Consortium Gathers in Jaén

From 7 to 9 July 2026, the LivingSoiLL consortium came together for its Consortium Meeting, hosted by University of Jaén, Spain. Over three days, project partners took stock of progress across the project’s activities, deepened their shared knowledge, vision, and collaboration.

Day 1

The meeting opened with a welcome from representatives of the Diputación Provincial de Jaén and the Andalusian regional authorities, Juan Rodríguez and Cristina Carlos setting the tone for three days of exchange between science, local governance and land management practice.

The first day was structured around a series of activities updates. Cristina Carlos and Lígia Pinto, from the University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD), opened with an overview of project management, quality and ethics. Lívia Madureira (UTAD) followed with progress on the establishment, governance and long-term operation of the project’s Living Labs. While Ruth Pereira, from the University of Porto, presented the monitoring frameworks and baseline research being rolled out.

The afternoon turned to the project’s economic and communication dimensions. Juan Jurado, from the University of Jaén, presented work on business models, exploitation and the scaling-up and transferability of soil health solutions. And Leonor Vilar, from INOVA+, closed the presentations round with an update on the project’s communication, dissemination and engagement activities.

Day 2

The second day belonged to the Living Labs themselves. Silvia Stanchi, from the University of Turin, opened with an overview of regional implementation. After Living Lab representatives from each of the five Living Labs shared their progress: Leonor Pereira (UTAD) for the Luso-Galician Living Lab, Juan Manuel Jurado (University of Jaén) for the Andalusian Living Lab, Sara Negri (University of Turin) for the Piemonte Living Lab, David Lafond for the Loire Valley & Beaujolais Living Lab, and Józef Chojnicki for the Grójec Living Lab.

The afternoon brought partners together for a World Café session, “Who Owns Soil Health? From Scientific Agendas to User-Driven Change”. In which mixed groups, they examined how far co-creation is genuinely shaping the Living Labs’ work, and what still separates scientific agendas from practical, user-driven adoption of soil health solutions.

The day closed with a round table moderated by Juan Jurado, bringing LivingSoiLL into dialogue with two sister projects working on related soil health challenges: TRAILS4SOIL, represented by Miguel Ángel Repullo Ruíberriz (University of Córdoba); and SOILCRATES, represented by Ana López Ávila (University of Granada).

Partners then travelled to Villanueva del Arzobispo for a field visit to experimental site. Julio Calero from the Andalusian Living Lab provided valuable scientific explanations and context, helping bridge the gap between research and real-world application.

Day 3

The final day was dedicated to a Business Model Workshop, bringing together representatives from all Living Labs, exploring value creation, long-term sustainability, and the policy pathways needed to scale up soil health solutions. The meeting closed with a wrap-up session, “From Scientific Agendas to User-Driven Change: Lessons Learned, Gaps and the Way Ahead,” led by Lívia Madureira.

Three days on, the Jaén Consortium Meeting leaves LivingSoiLL with a clearer shared picture of where its Living Labs stand and new connections with projects tackling similar challenges across Europe’s soils.