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Abstract

Soil degradation remains a critical challenge across Europe, threatening environmental sustainability, agricultural productivity, and human well-being. In response, the European Commission’s Mission Soil initiative aims to establish 100 Living Labs (LL) and Lighthouses by 2030 to promote innovative and sustainable soil management. Living Labs are defined by three core principles: co-creation, user-centered innovation, and real-world setting, enabling diverse stakeholders to jointly develop, test, and scale solutions that address soil-related challenges and soil health. This report explores how the principles of LL are reflected in three existing Swedish multi-stakeholder initiatives across agricultural, forestry, and urban contexts. The objective is to assess how these collaborations align with the Living Lab concept, and to identify their potential contributions to the Mission Soil goals for soil health. Using a criteria-based qualitative analysis, the report evaluates how these initiatives operate as real-life platforms for soil health innovation. The case studies have been developed at different time, ranging from well-established initiatives to more recent ones, reflecting the temporal evolution of the approaches considered in the three cases. The findings indicated that all three cases demonstrate strong alignment with key Living Lab principles, such as fostering cross-sector collaboration, engaging end-users, and innovation in real-life settings. The cases showed contributions to environmental and social outcomes, including improved biodiversity and soil health, and increased public awareness. Each initiative displayed development of practical tools, co-created knowledge, and tested solutions tailored to local needs that support regional development. While approaches and context vary, the challenges are similar around a long-term financial stability. Overall, the report highlights how existing efforts in Sweden can contribute to Mission Soil agenda for soil-focused Living Labs across Europe, thereby supporting sustainable land management and innovation ecosystems. For researchers, these three case studies underscore the role of applied, interdisciplinary research in promoting soil health in real-world setting. Policymakers can draw lessons on mobilizing frameworks that support regional collaboration, participatory methods, co-innovation processes, and scaling pathways.

Keywords

Soil health; Living Labs; Existing initiatives; Multi actor collaboration; Swedish context

Published in

Publisher: Department of Soil and Environment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

SLU Authors

UKÄ Subject classification

Soil Science

Publication identifier

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.54612/a.137159daj3
  • eISBN: 978-91-8124-009-2

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/141982