The "A Soil Deal for Europe" Mission aims to accelerate the transition to healthy soils by 2030 through the establishment of 100 Soil Health Living Labs and Lighthouses (SHLL/LHs) that will drive the development and adoption of solutions. The Framework Partnership SOILL, led by ENoLL (the international association of certified Living Labs), has been created to coordinate, support, expand, and promote the network of 100 SHLL/LHs. During the initial two years of SOILL, the SOILL-Startup project will collaborate with the first waves of SHLL/LHs and key stakeholders to launch the SOILL one-stop structure. This involves: 1) Establishing a high-quality structure for SHLL/LHs with clear processes and procedures. A web-based Hub will be created to facilitate outreach, collaboration, support, and monitoring within and beyond the 100 SHLL/LHs network. 2) Providing comprehensive support to SHLL/LHs for a harmonized and sustainable approach within the network. This includes capacity building through training and supporting tools on methodologies, technical aspects, and cross-cutting areas. Regular monitoring and evaluation of SHLL/LHs will be conducted based on a consolidated assessment framework. 3) Supporting network expansion by promoting, engaging, matchmaking, and advising applicants to Mission calls. Events will be organized to showcase funding opportunities, provide examples, and disseminate information on the SHLL/LH concept and its implementation. Webinars, coaching, and matchmaking will assist applicants in conceptualization and consortia creation for their applications. 4) Facilitating knowledge exchange, collaboration, and synergy creation within the SHLL/LHs network and the wider community. SOILL-Startup will enhance the visibility and accessibility of the SHLL/LHs, their work, and achievements. Mutual-learning events, collaborative platforms, mutual visits, and matchmaking will facilitate collaboration opportunities, knowledge sharing, and solution uptake.

LIVESEEDING contributes to the upscaling of organic production in Europe through (i) improving availability of organic plant reproductive material of organic cultivars (Organic Heterogeneous Material, Organic Varieties, landraces) of a large range of crops, bred for improved diversity and adaptation to local conditions, and (ii) strengthening and diversifying the organic seed sector informed by market demands. LIVESEEDING contributes to the transition towards environmentally-friendly, climate-neutral, healthy and fair food systems through further developing (i) cultivars suited for organic and low external input production, (ii) novel governance models linking breeders with value chain actors and citizens with local food production, and (iii) awareness around the importance of biodiversity for our food and health. LIVESEEDING focuses on the main drivers for (i) the supply and demand of organic seed and cultivars, (ii) the supply and demand of food products derived from them, and (iii) enabling frameworks and roadmaps through active policy dialogue with national and European authorities and policymakers by providing science-based evidence and best practice solutions to achieve 100% organic seed. LIVESEEDING addresses the topics in a holistic multi-actor, multi-stakeholder participatory approach involving organic and public research institutes (with proven competencies in breeding, seed multiplication and health, socio-economics, extension and outreach), variety examination offices, private breeders and seed companies, organic production and civil society associations. Additional stakeholders along the value chain are involved in the local Living Labs (LLs) and the established networks of organic breeders (ECO-PB), seed savers (ECLLD) and Milan Urban Food Policy Pact (MUFPP). 15 European countries cover the different pedoclimatic zones and socio-economic contexts, including countries with a low level of development in organic seed and breeding in East and South Europe

The Mission “A Soil Deal for Europe” aims to pioneer, showcase, and accelerate the transition to healthy soils by 2030, supporting the long-term commitments at European and global level within the Green Deal and Sustainable Development Goals. Ultimately, the creation of 100 Living Labs (LLs) and Lighthouses (LHs) will accelerate the creation and uptake of solutions by land managers, showcase measurable increase in soil health, improved social capital and citizen awareness. SOILL – lead by ENoLL, the international association of certified LLs – aims to set up and run an effective, agile, transdisciplinary, capillary, open and fair one-stop-shop structure. This will coordinate, support, enlarge, and promote the network of 100 Soil Mission LLs and LLs, and ensure their co-created, user-centred, harmonized, reliable, impactful, replicable, and sustainable lead of the transition towards healthy soils across different settings, geographical and socio-economic contexts. To facilitate this, the SOILL action plan has been designed to be agile and ready to adapt to the specific needs and requirements of LLs and LHs (applicant and established) as well of the different actors relevant in the different ecosystems and value chains. SOILL will support the production, exchange, and integration of knowledge to be transformed into specific and specialised skills for expanding practice, social capital, and policies. SOILL will help established LLs and LHs - as well as regional and national stakeholders seen as potential applicants - in building peer-to-peer relationships to ensure that best practices, guidance, knowledge, and lessons learnt are meaningfully shared and that they can learn from each other and scale up implementation of innovative approaches. Alongside, SOILL will start, facilitate, and coordinate the interaction of the network in the wider framework of the soil-related ecosystems, engaging all relevant stakeholders at national, European, and international level.

IntercropValueES aims to exploit benefits of intercropping to design and manage productive, diversified, resilient, profitable, environmentally friendly cropping systems acceptable to farmers and actors in the agri-food chain. It will develop both a scientific research action for better understanding and modelling intimate intercrop functioning and a detailed analysis of lock-ins and levers at the value chain level to identify credible solutions that can be adopted by farmers and value chain actors. As a multi-disciplinary and multi-actor project, it brings together scientists and local actors representing food value chain. It includes 27 participants from 15 countries (3 continents) from a wide diversity of organizations and stakeholders. IntercropValuES organizes its activities in 6 objectives, to: 1) support the design of locally relevant, legitimate and innovative agri-food chains, through 13 Co-Innovation Case Studies; 2) understand the functioning and G*G*E*M interactions allowing the selection of compatible ideotypes and the optimization of machinery and management strategies for maximizing the productivity and delivery of ecosystem services with better soil health and mitigation of GHG (meta experiment 15 sites); 3) produce novel information, improved methods and tools for intercrop management and the assessment of their performance and profitability; 4) unravel intercropping performance by modelling; 5) analyze grain and sanitary quality of cereal-legume intercrops, functional qualities for food processing and new products, 6) uncover key barriers and levers at the value chain level to boost development, and identify new market avenues and solutions to increase economic added-value of intercrops. The Comms and Dissemination Plan is designed to diffuse outcomes widely by adapted channels to different end-users, such as farmers, advisors, food processing companies and machinery industries, retailers and citizens, academia, policymakers and influence bodies.