ECHO is a Research and Innovation Action co-funded by the European Union under the Horizon Europe programme, and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). It will last 4 years – from June 2023 to May 2027.

The project aims to engage citizens in protecting and restoring soils by building their skills and enhancing their knowledge on soils. Citizens will actively contribute to the project’s data collection, promote soil stewardship, and foster behavioural change across the EU.

ECHOREPO, a long-term open access repository with a direct link to the EU Soil Observatory, will enable the citizen science data collected during ECHO to be available for use not only by scientists, but also by the general public, policy makers, farmers, landowners and other end-users, providing added value to existing data and other relevant soil monitoring initiatives. ECHOREPO will provide valuable information about the state of soil health across EU Member States, helping citizens make informed decisions about land use and conservation.

With 16 partners from Europe and Scotland, including 10 leading universities and research organisations, 4 SMEs and 2 Foundations, under the coordination of the Free University of Bolzano-Bozen, ECHO aims to collect data from up to 16,500 sites across Europe and Scotland in different climate and biogeographic regions.