The Altiplano Estepario extends across 10,000 km2 over the Spanish territories of Almería, Murcia and Granada. It is typified as a flat, semi-arid steppe with unforested shrubland, a large production of organic rainfed almond trees. The region faces challenges related to degraded soil and significant drought as climate change drives increasingly extreme climatic conditions.   

The Living Lab is a result of a collaboration after local farmers intersected Commonland’s search for a region to apply it’s 4 Returns Framework and it has since grown into the largest landscape restoration project in Europe, bringing together land managers, conservationists, entrepreneurs and local administrations into the Association AlVelAl (AAVA). It encompasses over 500 members, including more than 350 farmers. 

The 4 Returns Framework is a holistic and participatory approach to landscape restoration focused on: Inspiration Return, Social Return, Natural Return, and Financial Return where an alignment between ecology and economy leads us to the economy of the common good. 

In the Altiplano Estepario Living Lab, local partners are working to instill a feeling of pride in the community by creating jobs, enhancing social connections, improving quality of life all the while restoring the landscape by taking care of the soil, protecting water sources, diversifying crops and finding new business opportunities.