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The Altiplano Estepario spans 10,000 km2 of land across Almería, Granada, and Murcia in southeast Spain. It is typified as a flat, semi-arid steppe with unforested shrubland. It is home to vast olive groves and traditional almond farms. The region faces challenges from degraded soils, and drought, which are exacerbated by climate change and unsustainable farming techniques.

The Altiplano Estepario Living Lab is home to an ambitious and vital landscape restoration plan that seeks to strike a balance between nature and regenerative agriculture by 2034. In GOV4ALL, Altiplano Estepario partners are focusing on the soil by encouraging local farmers to adopt regenerative land management practices. These practices will be curated and shared as knowledge at a planned soil museum centre.

The local actors of change follow the 4 Returns Framework, 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.