LIFE PLATFORM MEETING ON SOILS

LIFE Platform Meeting on Soil

LIFE Platform Meeting on soil | Pamplona, April 2024

The European Executive Agency for Climate, Infrastructure and Environment (CINEA), the European agency that manages the European Commission's programs that contribute to decarbonization and sustainable growth, has chosen the capital of the Chartered Community of Navarre, Pamplona, as the venue for the LIFE platform meeting on the theme of soil. This choice responds to the success of the work carried out on this topic in the integrated LIFE project coordinated by the Government of Navarre: LIFE-IP NAdapta-CC (LIFE 16 IPC/ES/000001).

Soils are crucial for food, biodiversity and our economy and deserve the same level of protection as, to varying degrees, water, air, the terrestrial environment or the marine environment, for example. The LIFE program has funded several projects addressing soil issues in different sectors. From the analysis of the projects previously approved, and ongoing, it is possible to identify the main sectors or themes, or areas of work into which projects could be grouped for a LIFE platform meeting on soil, and they are:

  • Soil conservation and adaptation to climate change (including the urban context).
  • Soil contamination and bioremediation.
  • Soil management in the agricultural sector.

Legislative initiatives on soils have recently intensified at the European level. In particular, in November 2021 the European Commission launched the "EU Soil Strategy 2030" (Communication COM/2021/699) which sets out a framework and concrete measures to protect soils and ensure that they are used sustainably. This strategy sets out a vision and targets to achieve healthy soils by 2050, with concrete actions by 2030. He also announced a legislative initiative on soil health "to ensure a level playing field and a high level of environmental and health protection." Thus, the proposed soil monitoring law was adopted by the Commission on July 5, 2023.

This event is designed to identify the most significant contributions that the LIFE Program or other European programs (Horizon Europe, Interreg, etc...) can provide to achieve the objectives set by the new law and support its implementation.

This meeting of the LIFE platform on soil aims to be a meeting point of reference at international level. For this reason, a program has been prepared that includes various institutional and technical presentations, with specific spaces for specific topics for work and discussion. In addition, there will be guided field visits to plots in Navarra and the Basque Country, thanks to the close collaboration that LIFE-IP Nadapta-CC has with the integrated European project LIFE-IP Urban Klima 2050 (LIFE 18 IPC/ES/000001), which is co-organizer of the Meeting.

Three other projects will also participate during the day: LIFE DESERT-ADAPT (LIFE16 CCA/IT/IT/000011). LIFE CO2SAND (LIFE20 CCA/NL/001625). LIFE FRAC-IN (LIFE20 ENV/BE/000597).

Organizers:

CINEA, ELMEN EEIG, LIFE-IP NADAPTA-CC and LIFE-IP URBAN KLIMA 2050

Key dates:

Wednesday, April 10 and Thursday, April 11, 2024

Venue:

Location: Pamplona. Field visits: Olóriz (Navarre), Asparrena y Vitoria-Gasteiz (Basque Country) .

OFFICIAL WEBSITE

PROGRAM 

WORKING GROUPS
[1st DAY] Official program | Wednesday, April 11, 2024

Time (CET)

Topic / Content

09:00 - 09:30

Registration

09:30 – 09:40

Welcome speeches by organisers

Agnieszka ROMANOWICZ
Deputy Head of Unit, LIFE Energy + LIFE Climate, CINEA

09:40 – 09:45

Organisation, programme and rules

Michel QUICHERON
CINEA

09:45 – 10:45

EU Directives on Soil Monitoring and Resilience and

other relevant policy presentations by DGs of the European Commission

09-45 – 10:00

Svetlana CHOVANCOVA (DG ENV)

EC proposal for a Directive on Soil Monitoring and Resilience (Soil Monitoring Law).

10:00 – 10:15

Frida SUND FALKEVIK (DG CLIMA)

Presentation of the Carbon Removal Certification Framework

10:15- 10:30

Jelena VIDOVIC (DG AGRI - Soil Mission)

Living labs under the EU Mission 'A Soil Deal for Europe’

10:30- 10:45

Q & A

10:45 - 11:15

Coffee break and first networking session

11:15 – 12:30

Thematic speeches on soil health by European and local stakeholders

11:15 – 11:30

Fernando SEÑAS BEA

Service Director of the Navarra Climate Change Office

Navarre Climate Strategy: Soil Integrated Management

11:30 – 11:45

Adolfo URIARTE VILLALBA

Natural Heritage and Climate Change Director - Basque Government

Soil Protection Strategy of the Basque Country

11:45 – 12:00

Xurxo VEIRA (EU CAP, EIP – Agri)

