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, InBestSoil and BIOservicES, both financed through the Horizon Europe programme of the European Union and aligned with the EU Mission “A Soil Deal for Europe”, took part in the 23rd World Congress of Soil Science (WCSS), which convened in Nanjing, China, during June 2026. The gathering attracted over 3,000 researchers, specialists, and decision-makers from across the globe, offering both projects a platform to unveil their most recent scientific discoveries, deepen international partnerships, and engage in the worldwide conversation around safeguarding and revitalizing soil health at a moment when soil degradation continues to rank among the most urgent environmental and agricultural issues facing the planet.
Occurring once every four years, the World Congress of Soil Science stands as one of the premier scientific gatherings worldwide devoted to soil research. During this year’s edition, InBestSoil and BIOservicES offered two distinct yet complementary viewpoints on a shared global issue: deciphering the processes that underpin healthy soils and crafting actionable instruments that convert scientific understanding into practical solutions for agricultural producers, land stewards, and policy officials.
For InBestSoil, involvement centered on sharing the initiative’s most recent advancements, reinforcing international cooperation, and verifying its approaches alongside the worldwide scientific community. The project was showcased through two scientific posters that examined Spanish case studies exploring how agricultural management approaches affect soil carbon sequestration and microbial diversity, together with ecosystem recovery processes in former mining zones. The results concerning rotational grazing practices drew notable attention from attendees, providing fresh perspectives on carbon storage within Mediterranean environments.
“Taking part in the World Congress of Soil Science provided a significant chance to disseminate InBestSoil’s achievements to the international community while gaining insights from other projects tackling comparable challenges. Soil degradation, climate change, and biodiversity loss do not respect borders, and real advancement hinges on cooperation among researchers, policymakers, and land managers. By creating standardized approaches for evaluating ecosystem services, economic frameworks that incentivize sustainable practices, and evidence-based policy instruments, InBestSoil makes a direct contribution to the aims of the EU Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’. Healthy soils serve as the bedrock for resilient agriculture, biodiversity protection, and enduring societal welfare,” stated Andrés Rodríguez Seijo, Coordinator and Researcher of the InBestSoil project.
Beyond raising the project’s global profile, involvement in the congress also advanced InBestSoil’s dissemination targets. The gathering surpassed the initiative’s impact benchmark of 10,000 cumulative participants attending external events. The project team additionally forged fresh links with researchers and policymakers outside the European Union and pinpointed exemplary approaches in soil surveillance, digital tools, and unified research methods, which will be integrated into the project’s concluding efforts.
In parallel, BIOservicES made its mark at the congress through a sequence of scientific presentations addressing soil physicochemical characteristics, greenhouse gas emissions, and soil biological variety across various European regions and land-use categories. Investigators shared results from the project’s network of experimental sites, demonstrating how biodiversity shapes ecosystem operations and the services that soils deliver.
These presentations stimulated conversations about regional variations throughout Europe, approaches for quantifying soil greenhouse gas emissions, and the identification of biological markers for assessing ecosystem services. The congress also enabled knowledge sharing with researchers from around the globe and unlocked fresh avenues for prospective international research partnerships.
“Being present at the World Congress of Soil Science gave BIOservicES a superb platform to showcase the project’s advancements, swap insights with global specialists, and reinforce collaboration within the worldwide soil research community. Through its work, BIOservicES deepens our comprehension of the connections among soil condition, biological diversity, and ecosystem services, while also generating knowledge and instruments that underpin evidence-informed policy creation and sustainable land stewardship. The project’s achievements directly support the goals of the EU Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’ and contribute to constructing more robust and sustainable ecosystems throughout Europe,” remarked Raúl Zornoza, Coordinator of the BIOservicES project.
Even though they address soil health from differing scientific angles, InBestSoil and BIOservicES illustrate that effective solutions appear when fundamental inquiry and implementation instruments advance together. BIOservicES produces fresh understanding about the links among biodiversity, ecosystem function, and soil ecosystem services. At the same time, InBestSoil creates approaches to evaluate these advantages, incorporate them into economic frameworks, and convert them into public policies and reward systems that foster sustainable land management practices.
During the months ahead, both projects will persist in analyzing research data and formulating suggestions for European policymakers, aiding the shift toward more resilient farming systems and advancing the implementation of the EU Mission “A Soil Deal for Europe” objectives.
About InBestSoil
InBestSoil represents a Horizon Europe initiative financed by the European Union designed to revolutionize how soil health is perceived and valued. The project builds an economic evaluation structure for the ecosystem services that healthy soils deliver and embeds it into business models and investment incentive systems. Through the creation of practical tools, methodologies, and scientific evidence, InBestSoil enables public authorities, enterprises, and land managers to make well-informed choices that promote soil preservation and rehabilitation. The initiative unites 19 partners from 10 European nations and furthers the execution of the EU Mission “A Soil Deal for Europe.” Further details can be found at www.inbestsoil.eu.
About BIOservicES
BIOservicES is a Horizon Europe initiative financed by the European Union that explores the connections between soil biodiversity, ecosystem operations, and the ecosystem services they supply. The project creates novel indicators, digital instruments, and decision-support models to encourage climate-resilient land management approaches. Through cooperative research with partners across Europe, BIOservicES strengthens evidence-informed policy development and advances the aims of the EU Mission “A Soil Deal for Europe” by fostering the protection and recovery of soil health. Additional information is accessible at www.bioservices-project.eu.
June Communications
June Communications
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