Report on clustering with other projects

2 This project has received funding from the European Union’s HORIZON-AG - HORIZON Action Grant Budget-Based research and innovation programme under grant agreement GA 101091268 NOVASOIL INNOVATIVE BUSINESS MODELS FOR SOIL HEALTH Grant agreement ID: 101091268 Report on clustering with other projects Project NOVASOIL Project title INNOVATIVE BUSINESS MODELS FOR SOIL HEALTH Work Package 6 Coordination & Management Deliverable 6.3 Period covered 01/11/2022-31/10/2025 Publication date 31/10/2025 Dissemination level PU Organisation name of lead beneficiary for this report EVENOR Authors Blanco-Velázquez FJ, Bravo-García J, González-Peñaloza F and Anaya-Romero M Contributors ALL Ref. Ares(2025)9375501 - 31/10/2025 3 This project has received funding from the European Union’s HORIZON-AG - HORIZON Action Grant Budget-Based research and innovation programme under grant agreement GA 101091268 QUALITY ASSURANCE PROCEDURES This document has been reviewed by the NOVASOIL consortium according to the national reports and comments received TABLE REVISION HISTORY DELIVERABLE Ro w Version Date Reviewers Description 1 V1.0 24/09/2025 EVENOR Draft version circulated by email 2 V1.1 15/10/2025 ALL Version updated based on inputs received 3 V2.0 28/10/2025 WU, IDECO, NBU Final version with minor changes from previous version 4 This project has received funding from the European Union’s HORIZON-AG - HORIZON Action Grant Budget-Based research and innovation programme under grant agreement GA 101091268 Project Consortium Nº Participant organisation name Countr y 1 EVENOR TECH SLU ES 2 LEIBNIZ-ZENTRUM FUER AGRARLANDSCHAFTSFORSCHUNG GE 3 ZEMNIEKU SAEIMA LV 4 NEW BULGARIAN UNIVERSITY BU 5 CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE CNRS FR 6 KOBENHAVNS UNIVERSITET DK 7 TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAET MUENCHEN GE 8 ASSEMBLEE DES REGIONS EUROPEENNES FRUITIERES LEGUMIERES ET HORTICOLES FR 9 ISTITUTO DELTA ECOLOGIA APPLICATA SRL IT 10 UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI FERRARA IT 11 WAGENINGEN UNIVERSITY NL 12 CENTRE OF ESTONIAN RURAL RESEARCH AND KNOWLEDGE EE 13 UNIVERSIDAD POLITECNICA DE MADRID ES 14 UNIVERSITA DI PISA IT 15 ASOCIACION AGRARIA JOVENES AGRICULTORES DE SEVILLA ES 16 UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS GB 5 This project has received funding from the European Union’s HORIZON-AG - HORIZON Action Grant Budget-Based research and innovation programme under grant agreement GA 101091268 Table of contents 1 Executive summary 6 2 Introduction 8 3. Clustering Strategy and Approach 8 3.1 Core Collaborations 8 3.2 Wider Collaborative Network and Policy Engagement 9 4. Clustering Activities: Year-by-Year Overview 9 4.1. Year 1: Foundational Alignment and Methodology Sharing (Nov 2022 – Oct 2023) 9 4.2. Year 2: Joint Dissemination and Resource Sharing (Nov 2023 – Oct 2024) 10 4.3. Year 3: Result Dissemination and Policy Messaging (Nov 2024 – Oct 2025) 11 5. Impact and Key Achievements 12 5.1. Ensuring Complementarity and Avoiding Duplication 12 5.2. Policy and Dissemination Coherence 13 6. Conclusion 14 7. Acknowledgment 15 6 This project has received funding from the European Union’s HORIZON-AG - HORIZON Action Grant Budget-Based research and innovation programme under grant agreement GA 101091268 1 Executive summary This report outlines the NOVASOIL project's strategic and operational engagement in clustering activities over its three-year duration (2022-2025) within the framework of the EU Mission 'A Soil Deal for Europe'. Strategy and Focus: The clustering strategy centered on maximizing impact, ensuring efficiency, and aligning policy messaging among the sister projects: NOVASOIL, InBestSoil, and SoilValue. These projects formed a critical thematic cluster focusing on sustainable business models and the economic valuation of soil health. Core activities included biannual coordination meetings and active participation in European Commission Working Groups (on Business Models, Soil Health Indicators, and Policy). Key Activities (Year-by-Year): • Year 1 (Foundational Alignment): Focused on establishing mutual understanding and methodological consistency. Activities centered on project scope presentations and foundational workshops, including the joint participation in the 'Jump-start the Mission Soil' Cluster Event. • Year 2 (Joint Dissemination): Focused on external