Soil-X-Change Final Event: Celebrating Cross-Border Innovation in Sustainable Soil Management

Event at a glance: 24 to 25 November 2026 | Vienna, Austria | University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU)

Healthy soil is the quiet foundation of European agriculture. It stores water and carbon, feeds crops, and keeps farms productive through drought, heavy rain and the growing pressures of a changing climate. Yet a great deal of the knowledge that could protect this resource stays locked inside individual projects, regions and languages. The Soil-X-Change final event is where that knowledge comes into the open.

After three years of cross-border collaboration, the Soil-X-Change initiative is marking the close of its work with a celebration of what farmers, advisors, researchers and policymakers can achieve when they exchange practical solutions instead of working in isolation. The final event takes place on 24 and 25 November 2026 in Vienna, Austria, hosted by the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), one of the project's consortium partners. For anyone involved in agriculture, soil health or rural innovation, this is a moment worth paying attention to.

What is Soil-X-Change?

Soil-X-Change is a Horizon Europe thematic network built to accelerate the flow of practical soil management knowledge across the European Union. Funded under Grant Agreement No. 101133914, the project connects a consortium of 13 partners across nine member countries, including Hungary, Austria, Slovenia, Slovakia, Poland, Spain, Bulgaria, Germany and Italy.

At its heart, the project brings together European Innovation Partnership (EIP) Operational Groups, the hands-on partnerships that turn ideas about sustainable soil and farm management into technologies and techniques that work in the field. Soil-X-Change gathers the results of these groups, harmonises them, and shares them through a growing EU-wide network so that a good idea proven on a farm in one country does not stop at the border.

The approach is deliberately bottom-up. Rather than pushing research down to farmers, Soil-X-Change starts with the real needs, barriers and drivers that farmers experience, then reinforces the practical knowledge that answers them. That philosophy runs through everything from its national nodes to its training kits and its data tools.

Why the final event matters

The closing event is more than a formal wrap-up. It is designed to celebrate multistakeholder collaboration on soil-health-oriented innovation and to strengthen the dialogue between operational groups, farmers, foresters, advisors, researchers and the many other actors who shape agriculture and forestry.

For a thematic network, the final event is where three years of work becomes a lasting resource. It is the point at which harmonised results, good practices and ready-to-use tools are handed to the wider community of stakeholders who can put them to work. Expect the focus to sit on practical outcomes: methods farmers can adopt, evidence policymakers can act on, and connections that outlast the project itself.

Several themes are likely to anchor the discussions:

Practical soil health solutions. The project has spent three years collecting and testing good practices for sustainable soil and farm management. The event is the shop window for the most transferable of these.

Cross-border knowledge transfer. With partners in nine countries facing similar climate pressures, the value lies in showing how a practice developed in one region can be adapted and scaled elsewhere.

Policy and the green transition. Soil-X-Change is aligned with the Common Agricultural Policy objectives and the wider European Green Deal, supporting climate-neutrality, efficient use of inputs and farm resilience.

Digital and data-driven tools. From data dashboards to adaptation guides, the project has developed user-friendly resources that help farmers make informed decisions.

Who should attend

The event is built for a broad agricultural community. Farmers and farm advisors will find field-ready practices and the chance to connect with peers solving the same problems. Researchers and members of EIP Operational Groups can showcase results and identify partners for future collaboration. Policymakers and members of national CAP networks will gain insight into what actually works on the ground, and into the barriers that still stand in the way of wider adoption.

If your work touches soil health, sustainable farming, agricultural innovation or rural policy, this is a space to learn, network and help shape what comes next.

The lasting value of a soil health network

The strength of Soil-X-Change is that its impact is designed to continue after the funding ends. The project leaves behind nine well-connected national nodes, a body of harmonised good practices, and a network that links thousands of organisations indirectly across the continent. This infrastructure keeps the conversation going and keeps practical knowledge moving between countries.

Sustainable soil management is not a problem any single farm, region or country can solve alone. Soils degrade slowly and recover slowly, and the practices that protect them need to be shared widely to make a difference at scale. Networks like Soil-X-Change turn scattered local success into shared European progress.

Join the conversation

The Soil-X-Change final event is an invitation to be part of that progress. Whether you attend to learn, to share your own experience, or to find collaborators for future work, you will be joining a community committed to healthier soils and more resilient farms across Europe.

The event takes place on 24 and 25 November 2026 at BOKU in Vienna, Austria. To find the full programme and registration details, visit the official event page at https://event.soil-x-change.eu/.

Register here: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=RP2ypH3dnk6hVe_3JD_QI8Mtdnr62XVOgfh7bfDplsNURTdJVzFUTkRLVUNWQVdFWTQ5SDRKUUI0RS4u&route=shorturl

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The role of Agriventures in supporting agrifood innovation

As the agritech startup ecosystem grows across Europe, initiatives such as Agriventures are helping connect entrepreneurs, researchers, investors, and policymakers working in agriculture and food innovation.

Agriventures focuses on supporting agrifood startups, biotechnology innovation, and access to European funding for agriculture, while also helping entrepreneurs navigate the complex landscape of startup financing, venture capital, and research commercialization.

By strengthening connections between startups, research institutions, investors, and farmers, Agriventures contributes to building a stronger agricultural innovation ecosystem that can accelerate the transition toward sustainable agriculture and resilient food systems.

Through knowledge sharing, events, and ecosystem building, Agriventures helps ensure that promising agritech innovations can scale and reach farmers, food producers, and global markets.