Shaping the Future of Soil Health Living Labs and Lighthouses in Europe

Since joining ENoLL in 2022, Giulia has been supporting the implementation of the 20 active projects and coordinating the SOILL and SOILL-Startup projects supporting the Mission Soil Health Living Labs. Before ENoLL, she has led for 9 years the EU proposals team of the Italian Institute of Technology. She is also an experienced trainer on EU affairs and EU funding, bridging her hands-on experience on proposal and project management with deep knowledge of the EU policy landscape.

Markku Markkula is Vice-President of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) and served as its President in 2015–2017. His professional focus is on knowledge creation, societal innovation, change management, lifelong learning, and the use of technology for societal progress. He is a former Member of Parliament of Finland and President of the Helsinki Region. Most recently, he has served as the CoR rapporteur on the EU Missions, the New European Innovation Agenda, and the Future of EU Climate Policy. He chairs the CoR Green Deal Going Local working group for 2025–2027.

Henri Delanghe is the Head of the Research and Innovation Unit at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development (DG AGRI). Before that, he worked on organic production in the same Directorate-General. Preceding that, he worked at the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation in various capacities.

Bavo obtained master degrees in applied economics and cultural studies, and a post-graduate in accountancy and finance. He is policy officer in the soil team of DG Environment since 2017 and deals with the implementation of the EU Soil Strategy and the new Soil Monitoring Law.

Giuseppe Pellegrino has a background in agro-economy. He joined the European Commission in 2019, working at Directorate General for Agriculture and Rural Development, where he worked on political analysis on young farmer entrepreneurship and the European Innovation Partnership. He is now working at Directorate General for Research and Innovation, and he is in charge of the Horizon Europe Mission “A Soil Deal for Europe”. He also analyzes  bioeconomy trends in Europe, including bioeconomy education.

Martín Soriano works as EU R&D Project Manager at CETENMA and he is currently the Head of the Circular Systems Unit. He holds an M.Sc. in Environmental Sciences and a Ph.D. in Soil Health. He has over 15 years of experience as a researcher and lecturer in leading public research institutions (CSIRO, Australia; CNRS and INRA, France; ISR, New Zealand), private technology organisations (CETENMA), private companies (Ziltek), and universities (Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche, University of Adelaide, Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena). He has participated in more than 40 R&D projects and is the co-author of over 60 scientific publications and contributions to 50 international conferences. His main areas of expertise include the circular economy, organic waste management, environmental sensing technologies, soil health, ecosystem services, and sustainable agriculture. He has coordinated several H2020 and Horizon Europe projects. At the moment, among other projects, he is involved in the soil health projects URSOILL and ICOSHELLS leading the Work Package on Soil Health Evaluation and Monitoring of the Living Labs, and he is the manager of the Southeastern Spain Living Lab (GREENNOMMED) in iCOSHELLs.

Roby Biwer is the former Mayor and currently councillor of the municipality of Bettembourg, in Luxembourg. He is an active member of the largest Luxembourgish association for the protection of nature and environment (natur&ëmwelt), and since 2013, its national president. He is member of the Commission for Environment, Climate change and Energy (ENVE) and the Commission for Natural Resources (NAT) at the European Committee of the Regions (CoR). He was rapporteur for several CoR opinions on biodiversity, forests and nature.

Panos Panagos is a senior scientist at JRC (Joint Research Centre, European Commission). He has more than 24 years' experience in environmental modelling and policy developments in the European Commission. Panos Panagos is the Project and Team leader of EU Soil Observatory (EUSO).  Panos supports a wide range of policies in the EU, including the recently adopted Soil Monitoring Law, the EU Soil Strategy 2030, the Carbon Removals Certification Framework (CRCF), the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and the Zero Pollution Action Plan. Panos is also responsible for the scientific and technical support of the JRC to the HORIZON Europe Mission “A Soil Deal for Europe”. Panos has more than 250 publications in peer-review journals and he has been awarded the Web of Science highly influential scientist award (7,000 influential researchers worldwide) for the last 7 years (2019-2025).

