SOILCRATES joined a Europe Day gathering in Ooststellingwerf to highlight how European cooperation can support healthier soils, stronger knowledge exchange and more sustainable land management.
On 7 May 2026, Gemeente Ooststellingwerf celebrated Europe Day with an afternoon of presentations at the Biosintrum in Oosterwolde. The event brought together local officials, residents and regional stakeholders to explore how European projects contribute to local innovation, sustainability and soil-related knowledge development.
As part of the programme, Emiel Elferink presented the SOILCRATES North Netherlands Living Lab, sharing how the project supports the protection and restoration of soils through Living Labs where soil quality is monitored and knowledge is developed for the transition towards healthier soils.
The event also featured a presentation on SPADES4Soils by Linda Maring, soil and subsurface expert at Deltares, and Pien Wismans, master’s student at Wageningen University & Research. SPADES focuses on soil-inclusive spatial planning and design, helping planners and policymakers better integrate soil knowledge into decisions about land use and regional development.
Together, the presentations showed how European research projects can connect science, policy and practice. For SOILCRATES, the event was an opportunity to underline the importance of place-based collaboration: working with farmers, researchers, public authorities and communities to co-create practical solutions for soil health.
By placing soil, climate and sustainability challenges in a European context, the afternoon highlighted a key message at the heart of SOILCRATES: healthy soils depend on shared learning, local action and cooperation across borders.
