Privacy and the EU General Data Protection Regulation

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), issued by the EU, came into force on April 2018. It protects privacy by preventing personal data being processed without the consent of the person in question. GDPR also has consequences for the SoilCare project, since in the project personal data is being collected and processed in SoilCare research.

Examples

Personal data collection takes place in more cases than is visible on first sight. Examples of collecting personal data are:

  • Farmers are participating in a stakeholder meeting and their opinion is recorded, together with their name;
  • Policy-makers are filling out a survey issued by SoilCare researchers; opinions are recorded together with names of policy-makers;
  • People (general public) that visit a demonstration site are being photographed and these photos are used for SoilCare promotional purposes; peoples faces are recognisably recorded and linked to the event, pictures are published on the SoilCare website;
  • Field data are being used and the GPS coordinates are recorded; GPS coordinates can be traced back to landowners. 

In all of the above cases personal data can be traced back to persons, in most of the above cases people need to give consent for their personal data to be used for the SoilCare project. In order for their personal data to be used and published in some way, they need to consent. Rules for how different cases must be treated and whether or not consent forms need to be filled out or not are described in the SoilCare GDPR document mentioned above.

Consent forms for personal use or group use are made available for download below. When filling out consent forms, there is a SoilCare copy and a personal copy for the person filling out the form. In the case of the group form, one representative of the group gets a copy of the consent form.

Downloads

SoilCare GDPR document v1.0
SoilCare consent form personal use
SoilCare consent form group use (up to 24 people)

Links

EU GDPR document (Regulation (EU) 2016/679)Regulation (EU) 2016/679) (link to EU website where different language versions can be downloaded)
Taking photos at community events (source: resourcecentre.org.uk)
GDPR: What researchers need to know? (source: Lancaster university UK)
Google search "GDPR in research projects" (source: google.com)

 

Project Name Project Description

https://www.best4soil.eu/ 

Best4Soil are building a community of practice network across Europe by inter-connecting growers, advisers, educators and researchers. This network promotes knowledge ready for practice on 4 best practices (compost, green manure, anaerobic disinfestation, (bio) solarisation) for the control of soil-borne diseases. 

https://www.soildarity.eu/

H2020 project aiming to enhance scientific research & innovation capacity in soil science and precision agriculture
Aims to develop, upscale and disseminate soil restoring strategies in three major agricultural systems (cereal-based rotations, tree crops and grasslands), different farm typologies and environmental conditions in Europe, China and New Zealand.

https://www.landsupport.eu/

Aims to develop an innovative DSS platform to support farmers' associations, spatial planners, environmental agencies and policy-makers in their work.

https://i2connect-h2020.eu/

The project aims to fuel the competencies of advisors who will support and facilitate #interactiveinnovation in EU agriculture & forestry.

Home

https://sprint-h2020.eu/

@sprinth2020 

The SPRINT-project, which commenced in September 2020, aims to develop a Global Health Risk Assessment Toolbox to assess impacts of Plant Protection Products (PPPs) on environment and human health by conducting case studies across Europe and in Argentina. 

https://www.nweurope.eu/projects/project-search/renu2farm-nutrient-recycling-from-pilot-production-to-farms-and-fields/

The ReNu2Farm project is designed to increase the recycling rates for the plant nutrients nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) in the primary food production chain in Northwest Europe (NWE). The project strives for an exchange of nutrients between the following countries: IE-UK, DE-NL and BE-FR. In each of these areas there are regions with nutrient shortages and surpluses. Nutrient-surplus regions in NWE include the Netherlands, Flanders (Belgium), Bretagne (France) and Ireland. The regions that have great potential to replace artificial fertilisers, due to their high use thereof, are located in Northern France, Wallonia (Belgium), the East of England and Ireland.

logo compl

http://www.lifeporem.it/index.php/en/

https://www.facebook.com/lifeporem/

POREM aims to demonstrate the efficiency of applying innovative- and low-cost effective technologies for the restoration of soils low in organic matter, also in semiarid areas. Particularly, the project aims to demonstrate the applicability of poultry manure, treated according to EP 1314710*, for soil restoration/ bioremediation, avoiding degradation, fixing C in the soil, putting P as struvite and increasing biological quality (edafic fertility), in terms of bulk density and aggregates, N content, total biodiversity and plant yield. It's a new technique that goes beyond soil fertilization and soil amendment, looking for a tool for regenerating and boosting productivity.

https://farmcarbontoolkit.org.uk/soil-carbon-project

The Soil Carbon Project is an innovative project that aims to help farmers manage soils in a more sustainable and profitable way.

