Practical Guidance for Sustainable Strategies

The PREPSOIL Business Model Canvas (BMC) for Soil Living Labs (LLs) and Lighthouses (LHs) is a tailor-made tool created to support these initiatives in designing strategies for long-term stability. Built with the specific needs of Soil LLs and LHs in mind, the canvas offers a structured yet flexible framework to guide decision-making and communicate value to stakeholders.   []

Real-World Insights, Rooted in Practice

As part of the PREPSOIL process, practical insights were gathered across a range of activities supporting LL and LH business model development. These examples reflect the lived experience of LLs and have been mapped to the various elements of the BMC.

To help users navigate this knowledge, the insights have been classified based on their relevance:

  • Common to all LLs – insights that apply regardless of the LL’s theme or land use context
  • Common to Soil LLs – applicable to any LL focused on soil-related challenges
  • Land use-specific – tailored for LLs working in agriculture, forestry, (post-)industrial, or (peri-)urban settings

Explore the Filterable Catalogue

In this page, you'll find a filterable catalogue of insights linked to specific BMC elements and spheres of intervention. You can browse by:

  • Land Use Focus – agriculture, forestry, (post-)industrial, or (peri-)urban
  • Element – e.g., Key Stakeholders, Value Proposition, Revenue Streams
  • Sphere of Intervention – thematic focus within each element

For example, an agricultural LL looking for real-world insights of private sector engagement can select “Agriculture” under the Focus filter, and “Private Sector” under the 4. Key Stakeholders element.

These insights are intended to guide and inspire LLs and LHs as they build their own business models—recognizing that each lab’s ambition, capacity, and local context is unique.

Projects funded under the EU Mission Soil initiative should also ensure that their business models reflect the objectives outlined in the Mission Soil Implementation Plan, as well as the land use type they aim to address. This focus is essential for shaping effective and sustainable strategies.

Additional Resources

PREPSOIL Report on LL/LH Business Model Plans (D4.2)

A deeper dive into the methodology and development process behind the BMC.

Business Model Canvas for Soil Living Labs and Lighthouses: A Guide for Users

Detailed instructions and guiding questions for completing each section of the canvas.

 

Support community-led activities for a greening transition

Collaborations & Partnerships
(Post-)Industrial land use type

Create the occasions to grasp emerging demands on land use interventions, guiding both formal and informal practices

Collaborations & Partnerships
(Post-)Industrial land use type

Brownfield land is extremely important for environmental and ecosystem quality and human health. Involving citizens, municipal administration, planners, land developers, researchers, and environmetal officers in the LL co-creation processses might help to optimize the re-use of land in a way that involves soil information, soil ecosystem services, and risk management in the planning

(Post-)Industrial land use type
Public Value

In many (post-) industrial regions, a substantial part of the land is still used as arable land. Elevated soil contaminants might pose a risk of food contamination. Therefore, alternative agricultural production and soil management practices must be proposed to farmers. They can be effectively developed only in a co-creation process with farmers and advisors to address environmental and socio-economic barriers the transformation might face

(Post-)Industrial land use type
Public Value

Green remediation expertise

(Post-)Industrial land use type
HHRR & Expertise

Number of hectares restored

(Post-)Industrial land use type
Environmental

Tons of polluted soil cleaned-up

(Post-)Industrial land use type
Environmental

Increased agricultural productivity and potential cost savings from sustainable soil management

(Post-)Industrial land use type
Economic

Informing and shaping policies that promote sustainable industrial and soil management practices

(Post-)Industrial land use type
Economic

Adoption of environmentally friendly industrial practices, reducing future soil degradation

(Post-)Industrial land use type
Social

Reduced exposure to soil contaminants, leading to improved public health outcomes

(Post-)Industrial land use type
Social

Spatial planners

(Post-)Industrial land use type
Public Sector