Europe’s horticultural production systems face 3 main sustainability problems:  i) continued reliance on peat growing media, and drawbacks of current peat alternatives; ii) inefficient or inappropriate use of agricultural inputs; iii) suboptimal soil health due to unsustainable management practices. The multi-actor project Hort2thefuture will address these 3 challenges over 4 years with research, supplier, retail, and grower partners representing 11 European countries. Activities are divided between 7 Work Packages corresponding to the project's key objectives, together with project management.  The objectives are to: (1) develop a methodological framework and tools for effective sustainability/Life Cycle Assessment analysis, (2) create and foster the commercial uptake of relatively low-cost, reliable, scalable growing media in horticulture, using EU-sourced raw materials, having substantially lower carbon and environmental footprints than peat, (3) develop and commercialize novel products and production systems that reduce input use in horticulture, (4) develop and commercialize novel products that improve soil structure and mitigate soil compaction in horticulture, (5) facilitate behavioral change to more sustainable practices through Living Labs and policy measures, and (6) communicate, disseminate & exploit project results effectively to 7 stakeholder audiences, raising soil literacy. These outcomes will help realize Mission: Soil health objectives, involving stakeholders along the whole agri-food chain and cooperation with FAO.

Contact person:  Prof. dr Goran Stojanović
Period of realization: 2024-2027
ID: MISS-2023-SOIL-01-05