The EU Soil Mission aims to restore and protect the health of soil in Europe by 2030 by establishing 100 living labs and lighthouses to demonstrate innovative solutions for soil health.

LGI is committed to supporting the Mission and its goals, as this directly aligns with the company’s core values, where agriculture, soil and nature all play key parts and contribute to the work we are doing to in generating impact. We are pleased to announce our involvement in several projects that are part of the EU Mission : “A Soil Deal for Europe,” :

• EDAPHOS: The project aims to develop a framework for land rehabilitation and ecological restoration of contaminated areas featuring nature-based solutions (NbS), to accelerate the recovery of contaminated lands to a good ecosystem status and making ecological restoration a mainstream business endeavour.
• BIOservicES: will develop soil and economic indicators for eight different land uses (urban, industrial, agricultural, forestry, mining, (semi)-natural, wetland and dryland) .) on 25 experimental sites to analyse soil organisms and ecosystem functions and services interconnection to improve soil structure. At least two new Living Labs will be created in BIOservicES.
• InBestSoil: aims to co-create a framework for investment in conservation and recovery of soil health, by developing an economic valuation system of the ecosystem services delivered by a healthy soil and the impacts of soil interventions, and its incorporation into business models and policy incentives. At least three Living Labs will be created in InBestSoil.
• SOILL: is the dedicated support structure for the 100 living labs and lighthouses of the Mission.

Our role in the above-mentioned projects will focus on supporting innovative solutions to improve soil health, which we will do by:

• Working with all stakeholders involved in soil health, such as farmers and land users; policymakers; land managers; local, national and EU authorities; as well as researchers and private sector actors. We hope to raise awareness of the importance of soil health and its vital functions for both a healthy environment and safe and nutritious food.
• Supporting the adoption of sustainable soil management practices via:
  • New business models for soil health and the development of long-term sustainability plans.
  • Innovative business, spatial and financial models to support the market uptake of NbS for soil decontamination.
  • Ex-post evaluation analysis of forestry business models and carbon-farming business models.
• Creating the structuring of NbS-SROs (Soil Restauration Observatories) in selected sites such as local branches of the EU Soil Observatory.
• Engaging in designing an innovative framework to assess the economic significance of soil biodiversity in enhancing ecosystem services. Our work encompasses the orchestration of a series of workshops to gather crucial data and collaboratively shape a comprehensive assessment framework.
• Establishing platforms that will serve as hubs for fostering a genuine community among living labs and partners. The community will connect with necessary resources for an efficient collaboration among stakeholders at regional, national, European, and international levels, to align on methodological issues and co-design suitable indicators and incentives
• Leading on the overall communication and dissemination activities for 100 living labs and lighthouses of the Mission, via the four previously mentioned projects LGI is part of.

So, what is next on the agenda for us? LGI will participate in the European Mission SOIL Week in Madrid, Spain, 21-23 November 2023. We look forward to meeting with stakeholders of the Mission, discussing solutions towards more sustainable land management, and being part of the transition towards healthy soils.

Hope to see you there!