Living Labs for living soils
A healthy soil-water system provides important services to people and the planet. Healthy soils provide a good foundation for crops, making them important for food security. They store and retain water, so they contribute to climate resilience. They provide habitat for plants, fungi, bacteria and animals, thus contributing to biodiversity. This is why the European Commission (EC) has committed missions to achieve healthy soils by 2050 in Europe. The Soil Mission aims to establish 100 Living Labs and Lighthouses to support this goal.
Living Labs and Lighthouses provide experimental space to improve soils. These involve various stakeholders from practice, the field, science and government. This should ensure that the knowledge developed can feed into practice and policy.
SOILL supports
The SOILL project (Support Structure for Soil Health Living Labs and Lighthouses) supports the Living Labs and Lighthouses set up under the Soil Mission. The main components of the SOILL project are:
- Supporting a network of 100 Living Labs and Lighthouses across Europe. The sites in this network serve as practical examples that the innovative methods and strategies developed to improve soil health and thus can accelerate the transition to healthy soils.
- Providing support to the Living Labs and Lighthouses so that they have the right tools and resources. This includes capacity building for stakeholders, knowledge exchange, promotion of results and regular monitoring of progress.
- Facilitating collaboration between the Living Labs and Lighthouses, the stakeholders involved and other projects that contribute knowledge on soil health.
The connection with the SOILL-Startup project and the other soil mission projects such as PREPSOIL and NATI00NS is very valuable for Dutch municipalities. This allows them to exchange lessons, experiences and knowledge about soil health and setting up Living Labs with other European countries.
Diana Sadek – van Dorresteijn – Program Manager Regional Knowledge Exchange Points Soil and Subsurface - Association of Dutch Municipalities
Networking and monitoring
The SOILL project is coordinated by the European Network of Living Labs (ENoLL). Deltares is one of the partners in the project and focuses mainly on forming the network between Living Labs. Deltares is also helping to develop the methodology for monitoring an both the functioning of the Living Labs and Lighthouses and their contribution to achieving healthy soils.
The first phase of the SOILL project will last until 2026. In it, the focus is mainly on supporting existing Living Labs. After 2026, a second phase will follow in which areas and actors will also be encouraged to start Living Labs.
Video
Discover the most challenging and exciting aspects in SOILL with the project partners in this interview with Giulia Campodonico - ENoLL, Line Friis Lindner - Aarhus University, and Astrid Hannes - ERRIN.
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