Finnish stakeholder event to launch DeliSoil’s Regional Working Group

The DeliSoil and Novafert projects jointly hosted a stakeholder event at Luke’s premises in Jokioinen, Finland, on the 29th of August 2024, organised by Luke and Pyhäjärvi-Institute (PJI). Stakeholders from policy, industry and producers, science and civil society were invited to the event. In addition, the Finnish Living Lab actors were invited as special guests for a tour of the DeliSoil project Lighthouse, Biopaja. The aim of the day was to discuss the possibilities of biomass processing for soil health and to demonstrate these possibilities in practice through laboratory and field trials. A particular aim was to disseminate knowledge about the formation of the DeliSoil Regional Working Group.

The first part of the event and the presentations were broadcast to online participants. DeliSoil coordinator Ansa Palojärvi presented the DeliSoil and Novafert projects, which have common goals to develop bio-based soil improvers and fertilisers and to enable their use in agriculture. Ansa explained the DeliSoil Regional Working Group framework and the next steps in forming the group.
Liisa Pietola, board member of the EU Soil Mission, gave an inspiring presentation on the EU Soil Mission and its implementation from a Finnish perspective, commenting that:
“In Finland, our soils are young, wet and acidic – different from more southern EU countries. We have a lot of forests and wetlands, and a short growing season. These characteristics require site-specific research and strongly support the establishment of local Living Labs.”

The second part of the event consisted of site visits. Pyhäjärvi Institute hosted Living Lab actors’ visit to Luke’s Biopaja, which acts as a Lighthouse in the DeliSoil project. In Biopaja, tests are carried out to develop safe and tailored soil improvers and fertilisers. So far, drying and pelletising experiments have been carried out to valorise side streams of the food industry. During the visit the possibilities of different technologies in processing the vegetable side streams produced in the Finnish Living Lab region were discussed. An effective brainstorming session ensured that new ideas were born!
After Biopaja, participants visited Luke’s brand-new farm-scale biogas plant. Which works in conjunction with the research barn and processes mainly dairy manure. The biogas plant provides energy and nutrient-rich digestate for the farm.

The last stop on the tour was at Luke’s fields, where visitors saw field trials using soil amendments from the Finnish Living Lab region, among others. The late afternoon sun painted the fields and the whole landscape in vivid colours, and the group sat down to enjoy the moment in a barn café.

Many thanks to all participants and to Luke and the PJI team for organising this fruitful event!