One year into the Mission Soil: achievements, lessons learned, and future opportunities for the Living Lab community
TIME
11:00 – 12:15
TRACKS
TRACK 1: Living Labs for Grand Societal Challenges
TRACK 2: Living Labs for Policies, Governance, collaboration and innovation ecosystems.
TRACK 3: LLs for Inclusive Soci(et)al Engagement
TRACK 5: Living Labs Operation, Methods, Tools, and Impact.
ORGANISER
Giulia Campodonico (ENoLL), Dolinda Cavallo (ENoLL)
Target Audience
Policymakers and city representatives; Companies and entrepreneurs; Researchers and academics; Living Lab representatives and practitioners
Type of Session
Topic debate
DESCRIPTION
The EC Mission “A Soil Deal for Europe” aims to launch 100 Living Labs and Lighthouses by 2030 to promote healthy soils. After one year of implementation, this session will review progress, assess challenges, and discuss future goals and policy expectations. The European Commission and the Mission Board members will present an overview of achievements. Representatives from NATIOONS will explain the 2024 funding opportunities while SOILL-Startup will share updates on strategies and lessons learned in supporting Soil Health Living Labs. A debate with ENoLL certified Living Labs, first Mission Soil Living Labs, and key speakers from urban and forestry background will explore synergies, organizational resilience, and community engagement. The discussion will advocate for integrating Living Labs into a cohesive network, aiming to expand these initiatives globally. This session fosters reflection, strategic planning, and cooperation to advance the Living Lab community in addressing societal challenges and in particular healthy soils.
Agenda
- 11.00 – 11.05 Welcome and introduction – Giulia Campodonico, ENoLL
- 11.05 – 11.10 The EU Mission “A Soil Deal for Europe”: one year later – Kerstin Rosenow, DG Agri (video)
- 11.10 – 11.30 The Mission Board members:
- Iustina Boaja Popescu, Head of Sustainable Development Department at the Geological Institute of Romania, National Institute for Research and Development in Environmental Protection
- Anna Krzywoszynska, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Humanities, University of Oulu, Finland.
- 11.30 – 11.37 2024 Funding opportunities within the Soil Mission 2024 from NATI00NS – Dolinda Cavallo, Junior Project manager, ENoLL
- 11.37 – 11.45 SOILL support for Soil health Living Labs – Giulia Campodonico, Head of Projects and Coordinator of SOILL and SOILL-Startup project
- 11.45 – 12.10 Focus session and debate:
- The experience of one of the funded SHLLs/SHLHs – Elvira Marín Irigaray, Ambassador Living Lab AlVelAl and Director, Aland
- The Vital Role of ENoLL Members in Supporting Soil Health Living Labs – Jo Bjtterbier, ILVO
- Beyond Soil: Fostering Synergies between Soil Health Living Labs, Urban Areas, and Forest Ecosystem – Anthony van de Ven, Brainport Eindhoven EU Office & Dijana Vuletić, Croatian Forest Research Institute
- 12.10 – 12.15 What’s next?
SPEAKER BIOS
Giulia Campodonico
Head of Projects, ENoLL. Coordinator of the SOILL-Startup Project
Giulia Campodonico
Head of Projects, ENoLL. Coordinator of the SOILL-Startup ProjectSince joining ENoLL in 2022, Giulia has coordinated the preparation of more than 40 proposals to European funding opportunities, with more than 30% of success rate as partner and 100% success rate as Coordinator. Alongside, Giulia is supporting the implementation of the 20 active projects of the organization and coordinating the SOILL and SOILL-Startup projects supporting the Mission Soil Health Living Labs. Before ENoLL, she has led for 9 years the EU proposals team of the Italian Institute of Technology where she coordinated the preparation of 80+ collaborative projects proposals per year in various applied research themes as Robotics & AI, Computation, Smart and nano materials, and Life sciences. She is also an experienced trainer on EU affairs and EU funding, bridging her hands-on experience on proposal and project management with deep knowledge of the EU policy landscape. Before ENoLL, she has led for 9 years the EU proposals team of the Italian Institute of Technology where she coordinated the preparation of 80+ collaborative projects proposals per year in various applied research themes as Robotics & AI, Computation, Smart and nano materials, and Life sciences. She is also an experienced trainer on EU affairs and EU funding, bridging her hands-on experience on proposal and project management with deep knowledge of the EU policy landscape.
Dolinda Cavallo
Junior Project Manager
Dolinda Cavallo
Junior Project ManagerDolinda Cavallo is a Project Manager at the European Network of Living Labs (ENoLL). She holds a master's degree in international relations from the University of Bologna - Forlì Campus, along with a bachelor's degree in foreign languages and cultures where she studied English, Spanish, and Russian at the University of Pavia. Her career spans various European countries where she has contributed to non-profit organizations as both a Project Manager and Coordinator of EU-funded projects covering diverse areas such as agriculture, soil, environment, migration, and social inclusion. Currently, Dolinda is actively engaged in ENoLL's portfolio of Agri and Soil-related projects and co-chairs the working group on Agriculture, Agrifood, and Rural issues.
