PREPSOIL Launches Online Access to Interactive Tools for Living Labs and Lighthouses
14, January, 2025
The PREPSOIL project has made significant strides in advancing the Mission Soil’s objectives by launching two innovative tools online: the PREPSOIL Taxonomy and the PREPSOIL Business Model Canvas – both for Living Labs and Lighthouses.
These interactive online resources are designed to empower initiatives focused on soil health by providing structured, adaptable frameworks for sustainable impact. Both are available and free of charge on PREPSOIL Website.
A Flexible Framework for Soil Health
The PREPSOIL Taxonomy serves as a dynamic tool for identifying and classifying initiatives aligned with the principles of Living Labs and Lighthouses, working toward soil health under the Mission Soil Implementation Plan. This comprehensive taxonomy recognizes the diversity of operational contexts, ecosystems, and stakeholder engagement across various land-use types, offering a nuanced approach to achieving sustainability goals.
Guidance Across Contexts
Key highlights of the taxonomy include a flexible guideline adaptable to unique local requirements and conditions and a framework fostering continuous learning, innovation, and contextualized applications. It offers access to documented practices and experiences for cross-pollination of ideas as well as tools to identify and prioritize characteristics relevant to specific soil health initiatives.
For a detailed understanding of its methodology and applications, users can refer to the PREPSOIL Report on LL/LH Taxonomy, Identification, and Mapping and the accompanying User Guide.
Paving the Way for Sustainable Impact
Complementing the taxonomy, the PREPSOIL Business Model Canvas is a tailor-made tool that helps Living Labs and Lighthouses establish sustainable strategies for long-term success. Recognizing the need for diverse funding sources and stakeholder engagement, this canvas shifts focus from profit-centric models to broader value creation.
The Business Model Canvas offers examples filtered by soil use (agriculture, forestry, (post-) industrial and (peri-) urban) , elements, and intervention spheres. It allows the user to reflect and develop strategies accommodating the unique ambitions, capacities, and contexts of Living Labs as well as methods to evolve business models to address emerging opportunities and challenges.
Detailed insights into the BMC methodology and its implementation are available in the PREPSOIL Report on LL/LH Business Model Plans and its dedicated User Guide.
Access the Tools
Both the PREPSOIL Taxonomy and the Business Model Canvas are now accessible online, providing transformative resources for soil health practitioners, researchers, and other relevant stakeholders. These tools are designed to inspire innovative solutions, foster collaboration, and drive sustainable impact in soil health initiatives worldwide.
Furthermore, a workshop is coming up in early 2025 to refine and develop a package of tools and resources aimed at enhancing the performance and accelerating the maturity of LLs and LHs. This collaborative effort will provide practical solutions and actionable strategies for Soil Health initiatives.
If you are or know an early-stage Living Lab or Lighthouse initiative interested in participating, please reach out at isabelle.couture@enoll.org for further details.
