Living labs to monitor and mitigate carcinogenic substances in and originating from soils: Evaluating their effects on human cancer risks

Expected Outcome:

Activities under this topic will directly progress towards the goal of the Mission Soil to set up 100 living labs and lighthouses to lead the transition to healthy soils by 2030. Activities will also contribute to the goal of the Cancer Mission, i.e.: ‘to improve the lives of more than 3 million people by 2030, through prevention, cure and for those affected by cancer including their families, to live longer and better’. Activities should also contribute to meeting the European Green Deal ambitions and targets and more specifically those of the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, the EU Soil Strategy for 2030, the proposal for a Soil Monitoring and Resilience Directive, the Zero Pollution Action Plan, the Europe's Beating Cancer Plan, the One Health approach, the European Health Data Space, the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability, the European Chemicals Industry Action Plan, as well as to the Sustainable Development Goals^[1].

Project results are expected to contribute to all the following expected outcomes:

• increased capacities for participatory, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research and innovation to co-create, and co-implement economically viable soil health solutions tailored to soils contaminated with or at risk of contamination by carcinogenic substances;
• enhanced understanding of the environmental pathways through which these substances affect humans and the food chain, and the links (drivers and processes) between carcinogenic substances^[2] in soil and cancer incidence, mortality and prevalence in humans.

Scope:

Environmental and occupational cancer risks are estimated to contribute to over 10% of the total cancer burden in Europe, with soil pollution by carcinogenic substances, such as PFAS, and heavy metals like arsenic and cadmium, posing significant concerns for human and environmental health^[3]. However, the complex relationships between land management practices, soil parent material, soil properties, and presence of carcinogenic substances remain largely unknown. Moreover, significant knowledge gaps exist regarding biomonitoring, the bioaccumulation and transfer processes of soil pollutants into the food chain, water, and air, the pathways of human exposure and the impact of such exposure on cancer incidence, mortality and prevalence.

Projects under this topic are intended to expand and complement the network of Mission Soil living labs and lighthouses initiated with projects funded under Work Programmes 2023, 2024 and 2025 of the Mission Soil, with the aim of gradually establishing 100 living labs and lighthouses to lead the transition towards healthy soils by 2030.

The Mission Soil proposes a novel approach to research and innovation in the area of soil health, including the implementation of living labs. Living labs have the potential to facilitate a green and fair transition by involving multiple actors in real-life sites within a local/regional setting to co-create soil health solutions and achieve large-scale impacts on soil health and soil governance.

Living labs are long-term collaborations between multiple actors to address common soil health challenges in real-life sites at local or regional level (10 to 20 sites in each living lab). Living labs can address soil health challenges in or across different land uses (agricultural, (peri-)urban, (post)-industrial, forest and (semi-)natural). Depending on the level at which each living lab operates and the specific context (e.g. land use covered, or soil health challenge addressed), applicants can exceptionally propose living labs with fewer sites. Individual sites can be farms, forest holdings, urban green areas, industrial areas, etc. Sites that are exemplary in their performance in terms of soil health improvement and serve as places for demonstration of solutions, training and communication are lighthouses. Lighthouse sites can be part of a living lab or be situated outside a living lab. Projects funded under this topic are expected to kick-start the participatory process. If building on existing processes, the new proposed living labs should complement the existing network of Mission Soil Living Labs and deliver unique project results. While on average, projects run for around four years, the duration of the projects under this topic should accommodate longer timescales required to establish participatory processes and/or for soil processes to take place.

Actors working on common shared soil health challenges within and across the living labs of the same project, will be able to compare results, exchange good practices, validate methodologies, replicate actions and solutions and benefit from cross-fertilisation, thereby accelerating the transition towards the shared objective of improving soil health.

Proposals should:

