28 October 2026 | 10:00 – 13:00 CET
The first URSOILL City Soil Health Knowledge Forum (CKF) will bring together perspectives from technical risk management and urban planning to explore how cities can move from discovering soil degradation and contamination towards informed action and urban soil restoration.
Download the webinar’s Concept Note.
Find the webinar’s agenda and more details here.
Register here.
BACKGROUND
The EU officially adopted the Soil Monitoring Law (SML) on 16 December 2025, establishing the first common legal framework for assessing and monitoring soil health across Member States. While Member States have two years to transpose the Directive into their national legal systems, the implementation process already raises important challenges for Healthy Soil Living Labs, whose mission is to test and demonstrate innovative approaches to urban soil restoration. Urban experimentation frequently requires investigating soils under uncertain conditions, potentially revealing contamination by heavy metals, PFAS, or other pollutants. Such discoveries generate immediate questions regarding liability, remediation responsibilities, costs, land-use restrictions, and public health, creating discovery complexities that may discourage experimentation and delay restoration actions. If uncertainties are not addressed, Living Labs may face increasing barriers to implementing concrete interventions, creating a tension between the ambitions of the EU Soil Mission and the emerging regulatory framework of the SML.
At the same time, the SML presents a unique opportunity to strengthen urban soil governance. By calling for the harmonisation of soil monitoring practices and requiring Member States to designate competent authorities (including, where appropriate, local and subnational authorities) to implement its provisions, the Directive creates space for cities to play a more active role in soil health management. Healthy Soil Living Labs can therefore act as pioneers in developing and testing risk-based approaches that go beyond contamination assessment by considering exposure pathways, future land uses, ecosystem functions, and social vulnerability. Such approaches can help transform soil monitoring from a compliance exercise into a proactive planning instrument that supports urban regeneration, informed decision-making, and the restoration of healthy urban soils. Consequently, the first City Soil Health Knowledge Forum (CKF) will explore how cities can navigate emerging challenges while leveraging the opportunities offered by the Soil Monitoring Law to accelerate urban soil restoration and support its future implementation.
WEBINAR’S OBJECTIVES
The webinar will specifically address the following:
- City-to-City Learning: local authorities’ previous experiences on soil quality indices, adapting soil monitoring practices to urban soils and contexts, and developing risk-based approaches.
- Alignment of Existing Tools: How can proactive municipalities align their current partnerships and policy instruments with forthcoming EU requirements?
- Risk Management: Assessing the technical, economic, and social risks of increased contamination visibility, including the polluter pays principle.
Speakers:
