PHISHES project launched to improve prediction of soil health and ecosystem services

Copenhagen, Denmark – The Horizon Europe project PHISHES officially kicked off on 24 September, marking
the start of a four-year initiative aimed at safeguarding European soils through advanced simulation tools.
PHISHES stands for Physically-Based Integrated Soil Health Simulation Platform which is also the main
planned output.
Coordinated by DHI, the project brings together nine expert partners from across Europe, encompassing soil
science, hydrology, and policy-making. During the kick-off meeting in Copenhagen, hosted by the coordinator,
partners’ presentations and discussions led to a collection of first activities to be addressed, e.g. the selection
of scenarios, the combination between modelling activities and case studies.

Data and Action for Soil Health

PHISHES seeks to bridge the gap between soil health data and actions, providing much-needed predictive
capability in terms of the consequences of actions on the provision of soil functions and associated
ecosystem services, taking into account soil use, soil contamination and various drivers such as climate
change.
At the heart of PHISHES is the development of a Digital Platform containing workflows and tools quantifying
the effect of management actions on the environment. The tools will be combinations of data processing
procedures and further developed modules on top of existing cutting-edge numerical models, such as the
distributed hydrological system MIKE SHE and the DAISY agro-ecological model of the soil-plant-atmosphere
system.
The gap between science and policy is bridged in practice by a Decision Support System that will display the
concrete findings of the PHISHES project and actionable recommendations for policy affecting soil health.

A Key Scientific Question

The core scientific challenge addressed by PHISHES is: “How do soil use and soil contamination influence soil
functions and associated ecosystem services, in the presence of major drivers such as climate change, and how
can we predict the impacts of mitigation and adaptation measures?”.

By providing quantitative predictive tools the project will enable stakeholders and decision makers to
evaluate the effects of possible actions such as changed agricultural practices, land restoration, or pollution
mitigation measures, with the goal of preserving soil health and improve soil function impacts on associated
ecosystem services. Indeed, the results of the scenario simulations generated by the PHISHES Digital Platform
will be translated into policy recommendations aimed at promoting soil health, enhancing ecosystem services,
and mitigating the effects of contamination and climate change.

Real-Life Case Studies

To ensure practical application and relevance, PHISHES modelling results are applied and tested by four case
studies across Europe, focusing on diverse environmental challenges:

• The Zelivka River Basin in the Czech Republic, analysing soil management’s influence on drinking water quality at catchment scale.
• The Koprzywianka River in Poland, covering water withdrawals / irrigation on agricultural land.
• The Airport in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden, looking at efficiency of mitigation measures of PFAS contamination at sub catchment scale.
• The Rotterdam Urban Area in the Netherlands, evaluating the use of green infrastructure to improve resilience and sustainability of urban environments.

Additionally, a Soil Laboratory in France will examine the fate and transport of PFAS from soil to groundwater under controlled conditions.

By integrating cutting-edge models and real-world case studies, the PHISHES project will provide valuable insights into sustainable soil management. Moreover, with its focus on translating scientific findings into actionable recommendations, PHISHES represents a significant advance in the preservation of soil health and the sustainability of ecosystem services.

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PHISHES – PHysically-Based Integrated Soil HEalth Simulation Platform is a four-year (Starting date: 1 September 2024) European Research and Innovation Action project that aims to bridge the missing link between data on soil health and actions for the safeguard of soils. The project has received funding from the
European Union’s Horizon Europe Programme for research and innovation under project number 101157438.