The NEMESIS Open Call: Expanding Living Labs for Soil Health Innovation

The EU-funded NEMESIS project has officially launched its Open Calls, inviting innovators, land managers, researchers, and organisations to contribute to a growing network of Soil Health Living Labs. These calls offer a unique opportunity to test solutions in real-world conditions while receiving funding and expert support.

Explore the call here: NEMESIS Open Calls

Why NEMESIS Matters

Healthy soils are the foundation of sustainable agriculture, biodiversity, and climate resilience. Across the Mediterranean, however, soils are increasingly under pressure from degradation and desertification.

NEMESIS responds to this challenge by building a network of Living Labs -collaborative, real-world environments where farmers, researchers, policymakers, and innovators co-create and test practical solutions.

Through its Open Calls, the project is now expanding this ecosystem and accelerating the development of impactful soil health innovations.

What Are the Open Calls About?

NEMESIS will implement two Open Calls designed to:

• Expand the network of experimental sites

• Integrate innovative and low-cost soil monitoring technologies

• Strengthen collaboration across the Living Lab ecosystem

• Support scalable solutions that tackle desertification

Selected participants will have the opportunity to test and validate their solutions, contributing directly to sustainable land management and improved soil health outcomes.

Open Call 1: Expand the Living Lab Network

The first Open Call focuses on strengthening the geographical and operational reach of NEMESIS by adding new experimental sites.

Key highlights:

• Funding: up to €100,000 per project

• Goal: integrate at least one additional experimental site per Living Lab

• Application deadline: 1 August 2026

• Start of activities: October 2026

This call targets actors who can contribute operational sites - helping broaden the diversity and representativeness of the network across agro-ecological and socio-economic contexts.

Open Call 2: Advance Soil Monitoring Technologies

The second Open Call, launching in December 2026, focuses on technology integration within Living Labs.

What to expect:

• Funding: up to €150,000 per project

• Focus: low-cost, user-friendly soil health monitoring solutions

• Deadline: February 2027

This call aims to strengthen the assessment and scalability of solutions addressing soil degradation and desertification.

Who Should Apply?

The Open Calls are open to a wide range of stakeholders who manage or have access to experimental sites, including:

• Farmers and landowners

• Cooperatives and producer organisations

• SMEs and agri-tech innovators

• Research institutes

• NGOs and environmental organisations

• Public authorities

Applicants should be able to test and implement solutions in real-world environments and collaborate within Living Labs.

What’s in It for You?

Successful applicants will benefit from:

• Direct financial support

• Access to Living Lab infrastructure and expertise

• Collaboration with leading researchers and practitioners

• Opportunities to co-create and validate solutions

• Increased visibility within the EU Soil Mission ecosystem

Participants will also contribute to shaping policies and practices aligned with the EU’s “A Soil Deal for Europe” mission.

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.