EU-Wide Advantages and Opportunities for the Topic “Broadening the Living-Labs Approach for Soil Health in Africa & LAC”

1. Single Market Access

• Gateway to 450+ million consumers: EU entities that join consortia can pilot, validate and commercialise soil-health solutions (e.g. biostimulants, digital advisory apps, low-cost sensors) inside the world’s largest integrated market while simultaneously testing them in Africa/LAC through the funded participatory initiatives.

• Trusted quality label: Being developed under Horizon Europe gives products/services a recognised EU quality and sustainability stamp, facilitating later CE-marking, market uptake and procurement by European cities, regions and value-chain actors.

2. Cross-Border Collaboration & Knowledge Exchange

• Mandatory multi-actor, multi-country design creates natural consortia of EU, African and LAC partners, accelerating transfer of agro-ecological practices, social-innovation methods and digital tools.

• Living-labs network effect: At least 12 real-life pilots per region plus an EU coordination core act as an open testbed where EU researchers can validate hypotheses in diverse pedo-climatic, socio-economic and cultural conditions—knowledge that can be re-imported to tackle EU soil-health challenges.

• Mobility schemes: MSCA, Erasmus+ capacity-building and Digital Europe secondments can be layered to finance staff exchanges, joint PhDs and cross-visits among labs.

3. Alignment with Flagship EU Policies

• European Green Deal & Soil Mission: Directly addresses eight Mission objectives; supports Farm-to-Fork, Biodiversity and Climate Adaptation strategies by exporting EU science diplomacy and receiving feedback on scalable nature-based solutions.

• Global Gateway & EU-Africa/ EU-LAC Partnerships: Operationalises political declarations (EU-AU FNSSA, EU-CELAC 2023), reinforcing EU geopolitical influence through science cooperation.

• Digital Europe & Data Spaces: FAIR data flows into the EU Soil Observatory (EUSO) and forthcoming ‘AgriFood Data Space’, positioning EU tech SMEs for future service contracts.

4. Regulatory Harmonisation Benefits

• Pre-alignment with EU sustainability standards (e.g. Sustainable Use Regulation, Fertilising Products Regulation, taxonomy for sustainable activities) gives African/LAC innovators a head start in complying with EU export requirements.

• Mutual learning on land governance feeds into ongoing EU initiatives on soil monitoring and the Directive on Soil Health, fostering coherent global indicators.

5. Access to Europe’s Innovation Ecosystem

• Research excellence: Consortium members can tap into 3 000+ Horizon Europe-funded projects, 12 European R&I partnerships (Agroecology, Water4All, Climate-Adapt, etc.) and 70+ KIC/ESA BIC incubators for spin-off support.

• Open-science infrastructure: Use of European Research Infrastructures (e.g. AnaEE, LifeWatch, ACTRIS) for advanced soil analyses and remote-sensing validation.

6. Funding Synergies & Leverage

• Obligatory ≥60 % Financial Support to Third Parties (FSTP) means €6–8 m of EU money will flow directly to on-the-ground actors; EU coordinators can bundle this with:

- European Investment Bank (EIB) Global Gateway Climate & Nature Facility loans.

- NDICI-Global Europe bilateral envelopes for capacity-building.

- LIFE & Interreg NEXT for follow-up deployment in EU outermost regions that share agro-ecological features with LAC/Africa.

• Cascade-funding reputation helps EU clusters (e.g. EIT Food, Enterprise Europe Network) brand themselves as international accelerators.

7. Scale and Impact Potential

• Lighthouse replication: Identification of exemplary initiatives mirrors the EU Mission ‘lighthouse’ model, easing rollout to 100 + additional sites via ERDF/European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) programmes.

• Business-model experimentation: Requirement to devise sustainable finance paths aligns with InvestEU and Circular Bio-based Europe JU, enabling market-ready ventures by project end.

• Policy feedback loop: Evidence generated will inform EU External Action instruments and domestic CAP strategic plans, ensuring continent-wide policy coherence.

8. Strategic Value of Operating at EU Level

1. Critical mass: Only an EU-wide call can mobilise the €10–12 m envelope and the interdisciplinary expertise (soil science, SSH, digital, business) needed to coordinate 24+ living labs on two continents.

2. Standard-setting power: The EU can embed FAIR data, gender & youth criteria, ethical AI and circular-economy principles as global benchmarks.

3. Risk mitigation & credibility: EU grant procedures, audit trails and EIC/EIB blended-finance options de-risk private co-investment, attracting foundations and impact investors.

4. Unified dissemination channels: Utilisation of CORDIS, EUSO, Copernicus Data Store and EEN multiplies visibility far beyond what national schemes could achieve.

9. Actionable Opportunities for Applicants

• Build a tri-continental consortium anchored by an EU university/research institute, an EU SME with digital-ag/IoT expertise, AU & LAC agricultural research centres, plus NGOs for community facilitation.

• Design FSTP calls that mirror EU Seal of Excellence criteria, positioning third-party winners for later EIC Accelerator or national innovation agency funding.

• Integrate with Horizon Europe Cluster 6 partnerships (Agroecology, Water4All) to share methodologies and co-fund living-lab equipment.

• Leverage EU climate-tech investors by organising demo-days in Brussels and at COP events, exploiting the high credibility of Horizon branding.

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Bottom line: Running this project under an EU Horizon framework multiplies scientific excellence, political influence, market reach and financing leverage well beyond what a single-country initiative could deliver, while cementing Europe’s role as the global standard-setter for soil health innovation and sustainable land management.