From 6 to 8 May 2025, the SOLO consortium joined in person once more to discuss the project’s progress and, most importantly, its future. This spring’s meeting was hosted by Lund University in Sweden. 

The three-day event provided a perfect opportunity for partners to share everything their Work Packages have been up to since their last meeting in Bulgaria, in November 2024. Each day featured dedicated sessions for individual Work Packages, with particular emphasis on the overarching roadmap. This roadmap serves as a comprehensive summary, integrating the key elements from all other roadmaps developed throughout the project.

Throughout the days, a lot of emphasis fell on SOLO’s future - what are the main activities expected and their corresponding action points? Pensoft Publishers presented a preliminary timeline for all of SOLO’s communication activities from now until the end of 2026, centred around the main project activities, such as future review rounds, Soil Weeks and more. 

Time was also carved out for feedback amongst Think Tanks. On the second day, a workshop was organised, providing the opportunity for Think Tanks to conduct their midterm evaluation. This comprised interactive activities during which participants reflected on their Think Tanks’ biggest achievements and setbacks so far, sharing feedback across four key areas: stakeholder engagement, internal organisation, communication and dissemination, and project implementation. Following this exercise, they collaborated in building a plan for action. 

Another heavily discussed topic was the synthesis of the roadmaps, especially relating to knowledge gaps and providing methodological recommendations for an in-depth analysis of bottlenecks and necessary actions across roadmaps.

The final half-day of the meeting was dedicated to reviewing the past two days of discussions and ensuring everyone leaves Lund with a clear sense of their priorities moving forward.