• support the establishment of four to five research-and-innovation-centred living labs to work together across different land uses to: 1) deliver research-based remediation solutions for soil contamination by carcinogenic substances; 2) investigate links between carcinogenic substances^[2] in soil and transfer of pollutants from soil to humans (e.g. via air, water, or the food chain), and long-term impact on cancer incidence, mortality and prevalence in humans. Proposed solutions should be adapted to the different environmental, socio-economic and cultural contexts in which the living labs are operating. Living labs should be located in at least three different Member States and/or Associated Countries. Special attention should be given to their regions with the greatest need (hotspots of carcinogenic substances^[5]). Proposals should explain the rationale and mechanism for cooperation within and across the living labs.
• establish an interdisciplinary, participatory and multi-actor approach in the living labs to co-implement locally adapted solutions to isolate, immobilise, reduce and/or eliminate carcinogenic substances to and from soils, and to monitor how these solutions affect the pathways of carcinogenic substances in soils within the soil-water-air nexus and its mobility and uptake in the food chain;
• establish for each living lab a baseline of the soil conditions (both naturally occurring and exogenous contaminants) to allow an accurate monitoring of soil health improvements over time and across the different sites of the living lab, as well as the impact of research-based remediation solutions on pathways of soil carcinogenic substances within the soil-water-air nexus and its mobility and uptake in the food chain. The set of soil health indicators/descriptors presented in the proposal for a Directive on Soil Monitoring and Resilience should be used as a basis; proposals may complement with additional indicators tailored to the addressed soil health challenge(s), pedoclimatic conditions, land use, and other local/regional factors;
• analyse bioavailable fractions of contaminants, their potential bioaccumulation in crops; identify most critical exposure pathways of carcinogenic substances in soils within the soil-water-air nexus and its mobility and uptake in the food chain; analyse its correlation with the incidence and prevalence of cancer in humans across the different sites of the living labs using biomonitoring of contaminants (individually and in combination) in humans^[6], combine this research with modelling and desk research, integrating environmental pollution data with health outcome data, for example using biomonitoring data from the European Human Biomonitoring Initiative (HBM4EU) or the Partnership for the Assessment of Risks from Chemicals (PARC), from regional or national cancer registries and in collaboration with local health authorities, research institutions, and community organizations;
• demonstrate the technical, social, economic, cultural and environmental viability of the proposed solutions, as well as their potential scalability and transferability to diverse contexts;
• identify high performing sites that may be converted into lighthouses. Engage with the SOILL project to assess the growth and development of these lighthouses and to support the establishment of a labelling process that could formally recognize these exemplary sites as lighthouses;
• propose strategies (e.g., financial, organisational) to ensure the long-term sustainability of the established living labs beyond Horizon Europe funding. Strategies should include business models and actions involving a mix of public or private funding schemes, financial instruments, cooperation with local authorities, engagement of social economy entities, social enterprises, business communities, SMEs, or attracting investors and entrepreneurs.

In line with the nature of living labs, projects must adopt the multi-actor approach. The actors involved in each living lab may vary based on its unique characteristics, and may include, among others, researchers, landowners or land managers, industry representatives (e.g. SMEs), public administrators and civil society (e.g. consumers, local residents, environmental NGOs, youth organisations). Care should be taken to describe the capabilities, roles and resources of the different actors involved in the living labs. An effective contribution of social sciences and humanities (SSH) is expected to foster social innovation, knowledge transfer and socio-cultural and behavioural change.

To encourage and facilitate the involvement of different types of actors in the living labs, applicants are reminded of the different types of participation possible in a project under Horizon Europe. This includes not only beneficiaries (or their affiliated entities) but also associated partners, third parties giving in-kind contributions, subcontractors and recipients of financial support to third parties^[7]. Financial support to third parties (FSTP) to facilitate active involvement of small actors (e.g. land managers, landowners, SMEs or civil society) in one or more of the living labs of a project, can be provided through calls, or, if duly justified, without a call for proposals. Eligible activities that could be funded include those related to site management, implementation, or monitoring of soil health solutions, such as hourly rates for data collection, sampling, or participation in events, knowledge exchange, capacity building, or demonstration and awareness initiatives, as well as equipment and compensation for loss of production. Applicants are advised to consult the standard conditions set out in Annex B of the General Annexes, including those that apply to FSTP.

Dedicated tasks and appropriate resources should be envisioned to collaborate with SOILL, the structure created to support soil health living labs and lighthouses which offers significant capacity building opportunities for the living labs actors. Applicants can benefit from the services of SOILL already during the proposal preparation stage.

Applicants should take into consideration the work done under relevant related EU projects, including on endocrine disruptors and health (EURION and ENKORE), micro- and nano-plastics and health (CUSP), PFAS (PROMISCES, SCENARIOS and ZeroPM), soil contamination (ARAGORN) and other relevant Mission Soil projects. Work done by the Knowledge Centre on Cancer should also be considered.

Dedicated tasks and appropriate resources should be envisioned to collaborate with the EU Soil Observatory (EUSO) and other relevant Mission Soil projects. In particular, proposals should ensure that relevant data, maps and information can potentially be available publicly through the EUSO maps and information can potentially be available publicly through the EUSO and the Cancer Data Space. Proposals should ensure that chemicals data generated within the proposal may be shared in the Common Data Platform for Chemicals and its services such as IPCHEM and environmental sustainability database. Concrete efforts should be made to ensure that the data produced in the context of the funded project is FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Re-usable).

This action supports the follow-up to the July 2023 Communication on EU Missions assessment.

[1] In particular SDG 3- Good health and well-being, and SDG 15 – Life on Land.

[2] Such as PFAS, heavy metals, and pesticides.

[3] Beating cancer — the role of Europe’s environment — European Environment Agency

[4] Such as PFAS, heavy metals, and pesticides.

[5] PFAS contamination and soil remediation (Signal) | European zero pollution dashboards

[6] Researchers must ensure that participants are fully aware of the purpose, risks, and benefits of the study and obtain their consent before proceeding.

[7] To explore the full range of options including what type of costs and activities are eligible to be funded under Horizon Europe, applicants should refer to the AGA – Annotated Model Grant Agreement https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/common/guidance/aga_en.pdf