environmental pollution modelling is also often compartmentalized despite a clear understanding that soil can be both a recipient of atmospheric deposition (e.g. nitrogen and sulphur) and a source of atmospheric pollutants and greenhouse gases (e.g. N2O, NH4, CO2, dust, nutrients). While also acting as a buffer to water bodies from pollutants, soils can be at the origin of some of the main problems affecting terrestrial ecosystems, freshwater and marine ecosystems (e.g. nitrification, eutrophication, pesticides, in both water column and sediment) as well as compromise the production of safe food and human health.

There is a clear need to demonstrate that policy measures that affect air quality or industrial emissions can, over time, have a positive impact also on soils and water bodies.

Detailed Call Description

Proposed activities should:

  • Integrate and improve existing models and develop and test new models of soil processes that allow for better and easier integration of and reduced uncertainty about soil-related processes (physical, chemical and biological), with a particular focus on different forms of pollution and with a view to its prevention and reduction.
  • Integrate soil processes modelling for quantification of soil ecosystem services with assessments of threats from diverse pollution sources.
  • Ensure inter-operability between existing databases and their integration into Destination Earth and the EU Soil Observatory.
  • Develop specific use cases for soil modelling towards the integration of local sustainable soil management practices or catchment or field scale modelling. This includes for example, the role of water and wind erosion in the movement of pollutants, nutrient flows in the context of circular economy, interactions between surface-subsurface-groundwater-air components, and links with the objectives of the Oceans and Climate Missions.
  • Develop scenarios based on integrated models that show a) how changes in land management practices can reduce soil pollution (and in consequence air and water pollution) and b) the effects of policies on land management practices that avoid/reduce soil pollution.

Call Total Budget

€14.00 million

Financing percentage by EU or other bodies / Level of Subsidy or Loan

100%

EU Contribution per project: €7.00 million

Thematic Categories

  • Environment and Climate Change
  • Land Development
  • Research, Technological Development and Innovation

Eligibility for Participation

  • Other Beneficiaries
  • Private Bodies
  • Researchers/Research Centers/Institutions
  • Semi-governmental organisations
  • State-owned Enterprises

Eligibility For Participation Notes

The Joint Research Centre (JRC) may participate as member of the consortium selected for funding.

If projects use satellite-based earth observation, positioning, navigation and/or related timing data and services, beneficiaries must make use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS (other data and services may additionally be used).

Call Opening Date

17/01/2023

Call Closing Date

20/09/2023

National Contact Point(s)

Research and Innovation Foundation
29a Andrea Michalakopoulou, 1075 Nicosia,
P.B. 23422, 1683 Nicosia
Telephone: +357 22205000
Fax: +357 22205001
Email: support@research.org.cy
Websitehttps://www.research.org.cy/en/

Contact Person:
Myrto Anastasiadou
Scientific Officer
Email: manastassiadou@research.org.cy

(Publish Date: 21/02/2023-for internal use only)

EU Contact Point