Engaging citizens in soil monitoring: the project ECHO
Centro Interuniversitário de História das Ciências e da Tecnologia, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal; Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes & CHANGE - Global Change and Sustainability Institute, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal
Soil is a vital, yet often disregarded, resource that supports life on Earth by providing the foundation for agriculture, forests, and various other natural ecosystems. However, soil degradation is a growing concern around the world, and it can have severe consequences for our planet like reduced crop yields, increased greenhouse gas emissions, and decreased biodiversity. ECHO aims to prevent this by bringing together citizens and volunteer scientists from around Europe to work towards a common goal of protecting and preserving our soils, thus contributing to the transition towards healthy soils of the EU Mission: “A Soil Deal for Europe”. ECHO is a Research and Innovation Action funded by the European Union, under the GA 101112869, Program Horizon Europe topic HORIZON-MISS-2022-SOIL-01-09. The project is based on three main principles: engaging citizens, empowering them with knowledge and an active role in data collection, and enabling them to participate in decision-making on soil issues. ECHO will generate new data on the health status of EU soils, complementing existing soil mapping and monitoring in EU Member States, including the EU Soil Observatory (EUSO). The project will develop and deploy 28 tailor-made citizen science initiatives across EU Member States, taking into account different land-uses, soil types, and biogeographical regions, as well as stakeholder needs. With 16 participants from all over Europe, including 10 leading universities and research centres, 4 SMEs, and 2 Foundations, under the coordination of the Free University of Bolzano-Bozen, ECHO will assess 16,500 sites in different climate and biogeographic regions to achieve its ambitious goals.
Keywords: Citizen science; Soil science; Mission Soil; Monitoring; Data collection