The project will concentrate on three main strands:

  • Investigating a methodology that could be used to test for soil organic matter and carbon
  • Learning more about the impact of farming management practices on soil health
  • Financial modelling to understand how a potential government payment system for protecting or improving soil health and carbon sequestration might work

My WordPress Blog

https://www.excaliburproject.eu/

@excaliber_h2020

Excalibur plans to enhance the knowledge on soil biodiversity dynamics and its synergistic effects with prebiotic and probiotic approaches in horticulture, using a multi-actor approach. To pursue this aim, new multifunctional soil microbial inoculants (bio-inocula) and bio-effectors will be tested on three model crops of economic importance (tomato, apple, strawberry) under different experimental and open-field conditions across Europe, and the feed-feedback effect of/on native biodiversity monitored. In order to go beyond the multitude of studies on the links between soil biodiversity and plant health, Excalibur will develop a comprehensive strategy of soil management improving the effectiveness of biocontrol and bio fertilization practices in agriculture.

sieusoil

SIEUSOIL

(SIEU Soil Observatory for
Intelligent Land Use Management)

https://www.sieusoil.eu/

@sieusoil


This 3-year project will design, implement and test a shared China‐EU Web Observatory platform that will provide Open Linked Data to monitor status and threats of soil and assist in decision making for sustainable support of agro‐ ecosystem functions, in view of the projected climate change.

Diverfarminglogo

DIVERFARMING

http://www.diverfarming.eu/index.php/en/

@Diverfarming

The aim of the DIVERFARMING project is to  develop and test different diversified cropping systems (rotations, multiple cropping and intercrops for food, feed and industrial products) under low-input practices, for conventional and organic systems for field case studies to increase land productivity and crops quality, and reduce machinery, fertilisers, pesticides, energy and water demands.

DiverImpactsWeb

DIVERIMPACTS

http://www.diverimpacts.net/ 

@DiverIMPACTS

 

The overall goal of DiverIMPACTS - Diversification through Rotation, Intercropping, Multiple Cropping, Promoted with Actors and value-Chains towards Sustainability - is to achieve the full potential of diversification of cropping systems for improved productivity, delivery of ecosystem services and resource-efficient and sustainable value chains.

DiverIMPACTS has 34 partners and is coordinated by INRA, the French National Institute for Agricultural Research. CRA-W, Belgium, acts as deputy coordinator.

 

SHui (soil hydrology research platform)

https://www.shui-eu.org/

@Shui_eu

SHui is a network integrating long-term experiments of its 19 academic and SME partners funded by Horizon 2020. The overall aim of SHui is to deliver a suite of technologies and tools to empower individuals and stakeholder organizations to make informed decisions to manage water scarcity in European and Chinese cropping systems, and consolidating an integrated research platform for the coming decade across EU and China.

SMS (Soil Mission Support)

https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101000258

Started in November 2020, this project will ultimately support the Horizon Europe Mission in the area of soil health and food. The project will develop a set of research and innovation activities leading to an effective framework for action in Europe and globally in the fields of soil health and land management, identifying criteria for living labs and lighthouses, aiming to demonstrate solutions.

GReener

GREENER

https://www.greener-h2020.eu/en/normal/home

@GreenerH2020

 

A 48-Month project funded by Horizon 2020, Greener aims to develop innovative, low-cost, efficient and sustainable solutions for effective environmental remediation. Several bioremediation technologies will be developed and their effectiveness, low-cost, energy efficient, environmental and socio-economic performance will be analysed in different environmental scenarios. A combination of the most promising technologies will be up-scaled and tested.

