World Soil Day 2025: Tracking This Year’s Progress for Soil in Land Planning in Europe
Since being designated by the UN General Assembly in 2014, World Soil Day has been held annually on 5 December as a means to focus attention on the importance of healthy soil and to advocate for the sustainable management of soil resources. It represents a worldwide recognition of the fact that soil is essential for the survival of humanity - an assertion underpinned by prolific scientific evidence.
Case in point - soils play a key role in food production. According to Food and Agriculture Organisation, roughly 95% of our food comes from soils, so if we are to withstand world hunger and achieve higher food security regionally, nationally or at the community level, we have to be mindful of soil health – it is estimated that up to 58% more food could be produced through sustainable soil management. But that is not only about quantity – poor soils give us poorer quality food. Two billion people worldwide suffer from a lack of micronutrients, known as hidden hunger. Soils supply 15 of the 18 naturally occurring chemical elements essential to plants.
What’s more, soil is home to nearly 59% of Earth’s species and is therefore essential for biodiversity. There are more living organisms in a tablespoon of soil than people on Earth. Caring for soil is also one of the most powerful nature-based solutions against pollution – around 80% of terrestrial carbon is captured in soils.
Soil is increasingly recognised as a foundational component of global and European biodiversity strategies. International frameworks such as the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework highlight soil biodiversity as a core element of ecosystem restoration. Within the EU, the EU Soil Strategy for 2030 serves as a framework and concrete measures to protect and restore soils and ensure that soils are used sustainably, while the Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 explicitly links healthy soils to habitat restoration, species protection and ecosystem resilience, reinforcing that soil stewardship is crucial for achieving Europe’s environmental commitments.
With this year’s World Soil Day theme – Healthy soils for healthy cities – European cities are offered a chance to take over the torch of advocacy for including soils in planning healthier urban environments. Although it can be said that urban soil health studies are uneven and rarely examine links to human health, recent research shows that green infrastructure boosts soil health, contributing to shared public goods and better health outcomes for urban populations.
Recognition of Soil Cause in Europe: EU Mission Soil and Soil Monitoring Directive
Responding to this challenge, the European Commission has launched Mission Soil, which aims to accelerate the transition towards healthy soils by 2030 through the establishment of 100 living labs and lighthouses across Europe. Mission Soil sits alongside the other Horizon Europe missions on climate change adaptation, cancer, climate-neutral and smart cities, and ocean and water restoration. Its placement in this high-level group reflects a growing recognition that soil health underpins many of the crises Europe must confront, including climate impacts, biodiversity loss, rapid urbanisation and risks to human well-being.
As a result, soil has re-emerged as a central topic in European policy and research. Mission Soil now supports a broad portfolio of initiatives designed to strengthen cooperation between scientists, policy makers and practitioners. One of these initiatives is SPADES, which examines how local planning systems can better incorporate soil knowledge. By bringing together soil specialists and spatial planners, SPADES aims to embed soil considerations into everyday planning routines so that development becomes more resilient and contributes to long-term soil stewardship.
To reinforce these efforts, the EU has also adopted dedicated legislation. The Soil Monitoring Directive (or Soil Monitoring Law) – adopted by the EU Council on 29 September 2025 followed by the endorsement by the European Parliament on the 23 of October – establishes a unified framework for assessing and improving soil conditions throughout Europe. Although discussions continue regarding the level of ambition, the adoption of the directive represents a major milestone. Its long-term vision of achieving healthy soils by 2050 is a direct response to the finding that around 70% of European soils are currently in poor condition, and meeting this vision will require coordinated work across research, policy and local practice.
Taken together, Mission Soil and the Soil Monitoring Directive signal a strong political commitment to elevating soil health across Europe. They affirm that safeguarding soil is fundamental to addressing the environmental polycrisis and demonstrate that action taken today will yield lasting benefits for communities, landscapes and economies well into the future.
SPADES’ Contribution to Soil Cause: Taking Stock of 2025
SPADES is working with 17 pilots to harness the potential of spatial planning to counter the long-standing tendency to overlook soil in urban and regional development. By combining cutting-edge soil science with spatial planning practice, the project promotes more sustainable and land-conscious approaches across European cities and communities. Its systemic and co-creative methodology brings together local authorities, practitioners and researchers to design soil-inclusive strategies that strengthen ecosystem resilience and support societal well-being.
This approach integrates soil health into green, blue and grey infrastructure so that planning solutions meet both environmental and social needs. It is grounded in learning by doing, as strategies are tested and refined across the 17 diverse pilot sites representing urban, peri-urban and rural contexts. Throughout this process, SPADES emphasises co-creation and inclusivity by actively engaging a wide range of stakeholders – from community members to policy makers and technical experts – to ensure that the resulting strategies are relevant, equitable and trusted.
Together, these elements form a multi-pronged methodology that enables SPADES to develop adaptable, inclusive and effective pathways for soil-aware spatial planning.
We are pleased to introduce two core SPADES tools that support regions, planners and practitioners in making soil a visible, actionable component of spatial planning across Europe:
- Evaluation Framework for Soil-Inclusive Instruments and Practices: This framework provides a rigorous, step-by-step method for identifying which soil-related instruments and practices are most promising for real-world planning contexts. Unlike a simple catalogue, it systematically filters, scores and curates long lists of tools and cases to generate high-quality shortlists that are usable, diverse and aligned with planning needs. Check it out here.
- SPADES Diagnosis Workbook: The Diagnosis Workbook is the practical complement to the Evaluation Framework. Where the framework identifies what tools and practices are most promising, the workbook helps regions understand how and where to use them. It guides pilot territories through a structured diagnostic process that includes stakeholder mapping, policy review and assessment of local soil conditions. This consistent, comparable format allows teams across Europe to establish a shared starting point for co-creation. Check it out here.
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World Soil Day reminds us that soil is not an infinite resource – it requires care, science-based action and long-term commitment. SPADES contributes to this ambition by helping cities and regions understand their soils, plan with soil in mind and co-create strategies that safeguard soil functions for future generations. As Europe strengthens its soil legislation and accelerates research and innovation through Mission Soil, SPADES offers concrete pathways for turning these ambitions into practice.
Let us conclude with a call to action: let 2026 be a year in which more communities, planners and decision makers integrate soil into every stage of spatial planning. Healthy soils are the foundation of healthy cities – and together, we can ensure that they thrive.
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