STRENGTHENING
TERRITORIES,
EMPOWERING
COMMUNITIES,
PROTECTING SOILS

HEALTHY SOILS. SHARED RESPONSIBILITY.

SOILSTICE brings citizens, municipalities and land managers together to protect soil through shared local agreements.

People working together to plant a young tree in healthy soil

01 / ABOUT THE PROJECT

Putting healthy soils at
the heart of local action

Healthy soils underpin food security, biodiversity, climate resilience and community wellbeing, yet across Europe, action to protect them remains fragmented. SOILSTICE is changing that, putting healthy soils at the heart of local action. Bringing together soil scientists, local and regional authorities, policy networks and grassroots organisations, the project turns European soil ambitions into practical, participatory solutions on the ground.

At its core are Territorial Management Agreements (TMAs), a new governance approach that brings communities, municipalities, farmers and land managers together to protect and restore soil health. By strengthening soil literacy, building local capacity, engaging citizens and connecting local action with European policy, SOILSTICE creates lasting systems for soil stewardship that can be replicated across Europe.

Over three years, the project will co-create 40 TMAs across at least 11 countries, engage more than 10,000 citizens, and train at least 200 local authority representatives, strengthening territories, empowering communities, and protecting the soils we all depend on.

11: countries
40: local agreements
10,000+: citizens to engage
200+: people to train

02 / WHY IT MATTERS

ECOLISE — European network for community-led initiatives on climate change and sustainability

Turning shared responsibility into
lasting soil protection

SOILSTICE matters because European soil governance is fragmented and soil literacy at the citizen and municipal level is low, leaving local authorities without the tools to translate EU ambitions into concrete action. The project’s core impact is institutionalising Territorial Management Agreements (TMAs) as a replicable governance instrument — co-creating 40 TMAs across 11 countries by 2029, engaging over 10,000 citizens, and training 200+ facilitators and municipal staff, scaling toward 500+ TMAs and ~20 million hectares by 2040. By embedding measurable soil health indicators into binding local agreements, SOILSTICE directly supports Mission Soil’s target of 75% healthy soils by 2030 and creates durable, cross-cycle accountability for soil stewardship at the territorial level. Ultimately, it bridges local democratic practice with EU policy (CAP, the Soil Monitoring Law, biodiversity strategy), giving soil protection a governance mechanism that survives changes in political leadership.

Abdul Otman, SOILSTICE Coordinator, ECOLISE - the European Network for Community-Led Initiatives on Climate Change and Sustainability

Community members planting together in a freshly prepared field

03 / OUR APPROACH

From common ground
to shared commitment

Territorial Management Agreements (TMAs) are binding local agreements that bring municipalities, farmers, land managers and citizens together to protect and restore soil health.