DiversifyWeb

DIVERSIFY
https://www.plant-teams.eu/

@PlantTeams

 The four year Horizon 2020-funded DIVERSify project (2017-2021) aims to optimise the performance of crop species mixtures or ‘plant teams’ to improve yield stability, reduce pest and disease damage, and enhance stress resilience in agricultural systems. It focuses on improving the productivity and sustainability of European agriculture using an approach that has global relevance, learning from the experience of international researchers and stakeholders.

IsQaperWeb

ISQAPER
http://www.isqaper-project.eu/

@Isqaper

Increasingly, soil is recognized as a non-renewable resource because, once degraded, the restoration of its productivity is an extremely slow process. Given the importance of soils for crop and livestock production as well as for providing wider ecosystem services for local and global societies, maintaining the land in good condition is of vital importance. To manage the use of agricultural soils well, decision-makers need science-based, easy to apply and cost-effective tools to assess soil quality and function.

The most important aims the iSqaper project will work on are to: Integrate existing soil quality related information; Synthesize the evidence for agricultural management effects provided by long-term field trials; Derive and identify innovative soil quality indicators that can be integrated into an easy-to-use interactive soil quality assessment tool; Develop, with input from a variety of stakeholders, a multilingual Soil Quality Application (SQAPP) for in-field soil quality assessment and monitoring; Test, refine, and roll out SQAPP across Europe and China as a new standard for holistic assessment of agricultural soil quality; Use a trans-disciplinary, multi-actor approach to validate and support SQAPP.

LANDMARKlogo

 LANDMARK

http://landmark2020.eu/

@Landmark2020

 LANDMARK is a European Research Project on the sustainable management of land and soil in Europe. The questions that LANDMARK aims to address are: “How can we make the most of our land? How can we ensure that our soils deliver on the many expectations we have of our land?”

LANDMARK is a pan-European multi-actor consortium of 22 partner institutes from 14 EU countries plus Switzerland, China and Brazil. These include universities, applied research institutes, Chambers of Agriculture, an SME and the European Commission that will develop a coherent framework for soil management aimed at sustainable food production across Europe. Landmark is led by Wageningen University and Research (WUR) and is supported by a series of organizations being part of our Stakeholder Steering Committee ( FAO, COPA-COGECA, EFI, EUFRAS, DG-AGRI, DG-ENV, EMBRAPA, EFSA, EEA, EIONET, etc.)

LegValueWeb

LEGVALUE
@LEGumeVALUE

The goal of LEGVALUE is to pave the road to develop sustainable and competitive legume-based farming systems and agri-feed and food chains in the EU. To this end, the project will assess both the economic and environmental benefits for the EU agro industry to widely produce and use legumes in a sustainable manner. Using a list of 20 value chains reflecting the market diversity, and a list of 20 farm networks covering the diversity of grain legumes and fodder legumes species.

RECARE logo 150x75

RECARE

http://recare-hub.eu/

@RECARE_EU

The RECARE project which finished in 2018 brought together a multidisciplinary team of 27 different organisations to find ways of assessing the current threats to soils and finding innovative solutions to prevent further soil degradation across Europe.

Logo smart soil CMYK

SmartSOIL

http://projects.au.dk/smartsoil/

@SmartSOIL_EU

 SmartSOIL (Sustainable farm Management Aimed at Reducing Threats to SOILs under climate change) was a research project in the European Commission Seventh Framework Programme (2011-2015).The projectidentified and developed options to increase C stocks and optimise C use (flows) whilst maintaining sustainable SOC stocks.

 SolACElogo

SolACE

https://www.solace-eu.net/

 The goal of SolACE - Solutions for improving Agroecosystem and Crop Efficiency for water and nutrient use - is to help European agriculture face major challenges, notably increased rainfall variability and reduced use of N and P fertilizers.

SoilResist

https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/883621

Due to start in June 2021 and funded under Horizon 2020, SoilResist aims to unveil the mechanisms that underpin the resistance and resilience of soil microbial communities and study how the communities react to natural and anthropogenic perturbations.

IDESoWa

https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/867423

IDESoWa (Increased drainage effects on soil properties and water quality) is a 2 year project funded by Horizon 2020. By studying soils on a water flux gradient perpendicular to subsurface drainage pipes, the project will calculate soil element fluxes within soil, and their losses with drainage water. It will also determine relationships between drainage water chemistry and soil properties.


