Systems knowledge for sustainable soil and land management

While soils and land are pivotal elements of many Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and societal challenges, they face degradation and reduction of related functions and services worldwide. Societal demands on soils and land are increasing, including contributions to climate change mitigation and adaptation, ecosystem services, biodiversity and biomass production for food, feed, fiber and energy. This adverse combination of reducing capacities and increasing demands requires rapid transition towards sustainable soil and land management that mitigates trade-offs and creates synergies. Likewise, a transformation of soil and land research is required to scientifically support the sustainable transformation. Based on a literature analysis combined with engagement of soil and land scientists, we developed a systemic research framework for sustainable soil and land management to support the implementation of the Horizon Europe Mission “A Soil Deal for Europe”. The framework summarizes soil and land related topics into six societal challenges and associates them with eight knowledge types that outline integrated research for development and implementation of sustainable soil and land management. We propose that research should be aligned with living labs and lighthouses to leverage local solutions, innovation, training and education. We outline the role of experimentation, data analysis, assessment, modelling and the importance of research for institutions, governance and policy support. For encouraging a swift transition towards a systems approach for sustainable soil and land management, we concluded that among all knowledge types, those addressing socio-economic interrelations with soil health and related policies currently represent the biggest bottleneck