Soil Human Health

Soil, plant and human microbiomes are more interconnected than previously thought. This EU Green Week event will explore different nature positive business opportunities emerging from this connection.

The concept of One Health highlights that human health is not isolated but connected to the health of animals, plants and environments.

Soils are a cornerstone of One Health and serve as both a source and reservoir of pathogens, beneficial microorganisms and overall microbial diversity across ecosystems.

The event is scheduled for the week of 8 June 2026 and will include talks by project managers such as Miguel Ángel Gómez Tenorio, technical director of the AlVelAl Ecoregenerative Certification programme, recently nominated as one of the Top 50 European Farmers.

It will also include presentations by researchers and project managers working on soil health and its links to human health, such as Adolfo Peña Acevedo, Director of the DATAGRI Chair at the University of Córdoba, who coordinated the CARCAVA project on soil erosion in the Mediterranean region, particularly in the Andalusian countryside. Prolonged summer droughts and intense autumn rains, combined with local topography, contribute to the formation of gullies, deep erosion channels that degrade soil quality.

A roundtable discussion will take place in the morning exploring how investing in nature drives sustainable business solutions in the eastern Andalusian steppe plateau, a region facing increasing desertification and hosting initiatives such as GOV4ALL. One of GOV4ALL’s Spanish hubs will be located in Chirivel (Almería), coordinating Living Labs for soil monitoring across farms in the AlVelAl territory. A partial screening of the first episode of the Hope! series, featuring the AlVelAl Association, will also be shown in the morning.

Several companies and participants will attend the roundtable, including Cristóbal Aránega, who will present the case of Crisara and VegaVilanos. Some entrepreneurs and business representatives will also attend specific Brussels sessions to build connections between startups and investors.