CURIOSOIL

The EU Mission: A Soil Deal for Europe aims to achieve healthy soils by 2030. Within this context, the EU-funded CURIOSOIL project will work on improving soil literacy in society. This will be pursued through multi-sensorial soil experiences, educational products, course materials and teacher training programmes. All these resources will be co-created and piloted by educators and Communities of Practice (CoPs) across 15 European countries and will be used to promote student and citizen engagement. The project will focus on four impact pathways: triggering soil curiosity, enhancing soil literacy, empowering communities and initiatives dedicated to soil education, and influencing educational policymaking.

CURIOSOIL ambition is to trigger Soil Curiosity and create connections between people and soil. In line with the EU Mission “A Soil Deal for Europe”, CURIOSOIL aims to contribute to transforming the way soil is valued, perceived, taught and communicated. The project will build upon actual knowledge and will work to change the vision of soil from mere substrate to an ecosystem that should be researched and protected. This will be achieved through the development of multisensorial Soil Experiences to raise soil literacy, building of a Soil Optimism narrative and through the co-creation of a set of educational products, curriculum standards, and teacher’s training programmes. The co-design and multi-actor approach will promote student and citizen engagement in the Mission Soil as well as in other European, national, and international soil health initiatives and will incentivise behavioural change towards an increased perception of soil value and its sustainable use. CURIOSOIL will promote multilingualism and work in soil educational settings across 15 European countries.

In order to address the expected outcomes and deliver impact beyond the project’s lifetime, CURIOSOIL will work across four impact pathways: IP1. Triggering soil curiosity; IP2. Prototyping multiple educational journeys to increase soil literacy; IP3. Empowering communities and initiatives dedicated to soil education; IP4. Influence policymaking through a soil optimism narrative.