The Associated Laboratory CHANGE organized a prominent session during the first Tropical Summit - Foreseeing Answers to Global Challenges, held on 4-8 November 2024, at the Lisbon Congress Center. The roundtable focused on soil regeneration through the implementation of Living Labs and explored how this innovative concept can be applied in different contexts, with an emphasis on tropical regions.
Moderated by Teresa Pinto Correia, Coordinator of CHANGE and Vice President of the Mission Board on Soil Health and Food for Horizon Europe, the session brought together a distinguished panel of experts, including Luis Sanchez Alvarez (Secretary of the Soil Mission, DG Agri-Brussels), Muriel Mambrini (Director of the Mission d’évaluation et de programmation de la recherche at IRD and member of the Soil Mission Board), Ruth Pereira (Associate Professor at the University of Porto and leader of the Living Lab LivingSoiLL), Nadia Castanheira (Researcher at INIAV and leader of the Living Lab LILAS4SOILS), and Antje Disterheft (Co-Construction Specialist, Researcher at ICS Portugal, and collaborator at CHANGE).
The session highlighted the lessons learned from existing Living Labs, addressing critical issues to ensure that an increasingly diverse range of stakeholders — such as farmers, forest owners, and agricultural and urban advisors — are positively impacted by ongoing research and innovation projects.
Discussions were focused on the challenges and outcomes associated with the co-construction processes involving actors from various sectors (farmers, managers, public administration, academia, and associations), emphasized the importance of empowering managers and other stakeholders with new knowledge about soils and explored strategies to encourage the adoption of regenerative management practices that promote soil health and sustainability. The roundtable reinforced the significance of collaborative and sustainable strategies in soil management, pointing toward a healthier and more resilient future for both ecosystems and the communities that depend on them.