Kerstin Rosenow
Head of Unit ‘Research & Innovation’ - DG AGRI, European Commission
Kerstin Rosenow
Head of Unit ‘Research & Innovation’ - DG AGRI, European CommissionKerstin Rosenow is Head of Unit ‘Research & Innovation’ in DG AGRI, European Commission where she is responsible for the EU research and innovation policy in the intervention area of "agriculture, forestry and rural areas". Her unit programmes and monitors the research funded under Cluster 6 "Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment" of Horizon Europe R&I Programme. Her unit also provides the secretariat for the Horizon Europe R&I Mission†A Soil Deal for Europeâ€. Previously, she was Head of Unit in the EC Research Executive Agency (REA) where she managed the implementation of the project portfolio for Horizon 2020 Societal Challenge 2 (food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine, maritime, and inland water research and the bioeconomy). She has been working in the EC for over 20 years after covering a managerial position in the German administration (Representation of the State of Hessen to the EU). For DG AGRI she coordinated negotiations with pre-accession and candidate countries and the preparation of the 2014-2020 CAP legislative framework. She studied law, politics and administration in Marburg, Grenoble and Bruges.
Anna Krzywoszynska
Associate Professor in Transdisciplinary Human-Environment Relations - University of Oulu, Finland
Anna Krzywoszynska
Associate Professor in Transdisciplinary Human-Environment Relations - University of Oulu, FinlandAnna Krzywoszynska is an Associate Professor in Transdisciplinary Human-Environment Relations at the University of Oulu, Finland. She is an environmental social scientist with expertise in the study of agricultural and environmental knowledge communities and practices. Her current research interests include human-soil relations and knowledge systems, the co-production of knowledge between science and society, and the role of local and regenerative food systems in achieving socio-environmental justice. Anna is a member of the Advisory Board to the Horizon Europe Mission ‘Soil Deal for Europe’, and a Co-Chair of the International Union of Soil Science’s Commission 4.5: Soil Humanities and Social Sciences, and an Artic Five Chair.
Anthony van de Ven
Head of office - Brussels representative office Brainport, Eindhoven
Anthony van de Ven
Head of office - Brussels representative office Brainport, EindhovenAnthony completed studies in Political science and European law and started work as EU public affairs consultant following legislative developments for several companies in the fields of Environment, healthcare and ICT. He then joined EUROCITIES in 1995 as project development officer. After 11 years, in 2005, he left EUROCITIES as Policy and Project Director and established the Brainport-Eindhoven Brussels Representation. He also was instrumental in establishing the ERRIN network of Brussels offices with a focus on Research and Innovation.
Dijana Vuletić
Senior scientific advisor, Croatian Forest Research Institute
Dijana Vuletić
Senior scientific advisor, Croatian Forest Research InstituteDijana Vuletić is experienced scientist with main interest in forest ecosystems services assessment and valuation, bit recently she is more focused on policy side. Currently she works on several EU projects and in the scope of the TRANSFORMIT project she lead WG4 with main aim to establish network of Living Labs dealing with integrative forest management.
Jo Bijttebier
Senior Researcher, Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food - ILVO
Jo Bijttebier
Senior Researcher, Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food - ILVOJo Bijttebier is bio-engineer with a PhD in Veterinary Sciences. She works at the Social Sciences Unit of ILVO (Flanders). She is involved in the coordination of the Living Lab on Agroecology and Organic Farming in Flanders (LLAEBIO) as one of the living labs coordinated by ILVO. Her research focus is on interactive innovation and learning processes to support transition to more sustainable agriculture.
Elvira MarÃn Irigaray
Ambassador Living Lab AlVelAl - Director Aland
Elvira MarÃn Irigaray
Ambassador Living Lab AlVelAl - Director AlandI was born in Granada, Spain. I studied environmental science at the University of Almeria. I pursued a master’s degree in water management in the Netherlands and an international master’s degree in landscape restoration. Since 2016, I have worked as the coordinator of the AlVelAl Association, which is developing a large-scale landscape restoration project in southeastern Spain’s steppe plateau. I am currently Director of Aland Foundation, which aims to create a network of landscape restoration projects in the Iberian Peninsula, and I continue as an ambassador in AlVelAl LL.
Lustina Boaja Popescu
Scientific Director, Geological Institute of Romania
Lustina Boaja Popescu
Scientific Director, Geological Institute of RomaniaLustina Popescu is the Scientific Director of the Geological Institute of Romania and Associate Professor at the National University of Science and Technology POLITEHNICA Bucharest. With over 15 years of experience in environmental research, Iustina has been a key player in advancing sustainable practices and managing Romania’s natural resources. She coordinates an interdisciplinary research group that aims to participate in the research areas that help improve life quality through responsible management of natural resources to meet society's economic needs. Iustina is also a prominent member of the Mission Soil Board, where she contributes to shaping strategies for soil sustainability and health across Europe. Moreover, she is a member of the EU Soil Observatory Working Groups on Soil Pollution and on Soil Data Integration and a member of IMPEL - The European Union Network for the Implementation and Enforcement of Environmental Law.