SoilSoul
Regeneration begins with citizens’ hands, hearts and imagination
Working across Italy, Spain and Portugal, SOILSOUL brings together soil education, natural farming, artistic practice and community participation.
The project helps people reconnect with the living soil beneath their feet and turn awareness into practical, regenerative action.
What is SoulSoul
Soil is more than a resource. It is a living system that supports food production, biodiversity, climate balance and cultural heritage. Across Europe, however, soil is increasingly threatened by erosion, pollution and a growing disconnection from everyday life.
SOILSOUL responds by bringing people closer to soil through creativity, education and hands-on action. The project combines art, natural farming and civic participation to strengthen soil literacy and community resilience across Italy, Spain and Portugal.
Particular attention is given to young people, rural communities and groups with fewer opportunities. Through accessible workshops, practical activities and international collaboration, participants are encouraged to understand, value and help regenerate the land around them.
Three paths to Living Soil
From February to October 2026, SOILSOUL develops through three connected areas of activity.
Soil Stories Workshops
Living Soil
Actions
The SOILSOUL
Guide
Soil Stories workshops explore the memories, emotions and knowledge connected to soil and land.
Through storytelling, drawing, creative practice and direct observation, participants develop ecological understanding alongside a deeper personal connection with the places they inhabit.
Living Soil Actions transform learning into practice through small, replicable ecological interventions.
Activities include seedball reforestation, community gardens and humus creation. These actions demonstrate how simple, locally adapted practices can help restore degraded soil and strengthen climate resilience.
Art and Ecology for Living Soil gathers the project’s methods, tools, activities and stories in a practical publication.
The guide is designed to help educators, communities and local organisations adapt and repeat the SOILSOUL approach in other places across Europe.
Who it is For
SOILSOUL is inclusive and intergenerational, with a particular focus on young people, rural communities and people with fewer opportunities.
Workshops and public events create accessible spaces where art, ecology and civic participation can meet. By connecting soil science with creative culture, the project makes complex ecological questions more personal, understandable and open to action.
By the end of the project, three pilot communities will have carried out visible soil-regeneration activities. Wider audiences will also be reached through shared stories, educational resources and creative communication.
In this way, SOILSOUL contributes to the goals of the EU Mission “A Soil Deal for Europe” by transforming awareness into collective care.
The Partners
SOILSOUL is led by three organisations, each contributing a different area of experience.
Natural Farming Center APS, Italy
Natural Farming Center APS works with natural farming, soil regeneration and community education. Its practical centre is Natural Farm Shizen in central Italy.
Events
February 13–15, 2026
Entrudanças Gathering
The Entrudanças gathering in Beja and Castro Verde, Portugal, marked the first in-person exchange between the SoilTribes consortium and the SOILSOUL partners.
Luca and Kutluhan represented Natural Farming Center APS, Anna represented ARTE.M and María represented FOCO. Through presentations, meetings and shared activities, the partners established the foundations for the work that would unfold throughout 2026.
May 2, 2026
Open Day at Natural Farm Shizen
The day begins at 10:00 with a welcome at the farm, followed by an in-depth visit with Kutluhan at 10:30. At 12:30, participants share lunch, with everyone invited to bring something for the table. At 14:30, the programme continues with a session on the importance of soil regeneration.
From 17:00, a limited number of participants can also join the first of a series of personal-development gatherings taking place at Shizen throughout 2026. These meetings offer a respectful space for listening, sharing personal experiences and exploring individual growth through the support of the group.
June 20, 2026
Open Day at Natural Farm Shizen
Participants meet at the farm at 9:30. An in-depth visit with Kutluhan begins at 10:00, followed by a shared lunch at 13:00, with everyone invited to contribute something to the table.
At 15:00, the gathering continues with a session exploring the importance of soil regeneration.
July 25, 2026
Fiorire ad Arte
Fiorire ad Arte is an immersive experience centred on observation, meditation and creative expression.
Three works of art guide participants through an inner journey of awareness. The experience then continues through artistic creation with natural materials, transforming emotions into a personal process of sharing, reflection and growth.
August 19–23, 2026
Seedball Festival
The Seedball Festival brings together natural farming, creativity, movement and shared experience.
The programme includes an in-depth visit to Natural Farm Shizen and seedball making with Kutluhan, natural painting with Giovanna Pieralisi, and practices for reconnecting with the earth through yoga, singing and juggling.
October 17, 2026
Final Dissemination Event
The final SOILSOUL event brings together practical learning, soil regeneration and the resources developed throughout the project.
The programme includes an in-depth visit to Natural Farm Shizen with Kutluhan, followed by a theoretical and practical session on regenerating soil through cover-crop sowing.
The event will also include the presentation of Art and Ecology for Living Soil, the SOILSOUL Guide created to share the project’s methods and support their use in other communities.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Executive Agency (REA). Neither the European Union nor the European Research Executive Agency (REA) can be held responsible for them.
