ECO-FRUIT International Conference on Organic Fruit Growing

Filderstadt, Germany

EcoFruit 2026 continued a long-standing series of international meetings dedicated to organic fruit production, bringing together researchers, advisors, and practitioners from across Europe and beyond. The conference provides a platform for presenting and discussing the latest research, exchanging practical knowledge, strengthening professional networks, and initiating new collaborations in organic fruit production.

Since 2024, EcoFruit has been organised as a hybrid conference, enabling contributions from around the world and broadening the exchange of knowledge on the organic production of temperate fruit. The conference is supported by the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Food, Rural Areas and Consumer Protection.

SPIN-FERT scientists Eligio Malusà (InHORT / CREA) and Sabine Zikeli (UHOH) were members of the organising committee of this year’s conference in Filderstadt.

Breath of Soil Workshop: Where Science Meets Art

As part of EcoFruit 2026, the Breath of Soil Workshop invited participants to explore soil from a different perspective — not only as a resource for agricultural production, but as a complex living system carrying traces of ecological processes, human interactions, and memory.

Led by Carolin Weiler and Sabine Zikeli (UHOH) together with Eligio Malusà (InHORT), the workshop introduced an artistic approach to soil research, bringing scientific knowledge into dialogue with sensory experience and creative exploration.

At the heart of the workshop was the collaborative creation of a new “Memory Molecule” for the Breath of Soil – Memory Nexus. Participants contributed their memories, observations, associations, and sensory impressions arising from their encounter with soil. These individual experiences became elements of a collective memory, subsequently translated into the symbolic molecular language of the Memory Nexus.

Using a substrate provided by SPIN-FERT project partner Enomondo, participants engaged directly with soil as a living material — observing, touching, smelling, and reflecting on it rather than approaching it solely through scientific analysis.

By bridging science, art, and sensory experience, the workshop opened new perspectives on how we understand and relate to soil: as a dynamic living environment, a carrier of memory, and a vital nexus connecting ecological processes, human experience, and possible futures.

The workshop demonstrates how SPIN-FERT’s engagement activities can complement scientific and technological research with creative, participatory approaches, encouraging new ways of thinking about soil health, biodiversity, and our relationship with the living world.

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