This space is part of the 🌾 🌍 COVERYOURSOIL 🌍 🌾 constellation.

Ajutor

A participatory process is a sequence of participatory activities (e.g. first filling out a survey, then making proposals, discussing them in face-to-face or virtual meetings, and finally prioritizing them) with the aim of defining and making a decision on a specific topic.

Examples of participatory processes are: a process of electing committee members (where candidatures are first presented, then debated and finally a candidacy is chosen), participatory budgets (where proposals are made, valued economically and voted on with the money available), a strategic planning process, the collaborative drafting of a regulation or norm, the design of an urban space or the production of a public policy plan.

Etape ale procesului

A foundational phase to shape the process collectively across nodes in Poland, Romania, and the Canary Islands.

  • Alignment between farmers, researchers, and facilitators

  • Identification of key challenges (erosion, biodiversity loss, soil sealing dynamics)

  • Initial design of the Living Labs approach

  • Framing of shared values: soil as a commons, regenerative transition, knowledge co-creation

A foundational phase to shape the process collectively across nodes in Poland, Romania, and the Canary Islands.

  • Alignment between farmers, researchers, and facilitators

  • Identification of key challenges (erosion, biodiversity loss, soil sealing dynamics)

  • Initial design of the Living Labs approach

  • Framing of shared values: soil as a commons, regenerative transition, knowledge co-creation

  • Launch of collaborative infrastructure (Decidim, Miro, Zoom)

  • Cross-node alignment (Poland, Romania, Canary Islands)

  • First activation of the Community of Practice (CoP)

  • Farmer context surveys launched

  • Mapping of regional and EU frameworks (e.g. Soil Monitoring Law / NRL)

  • Identification of constraints and enabling conditions

  • On-site farm visits

  • Start of indicator co-design with farmers

  • Ground-truthing of assumptions

  • Definition of cover crop trials

  • Selection of soil health and erosion indicators

  • Scientific alignment with partners (InHort, PAN)

  • Development of Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA)

  • Exploration of transition funding mechanisms

  • Designing pathways to bridge the “regenerative transition valley”

  • Finalization of implementation roadmap

  • Funding strategy for pilot sites

  • Preparation for scaling across territories

Ecological Recovery
Shift from bare soil to continuous cover → improved soil biota and biodiversity (especially pollinators)

Economic Stability
Data-backed regenerative practices → clearer pathways to resilience credits and transition funding

Knowledge Sovereignty
Farmer-led innovation through peer-to-peer networks, seed banks, and shared experimentation

Social Resilience
Strengthened local food systems and community cohesion through regenerative land stewardship

[COVERYOURSOIL] A Participatory Process for Regenerative Cover Cropping

Connecting farmers, researchers, policymakers and communities to enable the transition toward regenerative soil ecosystems

Despre acest proces

COVERYOURSOIL is a part of the SoilTribes Regenerative Transition Platform which is a participatory process designed to explore, test, and scale solutions for regenerative soil ecosystems. It connects farmers, researchers, policymakers, and communities to identify barriers, co-design tools, and support real-world regenerative transition through pilot experiments and collaborative governance.

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COVERYOURSOIL is a transdisciplinary initiative dedicated to promoting living soils by transitioning agricultural landscapes from bare ground to high-functioning biodiversity led by Korowód Bioregional Center. The project establishes a Cover Crop Living Lab network across Poland, Romania, and Spain to address the critical challenges of soil erosion, declining soil biota, and the loss of pollinator habitats. By utilizing a farmer-led, science-based approach, the project co-designs localized cover crop systems tailored to specific pedoclimatic conditions, ensuring that ecological restoration is directly coupled with economic returns and farm resilience.

Objectives

  • Experimental Design: Develop rigorous scientific protocols for testing localized cover crop mixes that prioritize erosion prevention and biodiversity enhancement.

  • Benchmarking & Indicators: Define transdisciplinary indicators—including soil health metrics, pollinator counts, and Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) parameters—to measure transition success.

  • Policy & Strategic Alignment: Conduct a comprehensive analysis of the Soil Monitoring Law and Nature Restoration Law (NRL) to ensure all experimental designs meet emerging national and EU standards.

  • Stakeholder Engagement: Build "relational capital" through a structured convening of farmers, researchers, and SMEs, fostering a bottom-up community of supporters.

  • Financing Readiness: Construct a detailed budget and financing plan to secure subsequent funding for the full-scale implementation of three experimental sites.

Consortium Partners

The roadmap is driven by a diverse coalition of experts and practitioners:

  • Pilot Farms: Three established agricultural sites in Poland, Romania, and Spain serving as the primary Living Lab nodes.

  • Scientific Institutions: InHort (Institute of Horticulture) serving as soil experts, alongside the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN), including the Institute of Rural and Agricultural Development (IRWiR PAN).

  • Technical Advisory: Tech-Mot, providing specialized regenerative agricultural advisory services.

  • NGOs & Facilitation: Korowod (KBC) for project management, supported by Eco Ruralis, Grunt od Nowe, and EFFOST for grassroots network weaving and knowledge transfer.

The 6-Month Roadmap (May – October 2026)

May 2026: Kickoff & Digital Convening: Establish the collaborative digital infrastructure (Miro/Zoom) and conduct initial stakeholder alignment meetings to synchronize the Polish, Romanian, and Spanish teams.

June 2026: Baseline & Policy Analysis: Launch the farmer context surveys and map regional/national policies (Soil Monitoring Law/NRL) to define project constraints.

July 2026: Field Engagement (Poland): Conduct physical farm visits to begin on-the-ground indicator co-design with practitioners.

August 2026: Experimental Design Phase: Finalize the scientific parameters for the cover crop trials and erosion prevention metrics with experts from InHort and PAN.

September 2026: Economic & Financing Sprints: Develop the Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) and long-term financing plan to bridge the "transition valley" for participating farmers.

October 2026: Final Roadmap Publication: Formalize the implementation strategy and finalize the strategy for funding for the pilot sites.

Impact

  • Ecological Recovery: Measurable increases in soil biota health and above-soil biodiversity, particularly for pollinators, through a shift from bare ground to year-round cover.

  • Economic Stability: Enhanced economic returns for farmers through data-backed regenerative practices and a clear path to resiliency credits and transition funding.

  • Knowledge Sovereignty: Creation of a Knowledge Transfer network—including Peer-to-Peer (P2P) pairs and seed banks—that empowers farmers to drive their own agricultural innovation.

  • Social Welfare: Strengthening local food security and community resilience by repairing degraded ecosystems and preserving regional agricultural traditions.

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Referință: soiltribes-PART-2026-03-6