Soil health is rapidly moving from scientific discussion to concrete European policy — and the new EU Soil Monitoring Law marks a turning point. To explore what this means in practice, we invite you to join our webinar on July 1st (15:00), which takes participants through the full journey from EU policy to practical implementation. The webinar will be in English. You can find the exact programme in the document attached. You can register here.
During this 1.5–2 hour webinar, we explore:
- the EU framework for soil protection and the monitoring obligations under the Soil Monitoring Law
- Europe’s response through the Soil Mission, including Living Labs and Lighthouses
- how countries translate policy into practice, with a case study from the Netherlands
- what the Soil Law means for forests, nature areas, cities and industrial sites
- how extension services and the agri‑food sector prepare for upcoming requirements
- how soil health can be monitored in a harmonised, scalable way across Europe
- and finally, a scientific reflection on what is realistic before 2030 and where the biggest opportunities lie
In short: from policy, to national implementation, to stakeholders, to measurement — and finally reflection.
Programme
Opening & Introduction (5 min)
Everhard van Essen (NBV chair; Aequator Groen + Ruimte)
• Welcome
• Program overview, outline of the session
1. Soil health and EU Soil policies – The EU Soil Monitoring Law (20 min)
Nils Broothaerts (EU Soil Observatory, Joint Research Centre, European Commission)
• Overview of the Framework for Soil Protection in the EU
• Overview of the Soil Monitoring Law; monitoring obligations & indicators
• Opportunities for science and practice
• The role of the EU Soil Observatory
2. Science to Policy: how the Mission Soil projects, soil scientists and networks contribute to the (implementation of the) Soil Monitoring Law (15 min)
Fenny van Emond (Soil data and sensing at ISRIC and WEN) International response
• Soil Mission Living Labs & Lighthouses Mission objectives
• Role of innovation and data
• Links with national initiatives, developments in other countries
3. Case Study Netherlands – Indicators & validation; how do we measure soil health? (10 min)
Jana Zwetsloot (Knowledge coordinator Soil health at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food security, Fisheries and
Nature)
• Approach and first results
• CCNL project & lessons for scaling
4. Soil Law and the forest/nature & urban/industrial perspective (10 min)
Saskia Keesstra (WUR / Climate-KIC)
• What the Soil Law means for nature and cities
• Opportunities for integrated monitoring
5. Extension services perspective (10 min)
Sander Maes (Arvesta, Belgium/Neth./Germany/France)
• How the extension services sector prepares for Soil Law requirements
• Bottom-up approach
6. Actual monitoring: harmonisation of soil health testing (10 min)
Maurits Voogt (Eurofins)
• Routine testing & harmonisation across Europe
• From scattered practices to scalable standardized solutions
7. Reflection on the afternoon / panel discussion (10 min)
Saskia Visser (Climate KIC director of strategic partnership and opportunity development)
• Scientific reflection on policy–practice alignment
• What is realistic before 2030
• Key gaps & opportunities for Europe
Closure (5 min)
Everhard van Essen (NBV chair; Aequator Groen + Ruimte
We look forward to an inspiring session that brings science, policy and practice together.