The IDESoWa project will develop a conceptual framework for soil development in two common European agricultural soils (Cambisol and Luvisol), and under two agricultural practices (tilled soil vs. pasture).

 

A4EU

AE4EU

https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101000349

An association created in 2016 with 19 founders from 10 countries, Agroecology Europe intends to place agroecology high on the European agenda of sustainable development of farming and food systems. It wants to foster interactions between actors in sciences, practices and social movements, by facilitating knowledge sharing and action. It aims at the creation of an inclusive European community of professionals, practitioners, and more generally societal stakeholders in agroecology. The group is open to all individuals/organisations with an interest in agroecology to join.

ALL-Ready

https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101000349

The EU-funded ALL-Ready project will develop AgroEcoLLNet, a new framework for the future European network of Living Labs and Research infrastructures. The project will lay the groundwork and prepare the necessary prerequisites and activities. Testing will verify and improve the project’s outcomes, which will be communicated widely in Europe. The implementation plan will be tested and integrated into the validated framework of AgroEcoLLNet.

CIRCASA

https://www.circasa-project.eu/

@CIRCASAproject

Funded by Horizon 2020, CIRCASA (Coordination of International Research Cooperation on Soil Carbon Sequestration in Agriculture) aims to strengthen the coordination and synergies in European and global research on SOC (Soil Organic Carbon) sequestration in agricultural soils, leading to an improved understanding and scientific basis to target ambitious practices required to preserve and enhance SOC.

 

EJP Soil

https://projects.au.dk/ejpsoil/

@ELPSOIL

 EJP Soil is a European Join Programme cofund on agricultural soil management contributing to key societal challenges like climate change and the future of food supply. The objectives are to develop knowledge, tools and an integrated research community to foster climate-smart sustainable agricultural soil management that allows sustainable food production, Sustains soil biodiversity and Sustains soil functions that preserves ecosystem services

NOTE: you are requested to pay before the meeting using the internet link under '10.' of this page, but first arrange your travel and reserve your hotel. 


1. Dates

Tuesday, April 2nd – Thursday April 4th 2019. On Friday  April 5th, there will be an optional excursion to the study site.

2. Location

Almería, Spain 

3. Venue

Campus of the University of Almería, Carretera de Sacramento, s/n, La Cañada de San Urbano Almería, Andalusia (Spain).

4. Stay

The participants are requested to book their own hotel room.
The organizers have reached an agreement with several establishments. A limited number of rooms are initially available. So, book in advance.

Hotel options are:

  • Gran Hotel (53€ per night single room; 70€ double. Breakfast included; Record locator: 1441). Please note that when taking advantage of the discount (resulting in a single room price of €53 of double room price of € 70,  you should book by e-mail or by phone ONLY and mention Record Locator 1441, DO NOT book through the hotel website. 
    For hotel information, check here: https://www.ohtelsalmeria.es/ (not for booking)
    Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Phone: +34 950 96 19 96
  • Residencia Civitas offers rooms in a brand-new students’ Residence (32.5 € per night single room, 47€ double. Breakfast included; Promocode: SOILCARE).
    Book here: http://www.residenciacivitas.com/en/
    Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Phone: +34 950 88 81 32.

    Many more hotels are available, however, in the city.

5. Food

Lunches will be at the venue and are included in the meeting costs. On Tuesday, there will be a joint dinner sponsored by the Agrifood Campus of International Excellence (ceiA3) and on Thursday the official joint meeting dinner. Persons with allergies or special food wishes are asked to inform Julian by writing to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and make note of their specific food requirements on the registration page.

Almería has this year been awarded the title of Spanish Capital of Gastronomy. There is a great variety of restaurants that offer excellent food. Almería “tapas” (free small portions of food offered with beer and wine) are very famous and many small bars are all around the city. Late dinner having some beers in a terrace is a common way to spend warm spring nights for locals. Most restaurants open at 1:30 pm for lunch and 9 pm for dinner. Fast food restaurants are often open before and later.

