[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/10406\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EOn a mission to save our soils\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/projects.research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu\/en\/horizon-magazine\/missione-salvare-i-nostri-terreni\u0022\u003EVersione italiana\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ELike an old friend that helps you to better manage your soil\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProfessor Terribile and his team at the LANDSUPPORT project have worked together to develop an all-in-one tool to help farmers, policymakers and urban planners make better decisions to improve soil quality and boost local economies at the same time.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFrom choosing where to plant certain crops, to building a new housing development decisions are made every day in agriculture, city planning and local policy. Such actions impact and are impacted by the land around us. This includes how much water the ground can absorb, the health of soils, and their ability to grow healthy food for us in the future. We all stand to benefit from healthy soils, which are the foundation of 95% of the food we eat, and host 25% of all biodiversity on the planet.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBy exploring ways to improve the situation on a local level, European researchers like Terribile are offering solutions that can be replicated around the globe and have an impact on the challenges we face.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cfigure role=\u0022group\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cimg alt=\u0022Prof Fabio Terribile, soil scientist, University of Naples Federico II, Naples (Italy).\u0022 data-entity-type=\u0022file\u0022 data-entity-uuid=\u0022a66c1fb8-f6b7-4132-8639-7feb5c2559fe\u0022 src=\u0022\/sites\/default\/files\/hm\/IMCEUpload\/Lsupport1.png\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cfigcaption class=\u0022tw-italic tw-mb-4\u0022\u003EProf Fabio Terribile, soil scientist, University of Naples Federico II, Naples (Italy).\u003C\/figcaption\u003E\n\u003C\/figure\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETaking the guesswork out of decision making\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETerribile and his team are guided by the philosophy that we cannot tackle complex problems such as environmental degradation, climate change and rural economic decline with everyone working in their corner individually. For this reason, he and his colleagues have brought together vast amounts of data relating to geology, weather forecasting, and even cultural history, into one accessible digital tool that helps users forecast the outcomes of their actions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe complex choices facing people who work with soil are illustrated by oenologist Marco Giulioli from the Telesina Valley, about 60 kilometres north-east of Naples. Giulioli points out that the valley, which is home to several small-scale wine producers, is composed of a patchwork of different types of soil, from volcanic to calcareous, each of which interacts differently with the vines that are planted there.\u0026nbsp;\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003EBy exploring ways to improve the situation on a local level, European researchers like Terribile are offering solutions that can be replicated around the globe and have an impact on the challenges we face.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003E\u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018A vine can basically grow in a different way in relation to the kind of soil you have,\u2019 he explains. If a grower wants to ensure a high yield of white grape, for example, they could use the tool to determine the best variety to use for the land they have, taking into consideration how much sun exposure it gets and the quality of the soil.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe web-based programme developed by Terribile and his colleagues allows agricultural producers, including viticulture farmers and oenologists like Giulioli, to select a specific area of land on the map using their computer mouse, then insert different possible scenarios, such as the choice of grape and weather forecasts, and see what different outcomes, such as yield and quality of harvest, can be expected.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGiulioli points out that this is a valuable way to make sure they are making decisions for the viticulture company based on data, and not pre-existing ideas. As he explains, \u2018sometimes what you can see with your eyes and what you can see from your experience is not really the same thing as what you can see just checking the data\u2019.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFrom data to knowledge\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProfessor Terribile explains that the true value of the tool is its versatility. Rather than a data set about soil quality in a given region being used for just one study or report, integrating it into the tool means it can be put to many different uses.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cfigure role=\u0022group\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cimg alt=\u0022Marco Giulioli, enologist, viticulture cooperative \u2018La Guardiense\u2019 in the region of Campania (Italy)\u0022 data-entity-type=\u0022file\u0022 data-entity-uuid=\u0022a9ccf481-b208-4330-a5c2-a1440e2b35b2\u0022 src=\u0022\/sites\/default\/files\/hm\/IMCEUpload\/Lsupport2.png\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cfigcaption class=\u0022tw-italic tw-mb-4\u0022\u003EMarco Giulioli, enologist, viticulture cooperative \u2018La Guardiense\u2019 in the region of Campania (Italy)\u003C\/figcaption\u003E\n\u003C\/figure\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENot only can it be used by oenologists like Giulioli to make decisions about planting vines, but it gives his colleagues valuable information about terroir that can be used on wine labels, something he notes that has not been hugely common in the Campania region of Italy until now. This is why a tool which, on the surface, is about protecting soils, has actually been designed to do so much more. \u2018We need to connect everything our system produces, not something theoretical, but something operational, for everybody,\u2019 explains Terribile.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe development of groundbreaking tools such as this is the perfect example of how research and innovation are having a concrete impact on building a better society, creating powerful solutions to the concrete problems we face.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EScience, research and innovation: our secret ally\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis research is part of the EU\u2019s efforts to discover new ways to prepare for climate change, and protect our land, soil and waters. Together, EU countries can work more effectively, by pooling funding and expertise from around the world, coordinating international efforts, and benefiting from local knowhow.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThanks to EU investments, it is possible for international research collaboration to address challenges too big to be addressed by one country alone.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EJoin researchers on a mission to protect our planet and society, by sharing, liking and following the stories of #ResearchImpactEU.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/textarea\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \u003Cdiv id=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 class=\u0022ecl-help-block description\u0022\u003E\n Please copy the above code and embed it onto your website to republish.\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cinput autocomplete=\u0022off\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022form-fbu6dicvva6lpdf6ohkaivx8huqrqj7ypwaxeob-wny\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_build_id\u0022 value=\u0022form-fBu6DiCvVA6LpDF6OhKAIvX8HuQrqJ7yPWAxeoB-wNY\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003Cinput data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_id\u0022 value=\u0022modal_form_example_modal_form\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003C\/form\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E","dialogOptions":{"width":"800","modal":true,"title":"Republish this content"}}]