European crop production is to remain competitive while reducing environmental impacts, requiring development and uptake of effective soil improving cropping systems. The overall aim of SOILCARE is to identify and evaluate promising soil-improving cropping systems and agronomic techniques increasing profitability and sustainability across scales in Europe. A trans-disciplinary approach will be used to evaluate benefits and drawbacks of a new generation of soil improving cropping systems, incorporating all relevant bio-physical, socio-economic and political aspects. Existing information from literature and long term experiments will be analysed to develop a comprehensive methodology for assessing performance of cropping systems at multiple levels. A multi-actor approach will be used to select promising soil-improving cropping systems for scientific evaluation in 16 study sites across Europe covering different pedo-climatic and socio-economic conditions. Implemented cropping systems will be monitored with stakeholder involvement, and will be assessed jointly with scientists. Specific attention will be paid to adoption of soil-improving cropping systems and agronomic techniques within and beyond the study sites. Results from study sites will be up-scaled to the European level to draw general lessons about applicability potentials of soil-improving cropping systems and related profitability and sustainability impacts, including assessing barriers for adoption at that scale. An interactive tool will be developed for end-users to identify and prioritize suitable soil-improving cropping systems anywhere in Europe. Current policies and incentives will be assessed and targeted policy recommendations will be provided. SOILCARE will take an active dissemination approach to achieve impact from local to European level, addressing multiple audiences, to enhance crop production in Europe to remain competitive and sustainable through dedicated soil care.

Knowledge regarding the complex interplay between agricultural land use and management and soil quality and function is fragmented and incomplete, in particular with regard to underlying principles and regulating mechanisms. The main aim of iSQAPER is to develop an interactive soil quality assessment tool (SQAPP) for agricultural land users that integrates newly derived process understanding and accounts for the impact of agricultural land use and management on soil properties and functions, and related ecosystem services. For this purpose, >30 long-term experimental field trials in the EU and China will be analysed to derive regulating principles for integration in SQAPP. SQAPP will be developed using a multi-actor approach aiming at facilitating social innovation and providing options to land users for cost-effective agricultural management activities to enhance soil quality and crop productivity. SQAPP will be tested extensively in 14 dedicated Case Study Sites in the EU and China covering a wide spectrum of farming systems and pedo-climatic zones, and rolled-out across the continents thereafter. Within the Case Study sites a range of alternative agricultural practices will be selected, implemented and evaluated with regard to effects on improving soil quality and crop productivity. Proven practices will be evaluated for their potential applicability at EU and China levels, and to assess the related soil environmental footprint under current and future agricultural trends and various agricultural policy scenarios. How the soil quality tool can be utilized for different policy purposes, e.g. in cross compliance and agro-environmental measures, will also be investigated and demonstrated. A comprehensive dissemination and communication strategy, including a web-based information portal, will ensure that project results are available to a variety of stakeholders at the right time and in appropriate formats to enhance soil quality and productivity in the EU and China.

Safe drinking water is vital for human health. Diffuse pollution of nitrogen and pesticides from agriculture is the main obstacle to meet drinking water quality targets. Policies to protect drinking water resources have not achieved a consistent effectiveness in all member states. The objective of FAIRWAY is to review policy, governance and farm water management approaches to protect drinking water resources in the EU and to identify and further develop innovative measures and governance approaches which will simultaneously increase the sustainability of agriculture. The FAIRWAY partners form a unique blend of researchers, farm advisers and consultancies and is built on 13 case studies (‘living labs’) in 11 different EU countries, which will form the core of a multi-actor platform, underpinning all FAIRWAY work packages. Equally important is the upscaling of successful practices from case studies to the regional, national, and EU scales, emphasising the role of effective communication and extension tools developed in FAIRWAY. The outputs will provide a blueprint for multi-actor engagement across different scales, which will allow agriculture and water policies to be addressed in a more integrated way. FAIRWAY will i) increase the scientific understanding of the relationship between agriculture and drinking water protection, ii) increase the understanding for the social, technical and economic barriers to practical implementing of measures (iii) deliver innovative measures and tools to overcome these barriers, iv) develop protocols and data-sets for monitoring of farming practices and water quality, v) develop effective governance approaches for small to large water supplies, and vi) increase awareness and involvement of farmers and other citizens in the monitoring and governance of water supplies. The FAIRWAY results will be widely disseminated to a range of targeted audiences using state-of-the-art technologies, social media and workshops.

The aim of INSPIRATION is to adopt a funder and end-user demand-driven approach to establish and promote the adoption of the knowledge creation, transfer and implementation agenda for land use, land-use changes and soil management in the light of current and future societal challenges. Main objectives are: • Formulate, consult on and revise an end-user oriented strategic research agenda (SRA), • Scope out models of implementing the SRA, • Prepare a network of public and private funding institutions willing to commonly fund the execution of the SRA. INSPIRATION’s mission is to improve the supply and effectiveness of science/knowledge take-up by those who really need it. The proposed methodology is based on a multi-stakeholder, multi-national and interdisciplinary approach that covers the variety of stakeholders (public bodies, business, science, citizens and society) and the variety of relevant. The vehicle to engage with all relevant stakeholders across the Member States is a National Focal Point (NFP) in 16 countries. The NFP’s will organize workshops with national stakeholders of funders, end users and researchers across the various soil and land management disciplines. The results will be taken up, structured along four integrative themes and merging into thematic knowledge needs to satisfy the as yet unmet societal challenges and to ensure that knowledge contributes primarily to enable meeting these challenges. Based on these results a cross country and cross discipline dialogue will subsequently be organized among the relevant user communities, funding bodies and scientific communities in Europe in order to reach a trans-national, prioritized SRA as well as a model for execution of this SRA. Thus to achieve an SRA of which national funders believe that for any Euro they spend, they will get a multitude of Euro’s worth of knowledge in return. Knowledge welcomed to face their national, societal challenges.