Soils for Europe: Living Labs connecting science, policy and practice
October 25, 2026
From 7 to 11 September 2026, researchers, practitioners, farmers and Living Labs from across Europe met in Coimbra, Portugal, for Soils for Europe, organised by Soil-X-Change EU. LILAS4SOILS and our IBERSOILL Living Lab were there to share experience and learn from other Mission Soil projects.
Knowledge exchange and the Soil Monitoring Law
Our project manager Sonia Pietosi joined the panel “Learn from practitioners of European knowledge exchange”, alongside Anna Bagó Mas (Science4Practice), Clara Amaro (Soil-X-Change) and Pacôme Elouna Eyenga (EU CAP Network, Innovation Strand), moderated by Gabor Kiraly. The panel discussed collaboration and knowledge exchange as drivers of innovation uptake, and key aspects of implementing the EU Soil Monitoring Law:
- engaging a wide range of stakeholders: in Portugal alone, 18 organisations are involved in the process;
- harmonising soil monitoring and data collection, so that evidence from different regions and countries can be compared and shared at European level;
- working together to turn data into knowledge and action.
IBERSOILL: building a Living Lab with farmers
In the afternoon, Laura Birrento and Eduardo Velázquez Martín presented how IBERSOILL, which connects Portugal and Spain, was built and developed, with a particular focus on engaging farmers and other key stakeholders.
On the second day, IBERSOILL joined the Living Labs & Projects Fair at the Botanic Garden of Coimbra. The team — Laura Birrento, Eduardo Velázquez Martín, Regina Menino, María Alonso Ayuso, Yolanda Santiago Calvo and Nádia Castanheira — spoke with researchers, public officials and agri-food professionals, and exchanged with Living Labs from other projects on three shared challenges: governance, stakeholder engagement, and business models and long-term sustainability.
Why it matters
As Europe moves forward with the Soil Monitoring Law, Living Labs can help make sure soil monitoring goes beyond collecting data. By bringing farmers, researchers, policymakers and other actors together, they co-create solutions while generating real-world evidence on soil health.
Thank you to Soil-X-Change EU, SOILL and the University of Coimbra, and to everyone who visited our stand.
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Funded by the European Union (Grant no. 101157414). Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union, European Research Executive Agency (REA). Neither the European Union nor any other granting authority can be held responsible for them.
