Editorial for the EJP SOIL Special Issue 1 on “Climate-Smart Sustainable Agricultural Soil Management for the Future”

It all began in a dark and crammed room in the basement of an unadorned office building close to the Eiffel Tower in Paris. It was broodingly hot, and outside a strike led to a standstill of public transport. Inside some 20 scientists juggled ideas and started gluing together what was to become the Research Programme EJP SOIL. What is EJP SOIL? It is an European Joint Programme on Agricultural Soil Management addressing key societal challenges including climate change and future food supply. EJP SOIL unites a unique group of 26 partner institutions, 46 including linked third parties from 24 European countries with 1327 experts collaborating. This is made possible by 5 years of funding under Horizon Europe 2020 with 50% national co-funding (https://ejpsoil.eu/). The aim is to pool national research efforts in order to make better use of Europe's research and development resources.

Why was EJP SOIL initiated? Soil provides a wide range of ecosystem services and plays a critical role in climate change adaptation and mitigation. At the same time soil is a limited resource and it is fragile. The Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’ estimated that 60%–70% of all soils in the EU are unhealthy due to current management practices, pollution, urbanisation and the effects of climate change. Climate change necessitates that European agriculture adapts and becomes more resilient to extreme events (droughts, fires, heatwaves, storms, and heavy rain), which have increased significantly over the past decade. European agricultural soils contain 31% of the EU's total soil carbon stocks and have the potential to store more carbon. However, those soils are severely affected by the loss of soil organic carbon (SOC, biodiversity, nutrients and increased salinization, sealing, compaction and pollution. Improved knowledge and farming practices are fundamental to address these challenges. Actions in stopping the damages are dependent on societal, scientific, policy, economic and educational capacities. The EJP SOIL goal is to improve the understanding of agricultural soil management by finding synergies in research, strengthening research communities and contributing to public policies.

EJP SOIL takes into account the need for effective policy solutions and strategic multi-actor approach allowing to initiate inter-society dialogues and the adoption of best practices. Following this narrative, the first year of this five-year programme focused on taking stock of soil problems and their possible solutions, soil knowledge and soil knowledge gaps, and on expertise and availability of data. This is reflected in this first Special Issue of EJP SOIL by 10 surveys, eight reviews and four research papers. A new article type “Survey Article” was developed and introduced within the EJSS to contribute to systematic assessments across European countries, allowing to know the soil status and development of research and state of play.

All papers resulting from EJP SOIL relate to one or more of the six “Expected Impacts” (EIs, Table 1) which were defined before the start of the programme. These EIs include targeted activities in response to societal, scientific, policy and operational challenges. They are crucial in integrating the impact of project activities and how they lead to expected outputs and forecasted outcomes of EJP SOIL, not only in the short term but also in the long term.

In the following we highlight some important new insights on these six topics displayed in this Special Issue.

This first Special Issue of the European Journal of Soil Science highlights the significant contributions of the EJP SOIL programme in advancing sustainable and climate-smart soil management in Europe. Through a combination of surveys, reviews, and research articles, it provides critical insights into the six Expected Impacts (EIs) of the programme, including fostering sustainable soil management, understanding carbon sequestration, and promoting stakeholder adoption of best practices. The findings in this Special Issue also highlight the importance of harmonised soil data systems, cooperative research, and region-specific approaches to address fertilisation and soil health challenges effectively. These contributions align with European Union goals, such as the ‘Green Deal’ and the ‘Soil Monitoring Law’ as well as the ‘Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming Certification Framework’, offering actionable pathways to enhance the resilience and sustainability of Europe's agricultural soils.

A key resource that supports these efforts is the EJP SOIL Knowledge Sharing Platform (https://ejpsoil.eu/knowledge-sharing-platform), which serves as a hub for collaboration among scientists, policymakers, and practitioners. As the synthesis and publication of EJP SOIL outputs continues in Special Issue 2 and other venues, the lessons and innovations presented here will serve as a foundation for future research, policymaking, and practice. Collectively, these efforts will contribute to the sustainable management of Europe’s soils, addressing the challenges of climate change and growing food demands.

Sophie Zechmeister-Boltenstern: conceptualization, investigation, supervision, writing – original draft, writing – review and editing, data curation, resources. Rajasekaran Murugan: investigation, writing – original draft, writing – review and editing, data curation, resources. Rebecca Hood-Nowotny: writing – review and editing, data curation, resources. Lars Munkholm: writing – review and editing, data curation, resources. Claire Chenu: writing – review and editing, funding acquisition, project administration, data curation, resources. Katharina Meurer: writing – original draft, writing – review and editing, investigation, data curation, resources.