AREFLH is a partner of the EU project LivingSoiLL. Its motto is “Healthy Soil to Permanent Crops Living Labs”. It is a new Horizon Europe project funded by the European Commission within the framework of the EU MISSION ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’. The Soil Mission aims to lead the transition to healthy soils via sustainable soil management. Indeed, the issue of healthy soils is at the heart of the European Green Deal and one of the main targets of the Mission Board.
LivingSoiLL intend to establish 5 Living Labs (LLs) : in Portugal, France, Spain, Italy and Poland. They will focus on permanent crops :
- vineyards
- olive groves
- chestnuts
- hazelnuts
- apple orchards
There will beat least 50 demonstration sites and 10 lighthouses, and with active participation of more than 2000 local actors.
These LLs will focus on improving healthy soils and ecosystem services through co-creating, co-implementing, and co-testing (digital) solutions to :
- reduce erosion,
- improve soil structure,
- reduce the impacts of the intensive use of fertilizers and pesticides,
- increase water storage,
- enhance soil biodiversity,
- and develop an overall resilience of soil.
By promoting locally adjusted innovative solutions, spreading sustainable soil management practices, and enhancing soil literacy, LivingSoilLL will contribute to the overall improvement of soil health and environmental resilience.
The consortium
The LivingSoiLL consortium gathers over 46 institutions from 6 European Countries covering a broad range of actors (associations, universities, companies, institutions, consultancy companies, chamber of agriculture, and cooperatives). The Horizon Europe project will run for the next four and a half years and is expected to deliver its results in 2028.
As a consortium member in the LivingSoiLL AREFLH, will be tasked with the Living lab establishment & long-term operation, in the monitoring framework, in the baseline setup and research, in the regional Living Labs implementations, business models, exploitations, in the scaling up and transferability of Solutions and communication, dissemination & engagement.
Kik-off meeting
The kick-off meeting of the LivingSoiLL project took place on 25 to 27 June 2024 in Vila Real, Portugal. The three-day meeting allowed the project partners to meet each other and discuss the general project strategy. The project officer of the European Commission, the project officer of JRC (Joint Research Center), and the project officer of the European Soil Observatory (EUSO) were present. Work package leaders also presented their planned activities and fine-tuned management approaches and duties.
Know more about the project
- X : @livingsoiLL
- YouTube
- Instagram : @LivingSoiLL
- Website : livingsoill.eu
- Read all previous articles written by AREFLH on this project here
This project receives funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Programme under Grant Agreement Nr. 101157502.