Funding: Horizon Europe
Duration: 2024-2028
The iCOSHELLs research and innovation project focuses 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.
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.
Partners:
Rise Research Institutes Of Sweden (Coordinatore);
Cscp Collaborating Centre On Sustainable Consumption And Production;
Asociacion Empresarial Centro Tecnologico De La Energia Y Del Medio Ambiente De La Region De Murcia;
Zabala Innovation Consulting Sa;
Ifau Aps;
Leibniz-Institut Fur Agrartechnik Und Biookonomie Ev;
Greenovate! Europe;
Asociacion De Industrias De Conocimiento Y Tecnologia - Gaia - Euskalherriko Ezagutza Eta Teknologia Industrien Elkartea;
Cluster Of Bioeconomy And Environment Of Western Macedonia (Clube);
Istituto Di Studi Per L'integrazione Dei Sistemi (I.S.I.S) - Societa'cooperativa;
Agraren Universitet – Plovdiv;
Universidad Politecnica De Madrid; Agrobigdate Solutions;
Hs Konsult Ab; Sveriges Lantbruksuniversitet;
Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior De Investigaciones Cientificas;
Instituto Murciano De Investigacion Y Desarrollo Agrario Y Medioambiental (Imida);
Fundacion Grupo Cajamar;
Eskilara S Koop Txikia;
Euskampus Fundazioa; Obispado De Bilbao;
Innovatekbi Krea Sociedad Limitada;
Ayuntamiento De Forua: Anonymi Etaireia Diacheirisis Aporrimmaton Per Dytikis Makedonias;
Panepistimio Thessalias;
Nea Georgia Nea Genia Astiki Mi Kerdoskopiki Etairia;
Universita Degli Studi Di Trento;
Comune Di Oppeano;
Ruma S.R.L. Societa Benefit;
Innovhub - Stazioni Sperimentali Per L'industria Srl;
Consorzio Volontario Per La Tutela Dei Vini Con Denominazione Franciacorta E Sebino;
Politecnico Di Milano;
Parco Regionale Del Mincio;
Universita Cattolica Del Sacro Cuore;
Universita Degli Studi Di Milano;
Statens Veterinaermedicinska Anstalt;
Lantbrukarnas Riksförbund;
Ideella Foreningen Odling I Balans Med Firma Odling I Balans;
National Agricultural Advisory Service
Contact person in Innovhub SSI:
Susy Longoni - susy.longoni@mi.camcom.it