Ioannis Varvaris is a researcher and Deputy Research Coordinator at the ERATOSTHENES Centre of Excellence, leading research within the Land Cluster of the Environment and Climate Department. A hydrogeologist and soil scientist, his work bridges Environmental Observation, soil health, and land–climate interactions through Living Labs that translate science into real-world impact. He is the Scientific Coordinator of several Horizon Europe projects, including Nemesis (Soil Health Living Labs for Combating Desertification), LandShift (Climate-Neutral Living Spaces), AfroGrow (Agroforestry Living Labs in the African Union), and Nostradamus (Digital Agriculture and Data Cubes). Through these initiatives, he contributes to advancing co-creation and co-governance, soil monitoring and assessment, and data-driven decision support to enhance climate resilience, reverse soil degradation, restore biodiversity, and foster sustainable development. Passionate about Living Labs as engines of transformation, he integrates multi-actor collaboration, participatory innovation, and digital technologies to strengthen the science–policy–industry–society interface and actively contributes to advancing sustainable land use and soil stewardship across Europe and Africa.

Since 1980, he has been working at the Department of Soil Science at the Faculty of Agriculture of the Warsaw University of Life Sciences (WULS). His scientific research focuses on the genesis, typology, and systematics of soils and their anthropogenic transformation. They primarily focus on the search for qualitative and quantitative indicators of the occurrence and advancement of soil-forming processes, as well as the study of the occurrence and qualitative and quantitative transformation of clay minerals during these processes

Dr Madden is a Senior Research Fellow/Principal Investigator at Technological University of the Shannon (TUS) - Midwest. PhD in Bio-nano Material science from TUS/UL and two honours degrees in Analytical Chemistry and Economics and Production Management. Post her PhD Dr Madden primarily focused on circular bioprocesses, development of bio-based fertilisers, green energy and circular approaches in both Agriculture and Biotechnology She is a lead of CircAB (Circular Agriculture and Biotechnology) research group, Lead PI in the Centre for Applied Biotechnology Research (CABR), TUS, Funded Investigator at the Enterprise Ireland Meat technology Centre, Teagasc, Ashtown, Funded Investigator at Research Ireland BiOrbic centre, University College Dublin. Over the decade of research work at the TUS, Dr Madden has developed and is leading Circular Agriculture and biotechnology group, CircAB at LIFE Institute. She is well published in the area of circular biotechnology and secured over 10 million euros of funding through various national and Horizon Europe frameworks. This includes her participation as a lead PI in a Soil Health indicators and assessment work package of SOILCRATES project and coordination of the SOILCRATES-Ireland Living Lab. Over the years Dr Madden was working with Irish farming communities on development of practical approaches to sustainable soil management, crop diversification, soil nitrogen management and implementation of developments in the real-farm scenario. Her Science and farming community work has culminated in acquisition of Horizon Mission Soil funding, as a part of SOILCRATES project to start the Soil Health Living Lab SOILCRATES-Ireland for farmers of Ireland’s Mid-West region.

Work in Agronomy Faculty, Department of Agrochemistry and Soil Science since 2011. Main interest in Soil Science.

Ambassador of the AEGEAN Living Lab (GOV4ALL project). Senior Researcher at the Soil and Water Resources Institute of the Hellenic Agricultural Organization “DIMITRA.” Agronomist with an MSc and PhD in Ecology and Ecosystems Management, with work experience in both the public and private sectors. Participation in more than 45 national and EU-funded projects and Coordinator of Mara-Mediterra project (PRIMA funded) for promoting NbSs in rural Mediterranean landscapes through the establishment of 5 LLs in Algeria, Egypt, Greece, Lebanon and Türkiye. Author of over 80 publications in international scientific journals, conferences, and books. Actively involved in the EU Soil Mission and the EU Mission for Ocean & Waters. Engaged in the European Innovation Partnership for Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability (EIP-AGRI) as a member of the Focus Group “Nature-based Solutions for Water Management under Climate Change” and the Focus Group “Water and Agriculture.”

Since joining ENoLL in 2022, Giulia has been supporting the implementation of the 20 active projects and coordinating the SOILL and SOILL-Startup projects supporting the Mission Soil Health Living Labs. Before ENoLL, she has led for 9 years the EU proposals team of the Italian Institute of Technology. She is also an experienced trainer on EU affairs and EU funding, bridging her hands-on experience on proposal and project management with deep knowledge of the EU policy landscape.