Andres Rodriguez Seijo_InBestSoil Project Coordinator
Raul Zornoza_BIOservicES project coordinator
Virginia Sanchez Navarro_BIOservicES presentation
InBestSoil – Jesús Aguilera Huertas, Researcher at Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena & Andrés Rodríguez Seijo, Postdoctoral Researcher at Universidade de Vigo
Once Every Four Years, the World Shapes the Future of Soil Health
VIGO, SPAIN, July 16, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Two European initiatives funded under the Horizon Europe programme — InBestSoil and BIOservicES — both of which support the EU Mission “A Soil Deal for Europe”, took part in the 23rd World Congress of Soil Science (WCSS) convened in Nanjing, China, during June 2026. The congress drew over 3,000 researchers, specialists and decision‑makers from across the globe, offering both projects a platform to unveil their most recent research results, reinforce international partnerships, and add their voices to the worldwide conversation on safeguarding and restoring soil health at a moment when soil degradation ranks among the most urgent environmental and agricultural issues worldwide.
Organised once every four years, the World Congress of Soil Science stands as one of the premier global gatherings devoted to soil science. During this year’s event, InBestSoil and BIOservicES presented two complementary viewpoints on a shared worldwide challenge: deciphering the processes that keep soils healthy and crafting operational instruments that convert scientific insight into real‑world answers for farmers, land stewards and policy‑makers.
For InBestSoil, involvement centred on showcasing the initiative’s newest developments, deepening international cooperation and verifying its approaches alongside the worldwide scientific community. The project was represented with two scientific posters presenting Spanish case studies that explored how agricultural management practices affect soil carbon reserves and microbial diversity, as well as ecosystem recovery processes in former mining zones. The results related to rotational grazing drew notable interest from attendees, providing fresh knowledge about carbon retention in Mediterranean environments.
“Taking part in the World Congress of Soil Science was an excellent chance to communicate InBestSoil’s advances to the international community while also learning from other efforts dealing with comparable issues. Soil degradation, climate change and biodiversity loss do not stop at borders, and real progress hinges on collaboration among researchers, policy‑makers and land managers. Through creating harmonised approaches for appraising ecosystem services, economic models that incentivise sustainable practices, and evidence‑backed policy instruments, InBestSoil contributes directly to the goals of the EU Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’. Healthy soils underpin resilient agriculture, biodiversity protection and long‑term societal welfare,” remarked Andrés Rodríguez Seijo, Coordinator and Researcher of the InBestSoil project.
Apart from boosting the project’s international profile, congress attendance also supported InBestSoil’s dissemination targets. The event surpassed the project’s impact indicator of 10,000 cumulative participants at external events. The project team forged new ties with researchers and policy‑makers from outside the European Union and pinpointed exemplary practices in soil monitoring, digital technologies and standardised research methods that will be integrated into the project’s final stages.
Simultaneously, BIOservicES enriched the congress with a set of scientific talks addressing soil physico‑chemical analyses, greenhouse gas emissions and soil biodiversity across various European regions and land‑use types. Investigators presented findings from the project’s network of experimental sites, demonstrating how biodiversity shapes ecosystem functioning and the services that soils deliver.
The presentations sparked discussions about regional variations across Europe, approaches for quantifying soil greenhouse gas emissions and identifying biological markers to evaluate ecosystem services. Participation also enabled knowledge exchange with researchers around the world and created fresh opportunities for future international research partnerships.
“Participating in the World Congress of Soil Science gave BIOservicES a superb platform to introduce the project’s achievements, trade knowledge with global specialists and reinforce collaboration within the worldwide soil research community. Through its work, BIOservicES improves our grasp of the links among soil health, biodiversity and ecosystem services while building understanding and tools that underpin evidence‑informed policy and sustainable land management. The project’s results directly feed into the objectives of the EU Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’ and help construct more resilient and sustainable ecosystems throughout Europe,” said Raúl Zornoza, Coordinator of the BIOservicES project.
Even though they approach soil health from distinct scientific angles, InBestSoil and BIOservicES illustrate that effective answers arise when foundational research and deployment tools advance together. BIOservicES produces novel insight into the connections between biodiversity, ecosystem function and soil ecosystem services. Meanwhile, InBestSoil devises techniques to appraise these benefits, incorporate them into economic models and convert them into public policies and incentive schemes that encourage sustainable land management practices.
In the months ahead, both projects will proceed to analyse research data and craft recommendations for European policy‑makers, helping the shift toward more resilient farming systems and advancing the implementation of the aims of the EU Mission “A Soil Deal for Europe.”
About InBestSoil
InBestSoil is a Horizon Europe initiative funded by the European Union that seeks to transform how soil health is perceived and valued. The project builds an economic evaluation framework for the ecosystem services supplied by healthy soils and weaves it into business models and investment incentive mechanisms. By generating practical tools, methodologies and scientific evidence, InBestSoil supports public authorities, businesses and land managers in making informed choices that promote soil conservation and restoration. The project unites 19 partners from 10 European countries and aids in realising the EU Mission “A Soil Deal for Europe.” Further details can be found at www.inbestsoil.eu.
About BIOservicES
BIOservicES is a Horizon Europe project funded by the European Union that examines the interactions among soil biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and the ecosystem services these provide. The project develops new indicators, digital tools and decision‑support models to promote climate‑resilient land management. Through collaborative research with partners across Europe, BIOservicES backs evidence‑informed policy and advances the goals of the EU Mission “A Soil Deal for Europe” by fostering the protection and restoration of soil health. Additional information is available at www.bioservices-project.eu.
June Communications
June Communications
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