Following the Soils for Europe Conference, held in Coimbra, Portugal, from 7 to 11 September 2026, we published a press release summing up the event and its key outcomes.
The conference brought together around 500 participants and about 40 co-organising projects working under the EU Mission “A Soil Deal for Europe”. Opening with contributions from representatives of the European Commission and Martin Hojsík, Vice-President of the European Parliament, the week focused on turning scientific knowledge into evidence-based policy and practice.
The press release explains why the conference came at such a pivotal moment, with the EU’s first dedicated law on soil health now in force and negotiations on the next Common Agricultural Policy under way. It also looks back at the highlights of the week, including the official launch of the Soil Data Catalogue, the EUSO Forum on five years of Mission Soil, a policy session on the future CAP and soil health, a Project Fair at the Botanical Garden of Coimbra, around 150 poster presentations and the Soil Banquet, a participatory culinary performance.
As lead organiser, #SOLO used the conference to open its own work to the wider community, inviting participants to review its nine transdisciplinary research and innovation roadmaps, presenting a pilot set of Key Performance Indicators developed with the Mission Soil Board, and outlining a pathway to reduce the EU’s global soil footprint.
The press release is available on AlphaGalileo and EurekAlert!, and was already shared by Innovation News Network and the University of Antwerp.
