Discovering Laida Beach: Where Soil Health Meets Coastal Conservation in the iCOSHELLs Basque Living Lab

Photo and Text © Gorka Nadal and C.M. Cordeiro 2025.

October 9, 2025 | Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve, Spain

As part of the iCOSHELLs project’s second annual meeting in Bilbao, participants from across Europe embarked on a field visit to one of Spain’s most remarkable coastal landscapes: Laida Beach in the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve. Hosted by our partner GAIA in Bilbao, Spain, this excursion highlighted the critical connections between soil health, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable land management in coastal ecosystems.

About iCOSHELLs

The INNOVATIVE CO-CREATION SOIL HEALTH LIVING LABs (iCOSHELLs) project, led by RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, represents a groundbreaking EU Horizon Europe initiative dedicated to restoring Europe’s degraded soils. With 60–70% of European soils classified as unhealthy due to pollution, urbanization, and intensive agriculture exacerbated by climate change, the €12 million project brings together 36 partners across Europe to develop, test, and scale innovative soil recovery solutions through six Soil Health Living Labs.

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