efficiency. The cluster successfully organized joint online events aimed at common stakeholders, a key measure to prevent 'stakeholder fatigue'. NOVASOIL deliverables were shared with sister projects as a common baseline, accelerating collaborative progress. • Year 3 (Result Dissemination): Focused on synthesizing and sharing definitive outcomes. Activities involved the comprehensive presentation of the NOVASOIL Toolbox, key findings, and lessons learned to facilitate sister projects' final output production. Impact and Achievements: The structured clustering approach yielded significant achievements: • Complementarity Ensured: Through detailed activity mapping, potential overlaps (e.g., in incentive mapping and policy analysis) were successfully converted into complementary research layers, with NOVASOIL providing case-study-level detail to support the broader analysis of the cluster. • Differentiated Tools: Coordination ensured that the digital tools and knowledge hubs developed by each project were clearly differentiated, resulting in a cohesive and complementary suite of solutions for stakeholders. • Policy Coherence: A formal commitment was made to ensure that the core messages and recommendations in all three projects' Policy Briefs would be non-contradictory and mutually reinforcing, ensuring a strong, unified policy signal to the European institutions. 7 This project has received funding from the European Union’s HORIZON-AG - HORIZON Action Grant Budget-Based research and innovation programme under grant agreement GA 101091268 In conclusion, NOVASOIL's clustering strategy successfully fostered a collaborative network that maximized project coherence and efficiency, ensuring that the collective contribution of the thematic cluster on soil health economics is robust and consistent. The commitment to continued collaboration post-project guarantees the long-term legacy of this work. 8 This project has received funding from the European Union’s HORIZON-AG - HORIZON Action Grant Budget-Based research and innovation programme under grant agreement GA 101091268 2 Introduction The NOVASOIL project, titled "INNOVATIVE BUSINESS MODELS FOR SOIL HEALTH”, is a collaborative effort funded by the European Union under Grant Agreement ID: 101091268. Running from November 2022 to October 2025, the project brings together a consortium of 16 organisations from across Europe with the common goal of developing, implementing, and disseminating sustainable business models and agricultural practices that promote soil health. A key component of the project's dissemination and exploitation strategy is its active engagement in clustering activities. This report details the clustering initiatives undertaken over the project’s three-year duration, highlighting the strategies, key collaborations, and main achievements in knowledge sharing and policy alignment. 3. Clustering Strategy and Approach NOVASOIL's clustering strategy was systematically designed to maximize the project's impact, ensure resource efficiency, and align its activities with the broader objectives of the EU Mission 'A Soil Deal for Europe'. This approach was based on the principle of leveraging shared thematic focus to create true synergies. The primary objectives of these clustering efforts were threefold: 1. Objective Alignment & Synergies: To align the goals and activities of NOVASOIL with those of its sister projects and related initiatives, contributing towards a common, cohesive vision for European soil health. Crucially, the three sister projects—NOVASOIL, InBestSoil, and SoilValue—all share a core thematic focus on developing and implementing sustainable business models and a monetary valuation system for soil health and its ecosystem services, creating a high degree of intrinsic synergy and ensuring a consolidated output to the European Commission. 2. Duplication Avoidance: To prevent the duplication of research efforts, surveys, and knowledge-gathering activities across the cluster, thus maximizing the efficiency of resources. 3. Knowledge & Policy Exchange: To establish a structured framework for sharing project advancements, best practices, and direct policy recommendations with key stakeholders. 