Towards Healthier Soils: Insights for Knowledge Building, Co‐Creation and Citizen Engagement in Soil Science

Soil health underpins essential ecosystem functions and the delivery of multiple societal benefits, yet it is increasingly threatened by widespread soil degradation driven by both natural and anthropogenic processes. This environmental challenge is further exacerbated by limited public awareness of the societal importance of soil, a key non‐renewable resource. Citizen science offers a participatory approach to addressing this challenge by engaging members of the public in soil research, strengthening their soil literacy, knowledge, and skills that enable the co‐creation of a robust evidence base to inform future policies and practices. Here, we present practical insights into citizen science methodologies for assessing, monitoring, and mapping soil health, with particular emphasis on engagement design and implementation. We review recent soil‐related citizen science projects, identifying their respective strengths and limitations. Building on these findings, we apply an assessment framework to select the most suitable methodologies for involving citizens in soil sampling within a Europe‐wide initiative designed to measure eight soil health indicators through both field observations and laboratory analyses. While data contribution remains the most common form of participation in large‐scale citizen soil initiatives, we also highlight strategies to support citizen involvement in the refinement and co‐design of materials and activities, as well as in local leadership roles through Ambassador networks. Drawing on these insights, we have designed and are currently implementing nine national citizen science initiatives aimed at fostering soil literacy. In these initiatives, participants use comprehensive field protocols and a dedicated toolkit to contribute soil data to an open‐access repository. Together, these experiences demonstrate the potential of citizen science to support the generation of soil health data and the societal engagement needed to advance sustainable soil management.