On Thursday 4th, after the meeting and before official dinner, there will be a possibility for visiting Old city. A guide will accompany participants. Cost of the visit is included in the meeting fee.

6. Travelling

International travel options
Recommended airport: Almería (LEI) 10 minutes distant from the University of Almería. Luggage Service will be available at the Campus. For more info about flights:
http://aeropuertoalmeria.info
http://www.aena-aeropuertos.es/csee/Satellite/Aeropuerto-Almeria/es/Inicio.html
You can also fly to Málaga International Airport (AGP) and then by highway reach Almería (2 h trip). Bus info at: https://www.movelia.es/es/
A different option is to fly to Alicante Airport (ALC; less companies do this airport) and then by road to Almería (almost 3h, 300 km distant)

Local travel
A shuttle service will be provided to and from Campus. Shuttle will pick attendants from Hotels 20-30 minutes before the start of the meeting each day. If you do not want to take the shuttle, you can take a taxi. This should cost no more than 20 €. Buses are available too.

7. Local Money

Local currency is Euro (€).
ATMs are at the airport, at the Campus and in the city.
It is possible to pay with credit card in most of the places in Spain (only buses require cash).

8. Local Weather

Located in the southeast of the peninsula, Almería is the Spanish province with the highest number of sunshine hours (circa 3000) and clear days (more than 300) per year. Almeria’s weather is subtropical, Mediterranean, mild and dry. Annual average temperature is 18º/19ºC. In April temperatures are warm with maximum reaching 21ºC or even more and minimum about 12ºC. Usually it’s pretty dry but sometimes light showers can occur.
Recommended clothing: lightweight.

9. Excursion

There is an optional excursion on Friday April 5th.
The excursion is a one-day trip to the Soil Care field sites in Almería, located in Tabernas (olive tree crop) and Aguamarga (stone fruit crops). Buses will leave from Hotels above cited. Lunch with local food will be provided. Return is scheduled by 6 p.m approximately.
Please bring sturdy shoes and comfortable clothing

10. Meeting costs

There will be a fee to cover the costs of meeting room, coffee breaks, lunches, and 1 joint dinner (the second one will be sponsored by University of Almería). The fee for the 3-day meeting is € 260. The fee has been established for covering full program. This means that everybody will need to pay this amount, also if they join only part of the meeting.
UAL allows paying both with credit card and with cash in €. Details on payment procedure is descibed below. Receipts are issued after using the payment module.
Excursion is going to be free of charge, thanks to sponsoring by the Agrifood Campus of International Excellence.

Electronic payment
All meeting participants are requested to pay before attending the meeting.

Electronic payment is facilitated using the SIP electronic payment link below. After clicking the link, a new SIP payment window will open.
In the payment window you will need to fill out your name and passport number for identification. After selecting the SoilCare event (only option possible), you can either select electronic payment using a credit card or bank payment using a payment document.

Cash or bank card payment at a local bank
You can use the payment voucher/document generated within the SIP payment window to pay for the meeting in a bank in Almeria, either by cash or bank card. There is a bank office available on the Almeria campus.

Credit card payment
If you have selected credit card payment, you are taken to a credit card payment module, where you enter your name and credit card number. Be aware that you will be asked to verify your credit card payment using an electronic verification (e-Code) or another verification method. VISA (ICS cards) has an e-Code generator inside the ICS cards App on iPhone and Android phones. Different credit cards may use another verification method.

If you have requested an invoice, you will also need to fill out your personal and company data in a separate window. The Invoice can either be sent to your postal address by regular mail or by e-mail, or you can download your invoice upon request.

The SIP payment module can be found HERE (a new window will open)

11. Registration

Registration for the meeting is obligatory. You are asked to register after you have arranged your travel and have made a hotel reservation, since these details are asked in the registration form.

12. Contact

The meeting is organized and hosted by the University of Almería.
For practical questions contact: Julián Cuevas (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; tel. +34 600766462), Virginia Pinillos (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) and/or Yolanda Cantón (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

WENR is responsible for the daily program of the meetings: Rudi Hessel (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., tel +31 317 486530), Erik van den Elsen (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., tel +31 317 486533).