BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//pretalx//pretalx.earthmonitor.org//soil-health-now-2026//HEUJGL
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
TZID:Europe/Athens
BEGIN:STANDARD
DTSTART:20001029T040000
RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=-1SU;BYMONTH=10
TZNAME:EET
TZOFFSETFROM:+0300
TZOFFSETTO:+0200
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
DTSTART:20000326T030000
RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=-1SU;BYMONTH=3
TZNAME:EEST
TZOFFSETFROM:+0200
TZOFFSETTO:+0300
END:DAYLIGHT
END:VTIMEZONE
BEGIN:VEVENT
UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-XAPMRF@pretalx.earthmonitor.org
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261209T141500
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261209T143000
DESCRIPTION:Soil degradation affects an estimated 60–70% of soils in the 
 European Union\, generating annual costs exceeding €50 billion. In respo
 nse\, the EU Soil Strategy for 2030\, the Mission “A Soil Deal for Europ
 e\,” and the proposed Soil Monitoring Law establish a coherent policy fr
 amework in which harmonized soil health indicators serve as the primary me
 chanism for assessing\, monitoring\, and restoring soil health. Within thi
 s context\, the Cluster of Bioeconomy and Environment of Western Macedonia
  (CluBE)\, a triple-helix platform connecting public authorities\, researc
 h organizations\, and businesses\, investigates how Soil Health Living Lab
 s operationalize these indicators in practice through three Horizon Europe
  projects: iCOSHELLs\, URSOILL\, and Waste4Soil.\nCluBE is an accredited m
 ember of the European Network of Living Labs (ENoLL)\, the internationally
  recognized accreditation body for Living Labs. This accreditation validat
 es the methodological rigor of the Western Macedonia Soil Living Lab\, inc
 luding its co-creation processes\, multi-actor governance\, and real-life 
 experimentation approach\, while connecting CluBE to a European network th
 at supports knowledge exchange\, benchmarking\, and replication of success
 ful soil restoration practices.\nThe iCOSHELLs project applies a harmonize
 d set of physical\, chemical\, and biological soil health indicators acros
 s six Living Labs\, including the Greek Mine Soil Health Living Lab in Wes
 tern Macedonia\, where restoration strategies are tested in post-lignite m
 ining areas affected by elevated chromium and nickel concentrations. Indic
 ator monitoring is integrated within structured co-creation processes and 
 capacity-building activities.\nURSOILL extends indicator-based assessment 
 to urban environments through five Living Labs and more than 60 experiment
 al sites across Europe\, including 14 in Greece. Using the Healthy Soil Li
 ving Lab framework\, it evaluates soil quality\, quantity\, and performanc
 e through indicators addressing contamination\, biodiversity and fertility
  loss\, compaction\, sealing\, topsoil degradation\, carbon storage\, wate
 r regulation\, habitat quality\, and safe human use.\nWaste4Soil complemen
 ts these initiatives by focusing on agricultural soils through circular bi
 oeconomy solutions. Coordinated by CluBE in Western Macedonia\, the projec
 t tests bio-based soil improvers derived from agro-industrial residues and
  digestate under real farming conditions. Key indicators include soil orga
 nic carbon\, total nitrogen\, available phosphorus\, and microbial biomass
 .\nTogether\, these Living Labs demonstrate how the EU Soil Monitoring Law
 ’s harmonized indicator framework can be implemented across post-mining\
 , urban\, and agricultural landscapes. While the Soil Monitoring Law defin
 es what should be measured\, Living Labs provide the mechanisms through wh
 ich indicators are translated into stakeholder engagement\, locally valida
 ted restoration solutions\, informed land-management decisions.
DTSTAMP:20260825T180107Z
LOCATION:Amphitheater II
SUMMARY:The Role of the Western Macedonia Living Lab in Soil Health: From C
 o-Creation to Harmonized Monitoring - Savvas Karagiorgos
URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/XAPMRF/
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR