SOB4ES Partners Gather for Their 2nd Annual Progress Meeting in Catania, Italy

On June 25-26, 2025, the SOB4ES consortium came together for its 2nd Annual Progress Meeting in the beautiful Sicilian city of Catania, Italy, to discuss the project’s progress and next steps. This year’s meeting was hosted by the SOB4ES partner institution University of Catania at the Botanical Garden, a treasure of biodiversity in the heart of the city.

The first meeting day was dedicated to presentations and discussions on the status of the different Work Packages by their respective leaders. This allowed the partners to gain a clear overview of the work done in each Work Package and the next steps ahead.

The final session of the first day and the opening session of the second were dedicated to plenary discussions for each Work Package. These sessions enabled in-depth exchanges on the collection and processing of soil biodiversity data as part of the SOB4ES sampling campaign, as well as on the transfer of this data to other Work Packages for modelling and cost-effectiveness analysis of soil biodiversity indicators. All project partners contributed with presentations and provided insights into their current research and activities.

During the meeting, all participants discussed a publication strategy to maximise the value of the SOB4ES data and results. Data requirements for planned analyses and engagement strategies for project stakeholders were discussed, and further action steps for the coming project months were agreed upon by the consortium partners.

A joint cluster session with the Mission Soil projects BIOServicES and ProPollSoil enabled the exchange of potential synergies and joint actions between the projects. We are happy to announce that SOB4ES will intensify its collaboration with our twin project BIOServisES in dedicated working groups that will focus on topics such as the soil biodiversity analysis, methods to link soil biodiversity with ecosystem services, economic valuation, policy analysis, communication, and stakeholder engagement.

For an upcoming project video, interviews with project partners were filmed at the Botanical Garden, capturing insights on the project’s goals and progress while turning the biodiverse venue into a powerful communication asset.

Throughout the 2-day meeting, the SOB4ES consortium partners enjoyed delicious Sicilian food, engaging in both formal and informal discussions. Everybody was happy to meet again in person and is already looking forward to the next annual gathering of all partners, which is planned for early June 2026 in the Czech Republic!