The next Outlook, developed by the dedicated SOLO Think Tank, focuses on the intertwined challenges of soil sealing and reusing urban soil.

One of the key goals of the European Union's Mission Soil is to stop the permanent covering of natural ground and to increase the reuse of soils in urban areas.

Soil sealing can be defined as green spaces being paved over with asphalt and concrete. This process creates a barrier that separates the ground from the air and rain, which negatively impacts the underground life and prevents the soil from absorbing water. Towns and infrastructure have been expanding steadily across Europe, often transforming natural areas into urban ones. All the while, large amounts of earth dug up from construction sites are thrown away as waste because many countries lack appropriate regulations to safely reuse this material.

To address these issues, the Soil Sealing and Urban Soils Think Tank has developed a roadmap that identifies the main gaps in our current knowledge and suggests ways to improve how we monitor and reuse urban land.

You can find the full report here: https://journal.soils4europe.eu/article/149412/