This section provides information for farmers interested in participating in GroundWork activities, including lighthouse farms, training opportunities and funding schemes.
Lighthouse Farms are the flagship demonstration sites within GroundWork’s five Living Labs, showcasing the practical and measurable benefits of regenerative livestock grazing. As highly visible, illustrative, and financially proven examples, they bring GroundWork’s approach to life by serving as central hubs for communication, peer-to-peer learning, field visits, and hands-on demonstrations of tested practices.
By opening their gates to farmers, advisors, and other stakeholders, Lighthouse Farms play a vital role in sharing practical knowledge, inspiring farmer engagement, and accelerating the adoption of resilient, regenerative grazing systems across Europe.
The GroundWork project aims to actively involve farmers in testing new practices. To make this feasible without financial risk, the project will provide Financial Support to Third Parties (FSTP), ensuring that farmers are fairly compensated for the time, land, and resources they dedicate to on-farm experimentation.
Since it takes a long time to see the effects of farming practices on soil health, GroundWork needs to start the experiments right away:
Initial 50 Sites: Fifty experimental farms were pre-selected during the project proposal phase. These sites will receive direct funding to begin testing practices quickly-shortly after the Living Labs (LLs) are set up (June 2026).
Expand the network of experimental farms by selecting five additional sites per Living Lab (25 in total). Support the implementation of Regenerative Livestock Grazing Practices (RLGPs).
Improve data collection on soil health, grazing management, and environmental performance, while enabling farmers to participate without financial risk.
GroundWork supports regenerative livestock grazing demonstration projects on active farms. Applicants must be farmers or farming entities established in one of the Living Lab countries: Portugal, Germany, Belgium, Sweden, or Serbia.
Selected applicants will need to provide documentation proving their agricultural activity.
Comms to outline expected duration, funding ranges or budget logic if applicable.
3 years
Over €2 milion
€27,000 per farm (€9,000 per year)
Comms to reference where farmers can find official documentation or further information
Are you a journalist covering food, farming, or soil health? Join our GroundWork Living Lab visits to explore how regenerative livestock farming restores Europe’s soils. Please fill out the form below to express your interest in joining the GroundWork press visits
