The Living Lab will leverage GOB’s already established presence as a strong voice in local politics, due to its participation in several government bodies and its leadership in a peer-to-peer farming programme focused on creating training opportunities, the sharing of resources and the establishment of short value chains.  

The lab’s aim is to elevate the existing connections between food producers and consumers to nurture innovation processes with a strong involvement of civil society, towards coordinated actions on soils as real social-ecological systems.  

However, due to the hilly landscape, shallow soils, climate change and the abandonment of farming, the region is highly susceptible to soil degradation, mainly loss of organic matter, erosion and desertification. On the other hand, because of the Syrian conflict, in 2015 Lesvos became a hotspot for migration fluxes. This has brought media attention to the island, sparking political and economic support that is creating the right conditions for socio-economic transformation. 

The Aegean Living Lab builds upon an existing scheme established in the area within the framework of Mara-Mediterra project (PRIMA), which addresses desertification. This, along with other similar projects, lays solid base of potential collaborators and demonstration farms, and most importantly, it became clear that a lighthouse for regenerative olive production was present on the island, which is already influencing local farmers. The Aegean lab will see the convergence of the strong political support and the experience of the national Soil and Water Resources Institute, in support of this bottom-up movement for agricultural regeneration that is emerging on the island.  

Ineffective fruit fly management, water scarcity, extreme weather conditions and the malpractices of old olive growers to keep the soil bare have contributed to extreme erosion and loss of soil structure and diversity.   

GOV4LL intercepted a grassroots community that, led by Meraki People (MRK), has brought worldwide attention to this secluded corner of Greece. MRK is trained in Theory U and is involved in the MIT Media Lab-led Global Community Bio Summit, a movement exploring the forefront of Open and Citizen Science, how to start and sustain community labs, enabling technologies, education and learning experiences, and how to develop community-based business models for better human-nature relationships.