Mission Soil Living Labs and Soil Literacy: Empowering Communities for Healthy Soils

The EU Mission “A Soil Deal for Europe” is one of five Horizon Europe Missions, aiming to establish 100 Soil Health Living Labs (SHLLs) and Lighthouses (SHLHs) by 2030. The Mission works towards achieving healthy soils for food security, biodiversity, climate adaptation, and citizen wellbeing. 

This thematic engagement event is jointly organised by SOILL-Startup and ECHO projects and aims to build momentum for the 2025 Mission Soil call by engaging with key stakeholders and future applicants aiming at establishing soil health living labs. 

Soil literacy is essential for enabling change. It empowers citizens, educators, landowners, businesses, and public authorities to understand and act on the importance of soil health. Enhancing soil literacy helps ensure more informed engagement in Soil Health Living Labs, fosters public support, and strengthens the societal impact of the Mission Soil. 

Objectives of the event

• Raise awareness of the Mission Soil initiative and funding opportunities for creating Soil Health Living Labs.
• Foster understanding of soil literacy as a driver of systemic change.
• Equip participants with examples, methodologies, and tools to promote soil literacy in Living Lab contexts.
• Inspire cross-sector stakeholders to engage in co-designing proposals addressing the Mission Soil call topics funding the establishement of Soil Health Living Labs and Lighthouses.

Who is this event for? Why participate?

This event aims at supporting those who interested in applying to the 2025 Mission Soil call topics funding projects establishing Soil Health Living Labs: Land managers, researchers, soil educators, communicators, and NGOs, public authorities (local and regional), agricultural extension services, Living Lab practitioners, representatives from cultural and creative sectors.