Soil Monitoring and Resilience, contributions from the European CAP Network Innovation & knowledge exchange EIP-AGRI

12:00 – 12:15

Panos Panagos (JRC - EU Soil Observatory)

The role of EU Soil Observatory in supporting EU policies with solid science

12:15 – 12:30

Q & A

12:30 - 13:30

Presentations of selected LIFE “soil-related” projects

12:30 – 12:45

Introduction on LIFE Programme and Soils

Michel QUICHERON (CINEA)

12:45 – 13:00

Project LIFE16 CCA/IT/000011 LIFE DESERT-ADAPT: Preparing desertification areas for increased climate change – Simona CASTALDI
(Università degli Studi della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli” - Italy)

13:00 – 13:15

Project LIFE20 CCA/NL/001625 LIFE CO2SAND: Increasing climate resilience and carbon sink of sandy soils on agricultural land - Jan WILLEM BERENDSEN (Provincie Gelderland – The Netherlands)

13:15 – 13:30

Project LIFE20 ENV/BE/000597 LIFE FRAC-IN: Enabling in situ soil remediation on low-permeability sites through hydraulic/pneumatic fracturing (FRAC-IN) - Axelle Mineur (ABO-Group – Belgium)

13:30 - 14:30

Lunch break and second poster and networking session

14:30 – 16:15

Workshops with LIFE beneficiaries and EC officers:

  • GROUP A: Soil management and sustainable agriculture
  • GROUP B: Soil contamination, bioremediation and circular economy
  • GROUP C: Soil conservation and carbon removal

16:30 – 17:30

Plenary meeting:

  • Reporting from the working group by ELMEN
  • Open discussion
  • Wrap-up of Day 1

17:30-18:00

Third posters and networking session

18:00-18:15

Joint walk to the dinner venue

Restaurant of the Hotel Tres Reyes 

(Jardines de la Taconera s/n - Pamplona)

18:15 - 21:00

Networking dinner
[2nd DAY] Official program | Thuersday, April 11, 2024

Time (CET)

Topic / Content

08:45

FIELD TRIP

Departure from Baluarte (Pamplona)

Visit to areas of interventions to improve soil quality organised by
LIFE-IP NADAPTA-CC and LIFE-IP URBAN KLIMA 2050 projects

09:30
  1. OLORIZ: Visit of the soil resilience trial based on the use of organic fertilizers and soil management strategies. This is part of the action of the LIFE16 IPC/ES/000001 LIFE-IP NADAPTA-CC project focused on the adaptability of local agro-systems to climate change. The methodology used to quantify the level of vulnerability of Navarre's agro-systems and their potential improvement through the application of best practices will be illustrated during the visit.

10:30

Departure from Oloriz

11:45
  1. ASPARRENA: Visit to a former industrial site with heritage value and placed by a Natural Park and Natura 2000 site (https://maps.app.goo.gl/bfBJ25sttCNbwiaW6). A procedure for the declaration of soil quality and management of industrial ruin (waste and installations affected by fuels and asbestos contamination) is in progress. The role of a small municipality in the recovery of contaminated sites will be presented. At present, the facilities can be seen after a previous phase of ruin management. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvBSHmUJeX0

12:30

Departure from Asparrena

13:15

Lunch in Miñano

14:30

Departure from Miñano

15:00
  1. VITORIA-GASTEIZ: Visit the Mendebaldea Project (Interreg Sudoe Phy2Sudoe) focused on the naturalisation of the area around the Jundiz industrial area, where a series of works for the recovery of degraded peri-urban land has been carried out in several successive phases (phase V - partially funded by the LIFE IP URBAN KLIMA 2050 project). The recovery included actions to improve the quality of the soil and the establishment of vegetation to form a large green corridor that, crossed by a network of paths, allows the physical and ecological connectivity of the site with the natural elements and rural centres surrounding the industrial edge.

The visit will be focused on the activities carried out during phase III on contaminated soil restoration with experimental phytoremediation techniques.

Location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/Bx2ULmW11ZPDRPh49

16:00

Departure from Mendebaldea

16:30 -17:30
  1. Closure meeting in Vitoria-Gasteiz

Conclusions & take away messages by CINEA and ELMEN

18:30 (at latest)

Return to Pamplona