LivingSoiLL Fact Sheet

1 LivingSoiLL Fact Sheet 2 About LivingSoiLL The LivingSoiLL project is a Horizon Europe project that is funded by the European Commission within the framework of the EU mission “A Soil Deal for Europe”. • Duration: 54 months (June 2024 – November 2028) • Programme: Horizon Europe (Project ID: 101157502) • Countries involved: Portugal, France, Spain, Italy, Poland, and Belgium. • Partners involved: 49 Why It Matters • Soil degradation is one of the biggest environmental threats in Europe. • Healthy soils are essential for food security, biodiversity, and climate resilience. • LivingSoiLL supports the EU Green Deal and the EU Soil Mission (Call: HORIZON-MISS-2023-SOIL-01; Topic: HORIZON-MISS-2023-SOIL-01-08) A healthy soil is at the heart of the European Green Deal and is one of the main objectives of the Soil Mission. The European Union is currently fighting against soil degradation, which is undeniably linked to the intensification of agriculture. To address this, it is essential to promote a new paradigm of soil management, focused on monitoring, restoration, and protection, that encourages strategic and coordinated action between farmers, scientists, businesses, policymakers, and citizens. How it works To address soil degradation and promote sustainable management practices, the LivingSoiLL project - Healthy Soil to Permanent Crops Living Labs aims to implement 5 Living Labs (LL) in Portugal, France, Spain, Italy, and Poland, focused on permanent crops (vineyards, olive groves, chestnuts, hazelnuts, and apple orchards). The project will include at least 50 experimental sites (EXPS) in real-world contexts and 10 "lighthouse" farms, with the active participation of over 2,000 local actors. LivingSoiLL brings together farmers, scientists, companies, policymakers, and citizens to restore soil health in permanent crops – ensuring resilient agriculture, food security, and climate action. 3 The goal is to improve soil health and promote ecosystem services through the co-creation, co-implementation, and co-testing of innovative solutions (including digital solutions) to reduce erosion, improve soil structure, decrease the impacts of intensive fertilizer and pesticide use, and increase water retention capacity, while promoting soil biodiversity and overall resilience. The research aspect of the project will focus on the co-development of innovative monitoring methods designed to provide data that enable a better understanding of soil health, as well as testing the application of innovative soil management practices to enhance soil health in the Experimental Sites (EXPS). This approach, applied to crops in real-world contexts, engages farmers, agricultural consultants, and local communities, facilitating the transfer of scientific knowledge through spaces for sharing experiences and best practices in soil management. Furthermore, the project aims to produce policy recommendations on best soil management practices for permanent crops to address various soil challenges, while also promoting other indicators of soil health. Key Figures • 5 Living Labs (LLs) across Europe (Portugal, France, Spain, Italy, and Poland) • 5 Permanent Crops across Living Labs (vineyards, olive groves, chestnut trees, hazelnut trees, apple orchards) • 50+ Experimental Sites in real agricultural contexts • 10 Lighthouses as models of excellence • 2,000+ local actors directly engaged (farmers, advisors, companies, policymakers, citizens) Specific Objectives SO1 - Contribute to the involvement of several actors/stakeholders in a collaborative multi-actor network to co-design, co-develop, and co-implement solutions for restoring soil health. SO2 - Reduce the gap between knowledge and practice through the implementation of 5 LLs to seek practical innovative solutions to the identified problems. SO3 - Identify and research LLs soil health problems while co-creating a common action plan. SO4 - To test and validate a combination of integrated solutions for updating and improving Soil Management strategies in permanent crops 4 SO5 - To test and validate a combination of integrated solutions for ensuring the sustainability of the LL through the creation of economic business models. SO6 - Improve knowledge and increase literacy on soil and sustainable management practices among farmers and the overall community. SO7 - Engage and cooperate with other projects and initiatives, contributing to raising awareness of Mission Soil. SO8 - Propose policy recommendations on best management practices to be implemented on soil use for permanent crops to reduce erosion while promoting other soil health indicators. Clarification of the 3 key concepts Living Labs (LLs) A Living Lab, as defined by the Mission Soil, is a farmer-centered collaborative innovation ecosystem that fosters co-creation, experimentation, and validation of soil management solutions in real-life settings. It unites companies, universities, citizens, and public entities in a quadruple helix approach, engaging farmers from problem definition to solution testing. This enables real-world experimentation of practices, technologies, and services that enhance soil health while supporting business model development and agricultural policy adaptation. Its mission is to: • Promote soil health through innovative agricultural practices. • Connect farmers, researchers, companies, and local communities to test sustainable soil management solutions. • Co-create technologies, business models, and contribute to the adaptation of public policies that ensure soil health and food security. Experimental Sites (EXPS) An experimental site is a farm or agricultural plot where innovative, sustainable soil management practices are tested in real-life conditions to assess their impact on soil health and crops. Solutions are designed to address specific soil challenges, and their impact is monitored through soil health indicators and other relevant data. The selection of solutions, experimental design, and monitoring framework is co-created with farmers, technology and service providers, institutional actors, and end-users, and tailored to local conditions. 5 Main features of an EXPS: • It must be integrated into an LL and not function independently. • It allows controlled experimentation, but under real production conditions. • It produces scientific and practical data on the effectiveness of the tested practices. • It serves to validate, adapt, and refine solutions before their dissemination. Lighthouses (LHs) Lighthouses are reference sites that have tested, validated, and adopted sustainable solutions for soil challenges. They serve as inspiring models, catalysts for best practices, and key points for demonstration, training, and communication on soil health. The goal is for all experimental sites to strive for Lighthouse performance, demonstrating the practical application of innovative soil solutions. Relationship between the three concepts: • Living Labs (LLs) → Collaborative innovation ecosystems where soil challenges, solutions to be tested, and experimentation methodologies are defined, involving multiple actors, territories, policies, and communities. • Experimental Sites (EXPS) → Specific locations within LLs where experimentation occurs and techniques, technologies, or approaches are tested under real production conditions, enabling practical assessment of solutions. • Lighthouses (LHs) → Reference sites that already implement good practices in a consolidated way, serving as models and inspiration for other experimental sites or farmers to be replicated. 6 Living Labs Living Lab Activities 7 Target Groups to be involved The five LLs will function as participatory innovation ecosystems, integrating businesses, universities, public administrations, and citizens in a multi-actor approach. Expected Outcomes 8 Consortium The consortium was designed to ensure a broad European geographical coverage, encompassing 6 Member States (Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Poland, and Belgium). It brings together a diverse range of organizations (49 partners) that fulfil complementary roles, including farmers’ organizations, applied research institutions, academic research institutions in soil and environmental sciences, policy and innovation support organizations, and technology providers. This multidisciplinary structure enables LivingSoiLL to address soil health challenges across different European regions while fostering knowledge exchange and practical solutions. 9 For more information Want to get access to the latest press releases and news about LivingSoiLL? https://livingsoill.eu/news-events/ Website: https://livingsoill.eu/ LivingSoiLL Project Coordinator: Cristina Carlos | UTAD – CITAB [email protected] Living Lab leaders: Luso-Galician Living Lab Leonor Pereira | UTAD – CITAB | [email protected] Andalusian Living Lab Juan Jurado | UJAEN | [email protected] North-western Italy – Piemonte Living Lab Eleonora Bonifácio | UNITO | [email protected] Loire Valley and Beaujolais Living Lab David Lafond | IFV | [email protected] Grójec Living Lab Józef Chojnicki | WULS | jozef[email protected] Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Executive Agency (REA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.