SOILSCAPE, a 4-year Horizon Europe project coordinated by the French Soil Science Society (AFES), is launching an Open Call offering €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:
SOILSCAPE FSTP (€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
Soil Orchestra FSTP (€960,000)
Funds 24 sub-projects (€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 Opens: June 2, 2025
- Deadline: September 30, 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 August 31, 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:
Project Coordinator Open Call Manager
Sophie Raous Mackenzie Baert
L’Association Française pour l’Étude du Sol
(AFES) reframe.food
info.soilscape@afes.fr
sophie.raous@afes.fr
soilscape@opencalls.fund
mbaert@reframe.food
Orléans, France Thessaloniki, Greece
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.
Main Image Credit: soilscape.eu
This post was last modified on August 26, 2025 11:01 am