Living Labs for co-creating solutions to reduce eutrophication from agriculture

Opis naboru

Activities under this topic respond directly to the goal of the Mission Soil to set up 100 living labs and lighthouses to lead the transition to healthy soils by 2030 and support the objectives and targets of the Mission Soil[1]. Activities should also contribute to the Common Agricultural Policy, and to meeting the European Green Deal ambitions and targets and more specifically those of the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, the EU soil strategy for 2030 and the proposal for a Soil Monitoring and Resilience Directive, as well as the EU Water Framework Directive, the European Water Resilience Strategy, the Nitrates Directive, the Zero Pollution Action Plan, the Communication on Boosting Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing in the EU, as well as to the Sustainable Development Goals[2].Project results are expected to contribute to all the following enhanced capacities for participatory, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary R&I to co-create, and co-implement economically viable soil health solutions to reduce eutrophication from agriculture and improve water quality;improved soil health monitoring and increased availability of high quality, standardised soil data at local and regional levels;increased availability of practice-oriented knowledge and tools for land managers and land users, leading to better adoption of effective soil health solutions to reduce eutrophication in diverse contexts;policy makers are more aware of risks associated with eutrophication and local needs regarding soil health, including its drivers, and can use this knowledge to design and implement more effective policies to reduce eutrophication and enhancing soil health while considering the economic sustainability of solutions. Eutrophication is a critical environmental issue that primarily affects water bodies but is largely driven by nutrient dynamics in soils together with diffuse source contributions. Eutrophication leads to algal blooms, hypoxia, and biodiversity loss, which in turn disrupt the entire food chains threatening both food availability and safety, as well as other ecosystems functions and the services they provide (e.g. drinking water, recreation). Soil management practices, particularly in agricultural soils, can lead to an excessive accumulation of nutrients in soils, predominantly nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), and runoff or leaching into water bodies. Thus, soil management represents an important strategy to mitigate eutrophication[3]. Moreover, degraded soils with low water retention and limited nutrient cycling capacity, exacerbate eutrophication. Therefore, the restoration of soil health offers a critical opportunity for nutrient interception and reduction of downstream aquatic impacts.The Mission Soil proposes the deployment of living labs as a novel approach to research and innovation in soil health[4]. Living labs have the potential to facilitate a green transition by involving multiple actors in real-life sites within a local/regional setting to co-create soil health solutions and achieve large-scale impacts on soil health and soil governance. Projects funded under this topic should deploy a number of living labs to expand and complement the network of soil health living labs initiated in previous Mission Soil topics to gradually establish 100 living labs and lighthouses to lead the transition towards healthy soils by 2030[5].Soil health living labs are long-term collaborations between multiple actors to address common soil health challenges in real-life sites at local or regional level[6] (10 to 20 sites in each living lab). Depending on the level at which each living lab operates and the specific context (e.g. land use covered, or soil health challenge addressed), applicants can exceptionally propose living labs with fewer sites. Living labs can address soil health challenges in or across different land uses (agricultural, forest and (semi-)natural). Individual sites can be farms, forest holdings, (semi)natural areas etc., where work is carried out and monitored under real-life conditions. In the case of eutrophication, the selection of sites should be conducted to ensure a comprehensive representation of the different drivers that contribute to the eutrophication process in a small river catchment, and where solutions can be co-developed and co-implemented. Sites should be located in nitrate vulnerable zones[7] as designated by the EU countries or regional authorities in reporting period 7 (or more recent) or a clear rationale of the eutrophication challenge based on national, regional or local data should justify the location in other areas. Sites that are exemplary in their performance in terms of soil health improvement and serve as places for demonstration of solutions, training and communication are lighthouses. Lighthouse sites can be part of a living lab or be situated outside a living lab. Projects funded under this topic are expected to kick-start a participatory process or build on existing processes. If building on existing processes, the new proposed living labs should complement the existing network of Mission Soil Living Labs and deliver unique results.While on average, projects run for around four years, the duration of the projects under this topic should accommodate longer timescales required to establish participatory processes and/or for soils processes to take place.Actors working on common shared soil health challenge(s) within an