LILAS4SOILS: putting carbon farming to the test across 100 European farms
Across five Living Labs in six countries, LILAS4SOILS is bringing carbon farming into real-world conditions, combining farmer experience with science and industry to build evidence for practices that can work at scale.
Healthy soils can store carbon, regulate water and nutrients, support biodiversity and help farms cope with climate pressures. The challenge is translating that potential into practices farmers can adopt, measure and sustain economically.
Why healthy soils cannot wait
Land degradation is increasingly threatening food production, farmersā livelihoods and food security. Around 1.7 billion people live in areas where crop yields are at least 10% lower because of human-induced land degradation. [1] In Europe, soil degradation is also widespread and climate change is expected to increase vulnerability in many locations. [2]
LILAS4SOILS addresses this challenge through Living Labs: real-world innovation environments where farmers and other actors co-develop and test Carbon Farming Practices (CFPs) rather than treating them as one-size-fits-all solutions. The aim is to understand how practices can improve soil health and resilience while remaining practical and economically credible for farmers.
100 farms, six countries, one shared experiment
In just 24 months,Ā LILAS4SOILS has turned the ambition of carbon farming into action on the ground. The project has established five Living Labs across six countries ā Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Greece and Israel ā and built a network of 100 demonstration farms, including 85 commercial farms and 15 experimental sites.Ā
Farmer interest has been stronga competitive Open Call attracted 281 applications of which 53 farmers were selected to join the network. Stakeholder engagement has been equally significant, withĀ 929 participants representing 441 organisationsĀ engaged through Living Lab launches and the first co-creation cycle.Ā
This collaboration has already been translated into action at farm level, with farmers having developed tailored Transition Plans and refined Carbon Farming Practices (CFPs) to match local conditions.
At the same time, LILAS4SOILS contributed to the scientific foundations for measuring results, designing a harmonised soil-sampling protocol, introducing control plots and increasing the planned number of soil samples from 1,530 to 2,952.Ā
Together with the testing of innovative Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) solutions these achievements are creating the evidence base needed to understand what works, where and under which conditions ā and ultimately make carbon farming more practical, measurable and scalable.
What has LILAS4SOILS achieved so far?
Connecting farms, science and solutions
As project coordinator, EIT Food connects the 24 partners behind LILAS4SOILS and supports collaboration across farming, research, technology, business and policy. It also helps link farm-level implementation with monitoring and knowledge exchange, so lessons generated in the Living Labs can inform wider uptake.Ā
The Horizon Europe-funded project contributes to theĀ EU Mission āA Soil Deal for Europeā and aligns with EIT Foodās work onĀ resilient and regenerative agriculture.
Everything we do in the Living Labs is informed by farmers, because they are the ones closest to the soil and the realities of farming. Working with farmers, we test carbon farming practices in real-life conditions taking into account research evidence and industry requirements, to understand what truly works for the soil and for the business, and what can be scaled.
What farmers are teaching the project
- Carbon farming practices must be adapted to local soils, climates, farming systems and farm economics.
- Co-creation turns farmers from recipients of recommendations into partners in designing workable solutions.
- Peer learning, demonstration farms and trusted advisory support are important enablers of adoption.
- MRV needs to be scientifically robust, affordable and useful for farm decisions ā not only for carbon accounting.
- Credible scaling depends on combining agronomic performance with economic viability, policy support and wider soil-health benefits.
Turning farm-level learning into wider change
The next phase will follow how the selected CFPs perform over time, using repeat measurements to assess changes in soil organic carbon, soil health, nutrient dynamics, greenhouse-gas emissions, farm performance and resilience. By comparing results across different Mediterranean farming contexts, LILAS4SOILS can turn experience from individual farms into knowledge that others can use.
The longer-term opportunity is to connect this evidence with advisory support, MRV innovation, markets and policy, helping create practical pathways for carbon farming that can be adapted beyond the Living Labs.
About EIT Food's Net Zero Food System mission
We will enable the transition to aĀ net zero and more resilient food system, measuring and quantifying progress through reduced COā equivalent emissions and other environmental indicators.Ā
Our work focuses on key areas where we can make the biggest difference, includingĀ building more resilient agriculture.Ā
Through EIT Foodās Resilient Agriculture Portfolio, this ambition is already being translated into landscape-scale action in regions such asĀ Navarra in Spain with farmers likeĀ Alberto Alfaro andĀ Lower Silesia in Poland, working with farmers and advisor like Marek Wityk. These landscapes bring farmers, businesses and other actors together to accelerate the transition to regenerative agriculture and demonstrate measurable, scalable approaches.
Learn about the latest opportunities, research and innovations shaping the food industry.
References
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2025, November 3). FAO report: 1.7 billion people experience lower crop yields due to land degradation.Ā https://www.fao.org/newsroom/detail/fao-report--1.7-billion-people-experience-lower-crop-yields-due-to-land-degradation/enĀ FAOHome
- Afshar, M. H., Hassani, A., Borrelli, P., Panagos, P., Robinson, D. A., Or, D., et al.Ā (2026). Soil degradation in Europe is projected to accelerate under changing land use and climate.Ā Communications Sustainability, 1, Article 56.Ā https://doi.org/10.1038/s44458-026-00064-4Ā
