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IESS Project - Innovative agroecological actions regenerating soils to create social and sustainable economic impact

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: The poster entitled ‘IESS Project - Innovative agroecological actions regenerating soils to create social and sustainable economic impact’ was presented at the SOILS FOR EUROPE CONFERENCE, which took place from 7 to 11 September 2026 in Coimbra, Portugal.Specifically, the presentation was given during the session on Wednesday 9 September entitled “Quantifying sustainability and impacts of solutions for soil management and health”. This poster summarises the objectives, methodology and results achieved as part of the project IESS – Innovative agroecological actions regenerating soils to create social and sustainable economic impact. The project involved the implementation, study and quantification of the benefits of three agroecological practices in the Tuscan context: cover crops on non-irrigated arable land; poultry grazing in olive groves; and on-farm composting. To quantify the benefits of these practices, the SROI (Social Return on Investment) was adopted – a holistic assessment method – which yielded a value of 3.29. This means that for every euro invested in agroecological practices, an economic return of 3.29 euros was generated. The project demonstrated the economic value of these practices by monetising the environmental and social benefits they generate. In addition, three web apps were developed – one for each agroecological practice implemented – with the aim of promoting awareness, dissemination and application in similar contexts, along with an interactive dashboard to view the project’s results. To use the web app on cover crops on non-irrigated arable land: https://app.deafal.org/surveys/775d27ee-fbed-4ff9-8912-4ec3ce88baaa To use the web app on poultry grazing in olive groves: https://app.deafal.org/surveys/f080eac1-0371-4714-9e88-84199a3bc3a5 To use the web app on on-farm composting: https://app.deafal.org/surveys/467ab8a5-fd99-4b20-96cc-565bf85e091f To view the results via the interactive dashboard: https://iess.agricolturaorganica.org/risultati/ For further information on the project: https://iess.agricolturaorganica.org/. The project was carried out thanks to SUB-MEASURE 16.2 of the 2014–2022 Rural Development Programme (RDP) of the Region of Tuscany.

Source: Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.22703992