SOILSCAPE, a 4-year Horizon Europe project coordinated by the French Soil Science Society (AFES), is launching an open call offering EUR 2.01 million to support artistic and creative projects that raise awareness about soil and foster inclusive soil literacy across Europe.
The call will provide Financial Support to Third Parties (FSTP) in two categories:
1. SOILSCAPE FSTP (EUR 1.05 million)
Supports 12 sub-projects at three geographic scales—local (€50,000), national (€100,000), and transnational (€150,000)—in one of the following action strands:
develop innovative communication campaigns
organise and promote artistic-soil related activities
deploy creative and participatory methods for citizen engagement
Each strand will support:
2 local projects
1 national project
1 transnational project
2. Soil Orchestra FSTP (EUR 960,000)
Funds 24 sub-projects (EUR 40,000 each) embedded in 8 national Soil Orchestras. Each orchestra will support three artistic initiatives that will contribute to regional SOILSCAPE festivals and creative outreach activities.
Soil Orchestras – Countries and creative focus
Italy (CLUST-ER Create) – workshops, public performances, and educational games
Germany (DBG / UGOE) – visual arts, film, and performing arts
Poland (ERDN) – exhibitions, workshops, and staged performances
France (AFES) – varied festival animations and interdisciplinary artistic interventions
Bulgaria (Cleantech Bulgaria) – arts-based engagement for community events
Finland (LUT University) – artist-ambassadors delivering outreach, talks, and demonstrations
Switzerland (FiBL) – exhibitions, educational video games, and films
Portugal (Serralves Foundation) – diverse art forms integrated into public soil festivals
Each Soil Orchestra is led by a regional coordinator and aims to fuse soil science with the arts to reach new audiences and amplify soil literacy.
Who can apply?
individual applicants or small consortia (max 3 entities)
applicants from eligible Horizon Europe countries
projects must be original, not previously funded or implemented
applicants may submit one proposal per FSTP category
Note: Members of the SOILSCAPE consortium and affiliated entities are not eligible.
Timeline:
call opening: 2 June 2025
deadline: 30 September 2025
implementation period: 6, 12, 18 months, with 100% funding of eligible costs
How to apply:
Applications must be submitted exclusively via the opencalls.fund platform:
Applicants should:
read the Open Call Kit and Applicant’s Guide thoroughly
register on the platform and complete the digital submission form
upload all required documents before the deadline: September 30, 2025
monitor the FAQ section for clarifications and updates
Call for evaluators
SOILSCAPE is also recruiting independent evaluators from the fields of soil/environmental sciences and the arts. Evaluations will take place remotely between October and December 2025. Interested professionals can apply by 30 September 2025 via https://opencalls.fund.
More Information
Open call FAQ and resources: https://soilscape.eu
Contact: soilscape@opencalls.fund
Clarification deadline: 48 hours before the submission deadline
Get in touch:
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Executive Agency.