10 September 2024, Gothenburg, Sweden – The iCOSHELLs research and innovation project officially commenced this week in Gothenburg, focusing on enhancing soil health across the EU. Utilising Living Labs situated in the Basque Country, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Spain, and Sweden, the project integrates a wide array of local stakeholders to co-design and test effective strategies to improve soil health.
Soil is fundamental to life on Earth, yet a concerning 60%-70% of EU soils are deemed unhealthy due to pollution, urbanisation, and intensive agriculture—conditions worsened by climate change. This degradation poses considerable economic, societal, and environmental challenges, manifesting as reduced land productivity and biodiversity loss. The iCOSHELLs project is in alignment with the EU Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe,’ which aims to reduce soil pollution, enhance biodiversity, and improve soil literacy across the continent by 2030.
iCOSHELLs is part of the EU Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’ which aims to lead the transition towards healthy soils by 2030. The project will specifically contribute to objectives 4, 6 and 8 of the mission, namely, to reduce soil pollution and enhance restoration, improve soil structure to enhance soil biodiversity, and improve soil literacy in society.
The project employs a systematic approach to build stakeholder capacities, bridge science with practical applications, deepen understanding of soil indicators, and replicate effective soil recovery methods. The ultimate goal is to develop, test, and validate scalable solutions.
The diverse geographical and climatic scope of the six Living Labs fosters the replicability of innovative solutions, addressing unique regional challenges from agricultural soil health in Southern Sweden to soil restoration in contaminated sites in Western Macedonia, Greece:
- Southern Sweden, addressing agricultural soil health problems
- Southeastern Spain (Murcia and Almeria), creating a vibrant ecosystem for sustainable agriculture
- The Basque Country, improving cross-border wetland, semi-urban and forestry soil structure
- Western Macedonia region of Greece, addressing soil restoration and reclamation in contaminated mining sites
- Northern Italy, focusing on agricultural soil health in rural, urban and semi-urban areas
- Plovdiv region of Bulgaria, addressing decreasing soil organic matter content, poor soil structure and soil biodiversity
Erik Sindhöj, Senior Scientist at RISE Research Institutes of Sweden and iCOSHELLs Lead Scientist, shares an interesting aspect of the project:
«“Our Living Labs are more than just test sites; they are vibrant hubs where cutting-edge soil health innovations are nurtured. Spanning diverse climatic zones in Sweden, Spain, Italy, Greece, and Bulgaria, these labs are designed to generate adaptable solutions that enhance soil biodiversity and ecosystem services tailored to local needs. This dynamic network of labs not only focuses on localized improvements but also ensures that successful strategies are scalable and applicable across Europe, exemplifying a groundbreaking approach to environmental restoration.”
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iCOSHELLs involves 39 partners from across Europe, coordinated by RISE Research Institutes of Sweden. The project began on 1 September 2024 and will continue for four years, with regular updates available on a dedicated LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/104658102/.
