Developing a Generic <scp>DPSIR</scp> Framework for Land Use and Soil Management: A Systems Approach to Maximise Soil Health
Аннотация
ABSTRACT Human activities have significant impacts on the European terrestrial landscape, contributing to anthropogenic climate change. Soil health, crucial for human life, is at a critical phase, with nearly 70% of European soil considered unhealthy. To address this, the European Commission has launched the Soil Mission, ‘A Soil Deal for Europe,’ to restore soil health by 2050, and adopted the Soil Monitoring Law in 2025 to ensure the target is successfully achieved. In order for such achievements to take place, a systems perspective is essential in understanding how land use and soil management contribute to soil health. The DPSIR (Drivers, Pressures, States, Impacts, and Responses) framework, developed as a policy support tool by the European Environment Agency (EEA), offers a valuable tool for systems thinking and has been widely used to analyse complex human‐environment interactions. By breaking down complex problems and establishing causal linkages, DPSIR allows us to frame the diverse issues associated with environmental resources and support its adaptive management. With growing interest in the systems approach for combining soil health and land use, bolstered by the research demands of the EU soil mission, there is a need for a standardised approach of the DPSIR framework to support and ensure an efficient and widespread adaptation of systems thinking for soil resources. However, DPSIR's use for soil and land resources has been limited at present. This study aims to develop a customised DPSIR framework for land use and soil management, providing insights into its better application and adaptability. We built on the user experiences by exploring nine case studies across Europe of DPSIR application within the context of soil and land use, and conducted a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis related to the application of the framework. The developed generic DPSIR framework capitalised on the identified strengths and opportunities to provide an encompassing systems approach for soil resources. Further strategies for adaptation of the framework are provided with an aim to make it a comprehensive tool supporting the EU's soil mission and promoting a systems approach to soil health and land use management.