Transforming Agricultural Living Labs Into Lighthouses Contributing to Sustainable Development as Defined by the UN-SDGs.

Abstract

The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were intended to be met by 2030 but recent reviews show that this will not be achieved and recommendations are made to Heads of State, Governments, the International Community and Member States to strengthen their efforts. Focusing on agriculture, we argue that a bottom-up effort is also needed in Living Labs, truly involving farmers that are now confused and rebellious about topdown rules and regulations. To provide clarity, we suggest: (i) selection of key SDGs by considering the proportionality principle, and: (ii) defining ecosystem services in terms of indicators and thresholds for income, production of healthy food, protection of water quality, contribution to energy preservation and climate mitigation and life on land, including soil health (SDGs 1,2,3,6,7,13,15). Indicators and thresholds have to be clear and measurable at reasonable cost. Introduction of innovative sensing techniques allowed rapid generation of relevant soil data in a field of a Living Lab being studied. When meeting all thresholds, a “Lighthouse” is established acting as an inspiring example for farmers with similar soils in a given region. Policies should focus on achieving thresholds of a set of indicators rather than on topdown prescribing certain management measures.