Last week, SoildiverAgro held its final event at the Parador de Santo Estevo Ribas de Sil (Ourense, Galicia) from May 13th to 15th. This special occasion brought together all project partners from different countries for a three-day programme filled with presentations, discussions, field visits, and collaborative activities.
Tuesday, May 13th
The event began at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Vigo with a special welcome from our coordinator, David Fernández Calviño. This was followed by presentations from the Work Package Leaders, who shared the key results and outlined the next steps. Later in the day, attendees visited the experimental plots of Case Study 3 in Xinzo de Limia, where they observed the implementation of sustainable soil practices firsthand and reviewed the outcomes achieved.
Wednesday, May 14th
On the second day, the event continued at the Parador de Santo Estevo Ribas de Sil. The remaining Work Package presentations were showcased, followed by a series of case study presentations that highlighted results from different regions. In the afternoon, participants visited vineyards sampled in the BIOservicES project. The field team shared how cover crops are being used to protect vineyards from wildlife and presented the ongoing results from their trials.
Thursday, May 15th
The last day of the event concluded with the remaining case study presentations and opened a forward-looking discussion on the legacy of the SoildiverAgro project.
After that, a knowledge transfer session brought together several key European soil biodiversity projects including Excalibur (Francesco Vitali, from CREA), SOILGUARD (Salvador Llado from LEITAT), BIOservicES (Andrés Rodríguez from Uvigo), SOB4ES (María Jesús Briones from UVigo) and the newly funded initiatives SoilRES (Matteo Mancini from DEAFAL) and MultiSOIL (Minna Männistö and Pirjo Yli-Hemminki from LUKE). During the session, representatives from the established projects shared insights into the challenges they had encountered over these years, particularly emphasizing the difficulty of engaging farmers. Their experiences, provided valuable lessons that could help ensure the success of the newly launched initiatives, offering guidance on how to avoid similar obstacles.
The discussion also explored effective ways on how to engage citizens and policymakers in promoting soil biodiversity. A key point was the importance of ensuring that policy recommendations from research projects are not only integrated into EU-level strategies but also adapted into region-specific policies that reflect local conditions and needs.
Participants also reflected critically on current dissemination strategies, noting that online events often fall short in reaching target audiences or generating meaningful impact. As an alternative, they recommended organising more interactive and collaborative formats that encourage engagement and facilitate effective knowledge exchange. Now is the time to be creative and experiment with new approaches to create more impactful and inclusive dissemination opportunities.
Although this event marked the official end of our in-person meetings, the work continues as we finalise project results and shape the long-term impact of SoildiverAgro. We invite you to stay connected as we prepare to share more insights and outputs from the project.
Thank you to all our partners for your active participation this week and for your commitment throughout the project.
Take a look at the best moments from the event:
