About SoilValues

SoilValues is a 4-year Horizon Europe research project (Grant Agreement 101091308) running from January 2023 to December 2026. A consortium of 14 partners across 9 European countries is co-developing the conditions, business models, and incentives that make soil-health investment economically viable for European farmers and value-chain actors.

Our mission

60 to 70% of EU soils are in an unhealthy condition (EU Soil Observatory). Soil degradation costs Europe €50 billion per year. Yet land managers — who would have to invest most in restoring soil — generally have little incentive to do so, because they cannot capture the value generated by improved ecosystem services. SoilValues exists to change that, by:

Building a science-based assessment framework for soil-health business models
Establishing 7 testing grounds across 6 European countries to test real models
Setting up 12 Communities of Practice across 9 European countries
Designing a comprehensive toolbox of incentives — the one you're using now
Raising awareness and exchanging knowledge across stakeholders

Consortium

KU LeuvenBE

Project coordinator + WP6 Data Management

WP6

EV ILVOBE

WP2 Lead — testing grounds methodology

WP2

Wageningen ResearchNL

WP1 Lead — assessment framework

WP1

Wageningen UniversityNL

Bioeconomic modelling, ecosystem services

WP1

ELOBE

WP5 Lead — communication & dissemination

WP5

CONSULAIPT

WP3 Lead — Communities of Practice

WP3

Aarhus UniversityDK

D2.3 Lead — TG monitoring & evaluation

WP2

KOIS (now Human Planet)BE

WP4 Lead, incentives and toolbox

WP4

MR F&A ConsultBE

Project management support

WP6

IRWiR PANPL

Polish testing ground (SOILPROFIT)

WP2WP3

Thünen InstituteDE

D4.2 Lead — Policy Delphi roadmap

WP4

ABERS

Serbian CoP — Regenerative Agriculture Alliance

WP3

INTIAES

Spanish CoP — Carbon farming Navarra

WP3

FOALLT

Lithuanian CoP — Forestry scaling

WP3

How the toolbox was built

Structure of the toolbox

The toolbox is organised in three layers: (1) a menu of public and private incentives with recommendations on how to combine them; (2) country-specific enabling conditions; and (3) combinations of incentives tested in the SoilValues testing grounds and with stakeholders.

Sources

Stakeholder interviews conducted by KOIS in the six testing-ground countries (2024 to 2025)
WP4 discussion paper (Vanzini et al., 2024)
SoilValues policy briefs (Van Ruymbeke et al., 2025)
D4.2 roadmap and Policy Delphi (Schwarz et al., 2026)
Testing-ground business model canvases (Cillen et al., 2024; Smit et al., 2024)
Evidence matrices of management practices, ecosystem services and soil health (Wang-Touri et al., 2025; Wang-Touri et al., 2026a)
Communities of Practice (Próspero et al., 2024)

Link with the assessment framework (WP1)

Practices are linked to 20 ecosystem services using the evidence matrix developed by WP1. Case study farms from the SoilValues testing grounds illustrate how the toolbox applies to practices that farmers considered or implemented.

Business models

The toolbox presents six testing-ground business models from Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and Portugal.

Typology

Two strategic types (Carbon and ecosystem-service markets; Risk sharing and insurance) extend the typology of Schwarz et al. (2026).

Cite the toolbox as: SoilValues D4.3 Interactive toolbox of incentives, 2026. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23532003

Sister projects under EU Mission Soil

NOVASOIL

Novel business models and economic assessment of soil ecosystem services.

InBestSoil

Investing in soil health by economic incentivisation of land managers.

As fellow projects under the same Horizon Europe Soil Mission call, we collaborate on shared methodology, joint workshops, and aligned policy recommendations. Database fields are designed to be shared with sister-project toolboxes. We work with sister projects towards consistent EU-level guidance on incentives.

Frequently asked questions

Contact

Coordinator email: info.soilvalues@kuleuven.be

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Funded by the European Union — Horizon Europe Mission Soil.