Partners from across the Mediterranean unite for collaboration as the Soil Mission project gains ground.
Over 80 representatives of GOV4ALL Project partners came together in the project’s Altiplano Estepario Living Lab territory for a three-day general assembly between 27-29 November. This second general assembly, following the kick-off meeting in June 2024, gave colleagues a chance to meet face-to-face and share knowledge from their respective regions.
The event, hosted by GOV4ALL partner AlVelAl, provided a platform for presentations on business and governance models, data collection, and communication strategies. Workshops on the co-creation and co-designing of landscape restoration plans, as well as on soil health science, ethics, governance and much more, offered an interactive space for fruitful discussions all geared towards the transition of healthy soils in the Mediterranean and beyond.
The GOV4ALL consortium took the opportunity to visit a farm in the countryside of the Altiplano Estepario, to see how farmers in this region are adopting regenerative practices to face climate challenges like soil erosion and water management. Participants were shown how regenerative practices can be applied to traditional olive farming in areas with thin soils and semi-desert precipitation conditions and the effects that these practices can have on the soil.
Commenting on the event, Laura Nuñez from AlVelAl, said: “Organising an event like this in a rural area has been a challenge and a learning experience, due to the logistical difficulties that it entails. At the same time, it has been very inspiring to be able to share experiences between the different Living Labs and to be able to create these spaces to be able to work together for healthier soil in the future.
“It has been a great opportunity for us to show the work we’re doing in our Altiplano Estepario Living Lab.”
SAE Innova’s Tristano Bacchetti De Gregoris, GOV4ALL coordinator, added: “It is an incredible experience to see people from so many diverse backgrounds working side by side to identify solutions for our broken farming system. In face of climate change and desertification, a regenerative movement is gaining momentum across the Mediterranean, and everything indicates that the consortium will play a key part in its development.”
The GOV4ALL General Assembly was attended by multiple partners from each of the project’s Living Labs: Altiplano Estepario and Menorca from Spain, Solvi’Terra from southern France, and Thyrea and Aegean from Greece.
They were joined by representatives of horizontal project partners specialised in project coordination, communications, ethics, governance models, business models. Participants from other projects included CETEMNA’s Cristiano Pisani, representing iCOSHELL, Wageningen’s Paolo di Leonardo, representing the Benchmarks project, and David Robinson and Imna Lebron Hernando from the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology representing AI4SoilHealth.
About GOV4ALL
GOV4ALL (Governance and business models for living labs: Rural regeneration hubs for tackling soil health challenges in the Mediterranean region) inspires stakeholder networks to co-create regenerative soil health solutions that lay the ground for sustainable landscape restoration, healthier ecosystems, stronger societies and enduring financial prospects in the Mediterranean region. Funded by the EU and coordinated by Spanish company SAE Innova, this Soil Mission project brings actors of change together in 5 territories in France, Greece, and Spain.