Synthesizing soil needs and drivers of change across Europe and land use types

The soil needs assessment (SNA) was constructed as an interdisciplinary and participatory research
approach that combines natural science knowledge on the functioning of soils and ecosystem services
with research methods from social sciences. Expert knowledge and literature analyses were combined
with participatory methods to collect stakeholder perspectives as well as to generate awareness and
literacy on the importance of soils. The research was conducted along the five categories of the Driver-
Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) framework. The framework categorises human-environmental
system interactions in addressing external drivers for decision making on land use and
soil management, respective effects on soil health, ecosystem services impacts and options for soil
improving response measures. Such system interactions are subject to regional variations, therefore 20
representative regions across Europe were selected. Our focus was to reflect the diversity of European land use types, socio-economic and geo-biophysical conditions of soils. Hence, we consider systems in
agricultural production, forestry, urban and (post)industrial, and mixed land uses.