Welcome to SoilWise Project

An open access knowledge and data repository to safeguard soils

Together, we're fostering soil wisdom, advancing agriculture, and building a legacy of greener, healthier soils.

About The Project

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More than ever, soil health is an issue, as recent assessments state that 60-70% of European soils can be considered unhealthy. The Soil Deal for Europe aims to have 75% of EU soils healthy or significantly improved by 2030. Reaching such an ambition requires, among others, access to reliable, harmonised existing and new data and knowledge collected at local, national, and EU levels to allow informed decision-making at all scales to support the Soil Health Law and the EU Soil Strategy.

SoilWise will provide an integrated and actionable access point to scattered and heterogeneous soil data and knowledge in Europe, making them FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) and improve trust, willingness, and ability to share and re-use soil data and knowledge. In three project development cycles, co-creation and co-validation by multi-stakeholder groups are the centre of project activities. SoilWise recognises existing workflows and repositories for specific user needs and aims to work with them to enhance their discoverability, approachability and interconnection. An open, modular, scalable and extensible knowledge and data repository building on existing and new technologies will be provided while respecting data ownership, access policies and privacy. AI- and ML- techniques will be employed to interlink scattered data and knowledge, automatise the processes, infer new knowledge and increase FAIRness. SoilWise applies infrastructure thinking instead of project thinking to design a repository for at least a decade to support EUSO evolvement accordingly.

The SoilWise repository and community are designed to be a joint starting point and common ground for countries, the European Commission and other stakeholders to jointly guide soil and related spatial policy and informed decision-making towards the 2030 goals of the Green Deal, achieve healthy soils in 2050 and ensure broad uptake and implementation by land managers, policy, research and industry.

User Cases

Are you curious about how data can revolutionize soil management and benefit various stakeholder groups? Look no further! The SoilWise project is paving the way for data-driven solutions that enhance soil health, and we're excited to share our 5 user cases that highlight the incredible potential of this endeavor.

Soil Health Performance Indicators for Land Managers

Challenges & Objectives: Land managers, policymakers, researchers, and stakeholders require a mix of data sources to improve soil health. User Case 1 demonstrates how SoilWise data can enhance local soil management by integrating various sources, ensuring privacy, and accelerating soil health solutions through the SoilWise data repository / EUSO.

User Case Leader: Wageningen University & Research

Leveraging a Network of Soil R&I Knowledge and Data

Challenges & Objectives: Linking various soil research and knowledge repositories is crucial. This use case connects existing projects to SoilWise, promoting interoperability and minimizing duplication of effort.
User Case Leader: CIRAD

Policy Making & Evaluation to Safeguard Soil

Challenges & Objectives: Streamlining soil-related reporting for governments and authorities is vital. This user case identifies data-sharing obstacles and implements SoilWise solutions to improve data collection, transparency, and reporting.
User Case Leader: CREA – Ricerca

Enhanced Capacities of Public Authorities and LLs Actors

Challenges & Objectives: This use case focuses on making soil data FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) by minimizing user barriers. It aims to strike a balance between data quality and quantity.
User Case Leader: Departement Omgeving (DOMG)

Repository for New Products, Technologies, and Services

Challenges & Objectives: This case explores how stakeholders like farmers, landowners, and technology providers can benefit from SoilWise data. It aims to create multi-sided business models for sustainable growth.
User Case Leader: Gaia Επιχειρείν

Activities

Ongoing actions carried out to achieve the objectives

  1. Co-design a user driven SoilWise repository
  2. Develop suite of tools and strategy to FAIRness on data
  3. Develop suite of tools and strategy for knowledge management
  4. Deliver a populated & validated SoilWise repository
  5. Identify, demonstrate and assess user cases
  6. Engage stakeholders to maximize impact & outreach
  7. Manage project & maintain ethics requirements

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