The proposed project: Initiative of Fostering cross-border knowledge exchange and co-creation on sustainable soil and farm management (Soil-X-Change) will help to connect farmers, actors, policy makers, projects, and initiatives to speed up innovation and promote faster, wider co-creation and transposition of innovative solutions into practice. It will contribute to effective AKIS by intensifying thematic cooperation between researchers, farmers, and other stakeholders in the EU. Soil-X-Change will also contribute to the green transition, smart agriculture, climate-neutrality, and sustainability areas, as well as enhancing and exchanging the knowledge of the main actors. Soil-X-Change, initiated by EIP-AGRI Operational Group practitioners (OGs), reflects the needs of 151 direct partners. It will collect, combine, harmonise, analyse and integrate the results and data product developed by the different EIP-AGRI OGs and the project partners.

Soil-X-Change will disseminate and share innovative practices across 9 member countries. Furthermore, the Soil-XChange project will bring together EIP OGs and key stakeholders working on sustainable soil and farm management to create an EU-wide network, share knowledge, and introduce ready-to-use practices that will enable farmers to make the right decisions related to agricultural production practices. At the end of the project the extended knowledge and innovative ideas of member and non-member OGs will widen the scope of their activities and showcasing their result to an increased number of stakeholders and farmers in an international environment and network across EU countries.

Soil-X-Change will use a bottom-up approach (farmers to OGs) and will reinforce and share practical knowledge using the main dissemination channels suitable for farmers and practitioners.

Overall and Specific objectives and outcomes

The main objective of the Soil-X-Change project is to collect, harmonize, combine and integrate the outcomes of the related EIP-AGRI Operational Groups and knowledge gathered at the project partners related to sustainable soil and farm management and to drive the process for scaling up these technologies.

The project aims to share knowledge between 9 countries with similar negative aspects of climate change and targets further acceleration to countries with the same problem.

01

Sub Objectiv 1

Set up a new and empower already existing networks both national and EU level to enhance experience exchange, peer-to-peer learning and dissemination of knowledge from sustainable soil management related EIP OGs and other similar practice-oriented projects and initiatives

02

Sub Objectiv 2

Collect, evaluate, harmonize and consolidate existing data and information on soil management best practices with attention to input-efficient and soil health-friendly site-specific approaches, innovation knowledge and information generated by EIP OGs and other project initiatives and develop new data
products, supporting materials and tools for knowledge dissemination and technology uptake.

03

Sub Objectiv 3

Identify and analyze gaps between real needs and available solutions/practices regarding sustainable soil management and OG working processes, resulting in fact sheets, research briefs and policy briefs.

04

Sub Objectiv 4

Communicate and disseminate EIP OG outcomes in an easily understandable, acceptable and implementable format via optimised dissemination, exploitation and communication materials.

05

Sub Objectiv 5

Embedding the Soil-X-Change project and the EIP OGs in the EU AKIS community and encouraging further cross-country EIP collaboration in order to sustain the Network and leverage impact.