The Mission Soil will put in place a network of 100 Living Labs and Lighthouses in rural and urban areas by 2030 to support the transition towards healthy soils. Living Labs and Lighthouses play a crucial role in accelerating the adoption of sustainable practices by users and in fostering the development of solutions tailored to specific local conditions.
Mission Soil Living Labs are user-centred, place-based and transdisciplinary research and innovation ecosystems that involve multiple partners (e.g., land managers, scientists, citizens, businesses, and local authorities) to co-design, test, monitor and evaluate solutions in real-life settings for improving soil health.
Mission Soil Living Labs involve partners from different backgrounds, disciplines and/or sectors and are composed of several sites. The number of sites will depend on the specific context (e.g., the land use(s) and the soil health challenge(s) addressed by the Living Labs). By working together on themes of common interest, the various partners involved in the sites will be able to replicate actions and solutions, compare results, exchange good practices, validate methodologies and benefit from cross-fertilisation within a local/regional setting.
The Work Programme 2023, which closed on 20 September 2023, included two calls to fund Living Labs The projects funded under the call HORIZON-MISS-2023-SOIL-01-08 (Co-creating solutions for soil health in Living Labs) are LivingSoiLL, GOV4ALL, iCOSHELLs, and SOILCRATES; and LILAS4SOILS funded under the HORIZON-MISS-2023-SOIL-01-09 (Carbon farming in Living Labs).
The Work Programme 2024, published on 17 April 2024, included two further calls for proposals funding the creation and establishment of Living Labs: HORIZON-MISS-2024-SOIL-01-01: Co-creating solutions for soil health in Living Labs and HORIZON-MISS-2024-SOIL-01-02: Living Labs in urban areas for healthy soils. These two calls closed in October 2024 and the results are expected in the first quarter of 2025.
New Living Labs calls… See the list below.
2026 calls (two-stage) — supporting the creation of 20 new Living Labs across Europe:
- HORIZON-MISS-2026-05-SOIL-01: …
- HORIZON-MISS-2026-05-SOIL-02: …
Stage 1 proposals could be submitted…
2027 calls (two-stage) — forthcoming:
- HORIZON-MISS-2027-05-SOIL-01: …
- HORIZON-MISS-2027-05-SOIL-02: …
Applicants and Living Labs are supported by SOILL-StepUp, the continuation of the SOILL Framework Partnership following the initial SOILL-Startup project. SOILL-StepUp provides structured support across the full journey — coordination, training, knowledge sharing, monitoring, and a digital hub — for existing, emerging and future Soil Health Living Labs and Lighthouses across Europe. Through the SOILL Hub, a dedicated helpdesk, and the Atlas of the Mission Soil Living Labs and Lighthouses, it supports the network of 100 Living Labs and Lighthouses leading the transition to healthy soils by 2030. It is funded under the European Union's Horizon Europe programme (Grant Agreement No. 101262100).
Related links:
Map and Catalogue of Living Labs