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The EUSO Stakeholders Forum  is an annual event aiming to actively engage and exchange with the soil community, 
from policy makers and scientists to local actors, civil society representatives and citizens.

 


The EUSO Stakeholders Forum 2026 will take place in three parts:

PART I  will include a number of webinars, starting in May and continuing in to the autumn, that will be dedicated to the scientific knowledge for setting non-binding sustainable target values (STVs) and Operational Trigger values (OTVs) of the Soil Monitoring Law (in combination with DG ENV and EEA). 
Dates for these are as follows(click on dates to jump to Webinar information): 20 May,  23 June,  01 July,  September,  October.
 

PART II  will be held online, on 25 June 2026, and will focus on the role of AI to achieve healthy soils by 2050.

PART III   will be held in-person on 9 September 2026 in Coimbra (Portugal), during the Soils for Europe Conference.
 

 

 

PART I  SOIL MONITORING LAW – EUSO/EEA TECHNICAL WORKSHOP

A) 20 May 2026 - "Soil contamination: Metals" (morning session) and "Soil Erosion" (afternoon session)"  

Location:  Online

The first webinar, held on 20 May, will be dedicated to the scientific knowledge for setting non-binding sustainable target values (STVs) and operational trigger values (OTVs) of the Soil Monitoring Law for soil contamination (metals) in the morning, and soil erosion in the afternoon.The webinar was followed by more than 210 participants (Soil contamination session) and 165 particants (soil erosion session). Presentations will be uploaded soon

Presentations:
Contamination Metals (am) 

Link to video
  1. Presentation by DG ENV - Mirco Barbero   
  2. Presentations by JRC/EEA - Arwyn Jones   
  3. Threshold calculator for ecotoxicological effects of metals in soil - Koen Oorts   
  4. Soil threshold values - reflections from a contaminated site management perspective - Dietmar Müller-Grabherr   
  5. Reflections from Germany - Annegret Biegel-Engler   
  6. Reflections from Austria - Andreas Baumgarten   
  7. Reflections from Italy - Antonella Vecchio   

Soil Erosion (pm)

  1. Presentation by DG ENV - Mirco Barbero   
  2. Presentations by JRC/EEA -  Arwyn Jones   
  3. Presentations by JRC - Panos Panagos   
  4. Reflections from Flanders - Seth Callewaert   
  5. Reflections from Austria -  Elmar Schmaltz   
  6. Reflections from Germany - Silvia Pieper  
     

 

B) 23 June 2026: Webinar on SML soil districts, soil units, number and location of sampling sites and LUCAS 2027

Location:  Online


 

Presentations:
am  Link to video

  1. Presentation by DG ENV - Introduction to SML  
  2. Presentation by DG ENV and JRC - Article 4: Soil Districts & Soil Units  
  3. Presentation by DG ENV and JRC - Article 9(1): Number and location of sampling points  
  4. Presentation by DG ENV and JRC - LUCAS 2027 Soil Module  

pm  Link to video

  1. Presentation by DG ENV (Mirco Barbero) - Methodological approach  
  2. Presentation by EUSO (Arwyn Jones) - Approaches for setting STV/OTV  
  3. Presentation by EUSO (Diana Viera) - Scientific considerations for water retention  
  4. Presentation by EUSO (Felipe Yunta) - Scientific considerations for topsoil and subsoil compaction  
  5. Presentation by Federal Agency for Water Management Thomas Weninger - Soil compaction and water retention in Austria  ​

 

C) 01 July 2026: Scientific knowledge for setting non-binding Sustainable Target and Operational Trigger Values

Location:  Online

Presentations:
Salinisation & Acidification (am)  Link to video

  1. Presentation by DG ENV (Esther Goidts) - Metholological approach   
  2. Presentation by JRC/EUSO (Arwyn Jones) - Approaches in setting STV/OTV   
  3. Presentation by JRC/EUSO (Calogero Shillaci) - Scientific considerations for salinisation   
  4. Presentation by JRC/EUSO (Felipe Yunta) - Scientific considerations for acidification   
  5. Presentation by EEAD/CSIC (Carmen Castañeda) - Case study: Salinity in the Ebro Basin   
  6. Presentation by Industrial Minerals Association (IMA-Europe) - Case study: Criteria for combatting acidification   
     

Nutrients (pm)   Link to video

  1. Presentation by DG ENV (Esther Goidts) - Metholological approach   
  2. Presentation by JRC/EUSO (Arwyn Jones) - Approaches in setting STV/OTV   
  3. Presentation by JRC/EUSO (Elise van Eynde) - Scientific considerations for phosphorous and Nitrogen   
  4. Nutrient Management Institute (Maarten van Doorn) - Case study: Soil test methods for plant-available phosphorus and total nitrogen content    
  5. Presentation by TEAGASC (Karen Daly) - Case study: Phosphorus in Ireland   
  6. Presentation by ARGES, Austria (Armin Bajraktarevic) - Case study: Soil test methods for plants - available phosphorus and total nitrogen   
  7. Presentation by EEA & WUR (Rainer Baritz presenting for De Bries et al) - Case study: Development and spatial application of criteria for soil nutrients on EU crop and grasslands   
     

D) September: 

  • am: Carbon
  • pm: Contamination: organic
     

E) October:

  • am: Biodiversity (TBC)
  • pm: Other (TBC)

 

Registration links for these further exchanges will be provided as they become available.

 

 

PART II - 25 June 2026:
"How can AI help us to achieve healthy soils? " 

Location:  Online
 
The second part of the EUSO Stakeholders Forum 2026 will take place 25th of June , and will focus on the role of AI-driven technologies to achieve healthy soils by 2050. The online event will highlight the possible role AI tools can play in soil health assessments and in extrapolating soil health data in time and space. It will also discuss AI-driven decision support systems to support sustainable soil management. 
 
 
 

Call for abstracts/ presentations : We are thankful to more than 30 submissions of excellent abstracts for this event. We have invited specialists with innovative AI-oriented solutions on soil health to provide a title plus an abstract (300 words) for a presentation by 27.5.2026 . After careful selection of most relevant abstracts, EUSO has proposed the Agenda with 14 presentations for this Forum.

Contributions address, among others, the following topics:
a) Leveraging AI to support the pursuit of achieving healthy soils by 2050,
b) Development of AI tools to extrapolate soil health data in time and space,
c)  AI customized as decision-support tools for best soil management practices,
d) AI-driven soil monitoring technologies,
e) Digital Twins,
f) Innovative algorithms focusing on Deep learning for soil properties prediction.


 

 

PART III - 9 September 2026:
"Five Years On: Key Insights from the Mission Soil Program

Location: Hybrid (in person & online)

The EUSO will host the third part of the EUSO Stakeholders Forum 2026 during the Soils for Europe Conference. Mission Soil projects are invited to present their main finding and results, and discuss their contributions to EU soil policies. Five years into the Mission Soil, this session aims to provide an overview of its most important insights and its contributions to soil policies.

Link to the conference webpage

Link to the programme: Day 3 (Five Years On: Key Insights from the Mission Soil Program)

Link to Programme: Day 4 (Your soil data could shape European policy: become a soil data steward)