3.1 Core Collaborations The cornerstone of the clustering activities was the close cooperation with the designated sister projects: InBestSoil and SoilValue. This core cluster established a continuous mechanism for monitoring and information exchange, which officially began with their joint participation in the 'Jumpstart the Mission Soil' Cluster Event in Brussels (March 2023), setting the stage for project collaboration. Key internal activities include: • Biannual Meetings: Periodic coordination meetings were held every six months to track the progress of each sister project, discuss challenges, and identify areas for synergistic activities, particularly 9 This project has received funding from the European Union’s HORIZON-AG - HORIZON Action Grant Budget-Based research and innovation programme under grant agreement GA 101091268 around the development of toolboxes and frameworks for soil investment and the co-design of data collection strategies. • Plenary Sessions Presentations: To ensure knowledge dissemination within each consortium, dedicated presentations were delivered during the plenary sessions of NOVASOIL, InBestSoil, and SoilValue. These sessions informed the wider consortiums of each project's recent advancements and collaborative milestones. Figure 1. Clustering activity in plenary session (Ferrara - April 2025) 3.2 Wider Collaborative Network and Policy Engagement Beyond the sister projects, NOVASOIL actively participated in a wider network of EU-funded projects focused on soil health, contributing to joint communication campaigns, webinars, and policy discussions. Significant collaborations include projects such as C-Sink, MRV4SOC, and LivingSoiLL, among others, specifically around topics like Carbon Farming and the network of Living Labs and Lighthouses. Furthermore, to ensure direct policy relevance and impact, the NOVASOIL consortium has been an active participant in several Working Groups (WGs) promoted by the European Commission, covering key thematic areas: Stakeholder Engagement, Soil Health Indicators, Business Models, and Data Management. 4. Clustering Activities: Year-by-Year Overview Clustering activities were structured across the three project years, adapting to the projects' maturity stages—from foundational alignment in Year 1 to result dissemination in Year 3. 4.1. Year 1: Foundational Alignment and Methodology Sharing (Nov 2022 – Oct 2023) The primary focus during the first year was establishing mutual understanding and methodological consistency among the sister projects (NOVASOIL, InBestSoil, and SoilValue). 10 This project has received funding from the European Union’s HORIZON-AG - HORIZON Action Grant Budget-Based research and innovation programme under grant agreement GA 101091268 • Kick-off and Context Setting: Building upon the initial 'Jump-start the Mission Soil' Cluster Event (March 2023), the focus shifted to internal synchronization. • Methodological Exchange: Key activities, often promoted via online workshops by the European Commission, centered on each project explaining its scope, planned activities, and the specific methodologies to be implemented. This was crucial for establishing clear boundaries and identifying early opportunities for collaboration, primarily to ensure that each project's approach to business models and soil valuation was complementary rather than duplicative. • Initial Coordination: The first formal biannual coordination meetings between the three projects were held, laying the groundwork for scheduled, routine progress tracking. 4.2. Year 2: Joint Dissemination and Resource Sharing (Nov 2023 – Oct 2024) Year 2 moved from internal alignment to external engagement, focusing on efficiency and joint outreach to the shared target audience. • Joint Online Events for Stakeholders: The cluster organized several joint online events (webinars/workshops) aimed at common stakeholders. This strategy was explicitly implemented to prevent 'stakeholder fatigue' by presenting consolidated progress updates from the cluster rather than independent, fragmented reports from each project. • Information Base Sharing: Deliverables and foundational documents made available by NOVASOIL at that time (e.g., initial reports on business model categorization, literature reviews) were shared with the sister projects to serve as a common baseline for their subsequent activities, accelerating their progress and ensuring consistency across the cluster. • Exploration of Joint Publications: Discussions were initiated regarding the possibility of co-authoring scientific or policy publications, capitalizing on the shared thematic outputs.