The Joint Research Centre (JRC) is the European Commission’s science and knowledge service which employs scientists to carry out research in order to provide independent scientific advice and support to EU policy.
Soil data and information play a crucial role in the development and implementation of EU policies and global multilateral agreements. The JRC provides assessments of available soil resources at the global scale and acts as a single focal point for soil data and information linked to climate change, biodiversity and desertification, for use by the Commission and others. The JRC also helps the EU Member States to fulfil their assessment obligations regarding their soil resources by operating the European Soil Data Centre. The European Soil Data Centre (ESDAC) is the thematic centre for soil related data in Europe. Its ambition is to be the single reference point for and to host all relevant soil data and information at European level. It contains a number of resources that are organized and presented in various ways: datasets, services/applications, maps, documents, events, projects and external links.
JRC leads Work Package 1, investigating land policies and the socio-economic context to guide the development of LANDSUPPORT tools. It also has a major role in testing and validation activities under WP6, and it is involved in WP2, WP3 and WP7.