Future Perspectives – Integrating Soil Capability into Planning: Innovative Tools, Initiatives, and Policy Approaches
Many challenges in implementing effective soil planning and governance policies arise from the limitations of centralised approaches that overlook local specificities. Different regions have distinct soil characteristics, administrative capacities, and governance structures, and these must be considered to ensure that soil management strategies are both effective and equitable.
To achieve truly sustainable soil governance, an integrated approach is essential, one that acknowledges local soil diversity while coordinating efforts across local, regional, national, and international levels. This coordination allows for the correct implementation of soil use and management practices and helps address transboundary soil issues more efficiently by assessing each area’s soil capability in advance.
Soil Capability refers to the assessment of a soil’s condition and its ability to perform essential ecological and agricultural functions, such as sustaining plant growth, filtering water, storing carbon, and supporting soil biodiversity. For instance, land with low organic matter and increasing aridity will have a limited capacity for agricultural productivity. Raising awareness among policymakers and planners about soil capability is key to improving land-use efficiency and ensuring that agricultural and spatial development decisions are grounded in the actual potential of the land. Within an integrated planning framework, soil capability must therefore be seen not as an accessory, but as a core foundation for sustainable soil management.
Another crucial dimension of soil planning is the One Health approach, which recognises the deep interconnection between environmental, animal, and human health. In agriculture, healthy soils are the cornerstone of food security—they support nutrient-rich crops, reduce the spread of soil-borne diseases, and safeguard water quality through natural filtration processes. On the other hand, degraded or contaminated soils can disrupt microbial balance, facilitate the spread of pathogens, and ultimately compromise both ecosystem and public health. Integrating One Health principles into soil planning ensures that agricultural productivity and environmental protection advance together, building resilient food systems that sustain both people and the planet.
Today, technological innovation is making soil planning more data-driven and effective than ever before. Thanks to tools such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS), modelling software, and in-field remote sensors, accessing and analysing soil data has become more efficient and accessible. Reliable, real-time information empowers local authorities and planning managers to make informed, context-specific decisions that address soil challenges proactively. These digital tools represent a major step forward in developing policies and strategies that align environmental sustainability with local development goals
Since the launch of the EU Mission: A Soil Deal for Europe, which aims to restore 75% of European soils’ structure and biochemical properties by 2030, many projects, cities, and regions have initiated new strategies to promote sustainable soil management. Among these, initiatives like the ACR+ Interactive Atlas are helping to map and connect Soil Health Living Labs and Lighthouse initiatives across Europe, contributing to a shared understanding of soil restoration efforts and best practices.
Within this European framework, SPADES is taking a leading role in promoting a soil capability-based approach to spatial and environmental planning. Through the development of the Diagnosis Workbook, SPADES is going to provide its pilot regions with tailored, context-specific strategies to tackle their soil challenges, both from an environmental and an administrative perspective, reflecting the integrated approach proposed above. This hands-on, capability-driven methodology stands as a model for how soil governance can be both locally relevant and globally aligned with EU soil restoration goals.
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