GSS EU Science Funding Gateway

Each of the funded projects should:

• Support the setup of four to five living labs (or more, as applicable to the land use(s) and purpose of the project) to work together on one or more soil health challenge(s), addressing the same or several land use types. The living labs should be located in at least three different Member States and/or Associated Countries. Proposals should describe the rationale for cooperation across the various living labs and explain how the work undertaken will contribute to one or more of the Mission’s specific objectives. Proposals should present a realistic combination of a limited selection of variables (e.g., number of soil health challenges addressed, pedo-climatic conditions, land uses, Mission objectives addressed). Living labs exclusively focused on urban areas are excluded from this topic as a dedicated topic is opened in this work programme.
• Establish, based on the projects’ goals and objectives, a detailed work plan with the activities to be undertaken in the living labs in an interdisciplinary way, ensuring the co-design, co-development, and co-implementation of locally adapted solutions for the selected soil health challenge(s). Seek practical solutions to the identified problems related to the selected soil health challenge(s), taking into account the relevant drivers and pressures. Proposed solutions should be adapted to the different environmental, socio-economic and cultural contexts in which the living labs are operating. Moreover, activities should address challenges to the scaling up and the transferability of solutions. Living labs working in the area of agriculture are expected to promote sustainable practices, applied across a range of farming systems and benefit both conventional and organic farming. Living labs working on forestry, peat and natural areas are expected to address sustainable management for healthy soils in conjunction with productive biomass and other ecosystem services.
• Establish for each living lab a baseline for the selected soil health challenge(s), in order to allow for an accurate assessment of the conditions and changes of soils in the different sites over time and for monitoring of progress towards the objectives of the respective living labs and the project overall. As appropriate, make use of the set of soil health indicators presented in the Soil Mission Implementation Plan and the descriptors of the proposal for a Directive on Soil Monitoring and Resilience.
• Monitor and carry out an assessment of the effects of the developed innovative practices or introduced solutions on soil health and related ecosystem services. This should include a demonstration of the viability (e.g., technical, economic) of the proposed solutions and quantification of the impact of the tested practices and/or solutions on relevant soil health indicators.
• Identify sites that demonstrate high performance in terms of their actions and results on soil health improvement and that may be converted into lighthouses.
• Propose strategies (e.g., financial, organisational) to ensure long-term sustainability and continuity, impact and ambition of the established living labs beyond the Horizon Europe funding, including the identification of possible business models and actions involving local authorities, business communities, SMEs, investors, entrepreneurs including co-funding schemes.