CURIOSOIL Awakening Soil Curiosity to Catalyse Soil Literacy

CURIOSOIL is a four-year European project that aims to spark curiosity about soil and improve soil literacy from primary school to university. FVO is one of 14 partner institutions in 10 countries and leads the project activities in Slovenia.

Project partners at the meeting hosted by FVO in Ljubljana in March 2026.

Project at a glance

Program	Horizon Europe, EU Mission “A Soil Deal for Europe” (HORIZON-MISS-2022-SOIL)
Project number	101112875
Coordinator	University of Aveiro (UAveiro), Portugal
Partners	14 institutions in 10 European countries
Project lead and team in Slovenia	Associate Professor Borut Vrščaj, PhD, and Teaching Assistant Katja Črnec and colleagues
Duration	February 1, 2024 – January 31, 2028 (48 months)
Funders	European Union and the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI)

About the project

Soil deserves more attention

Soil helps us grow enough safe food, provides clean drinking water and supports biodiversity both below and above ground. Yet soil receives too little attention in schools and universities, while the pressures on it are growing. CURIOSOIL builds soil literacy at all levels of education. The partners work with teachers to develop materials, methods and tools for use in and outside the classroom.

The project supports the EU Mission “A Soil Deal for Europe,” which aims to give soil its proper place in curricula by 2030.

What are we developing with our partners?

Soil Curiosity Kit

The Soil Curiosity Kit includes multisensory tools for exploring soil through sight, smell, sound, touch and even taste.

Soil Literacy Assessment Framework

The Soil Literacy Assessment Framework (SLAF) helps establish a baseline for different audiences’ soil knowledge, practical skills and personal relationship with soil. It also makes it possible to track progress.

Mobile app

The project partners are developing a mobile app.

Online course (MOOC)

The partners are preparing the first run of a massive open online course (MOOC) for higher education.

FVO’s role

Bringing soil science to schools and the public

FVO staff develop multisensory learning materials and test them at full-day workshops with primary and secondary schools. A soil workshop at the Day for the Savinja in May 2026 drew 380 pupils. FVO hosted a project partner meeting in Ljubljana in March 2026. The team also presents its work at international conferences, including EUROSOIL 2025 and Soils for Europe 2026 in Portugal.

Soil is also part of the FVO curriculum. The undergraduate program has a module that includes Soil and Environment and Environmental Geochemistry. The revised program also includes Soil Quality, Rehabilitation and Remediation.

Partners

Acronym	Institution	Country
Coordinator
UAveiro	University of Aveiro	Portugal
Partner institutions
GEDU	Gaia Education	Belgium
REVOLVE	Agency REVOLVE Mediterraneo	Spain
WU	Wageningen University	Netherlands
FVO	Faculty of Environmental Protection	Slovenia
UNIPA	University of Palermo	Italy
ECOLISE	European network for community-led initiatives on climate change and sustainability	Belgium
ESCI	European Science Communication Institute	Germany
ESHA	European School Heads Association	Netherlands
ISRIC	International Soil Reference and Information Centre	Netherlands
BOKU	University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna	Austria
NIBIO	Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research	Norway
IUCN	International Union for Conservation of Nature	Switzerland
ZHdK – ICST	Zurich University of the Arts, Institute for Computer Music and Sound Technology	Switzerland

Find project materials and news at curiosoil.si (in Slovenian) and curiosoil.eu. Schools interested in a soil workshop can contact Teaching Assistant Katja Črnec.