On 20 February, the Vidzeme Planning Region, in cooperation with Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences, organized an online event within the project “Agro Building Carbon/ABC: Quantifying Carbon Removal in Farm-Sourced Building Materials.” The event focused on the importance of soil regeneration for the development of agro-building in Latvia.

The meeting brought together professionals from agriculture, construction, research, and regional development to discuss the role of soil health, carbon sequestration, and circular economy principles in the development of sustainable building materials.

From Soil to Building Material – A Circular Approach to Resources

Opening the event, Gunita Ķiesnere, Head of the New Construction School at Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences, emphasized that agro-building in Latvia is still at an early stage of development, but it holds significant potential.

“If we take something from agriculture, we must be able to give something back. The system needs to function in a cyclical and regenerative way,” Ķiesnere stressed.

She pointed out that alongside wood, Latvia could more widely use other materials of agricultural origin – fibres, stalks and other biological resources. The project aims not only to promote the use of these materials but also to strengthen policy planning at regional and national levels, based on practical examples and cross-sector cooperation. The ABC project is a European-level initiative gathering 11 partners.

Soil Fertility as the Basis for Sustainability

Agnese Radžele-Šulce, a representative of the Latvian Rural Advisory and Training Centre, highlighted that soil fertility forms the basis for both food security and sustainable construction.

Her presentation also explored different agricultural system models – conventional, integrated and organic – raising the question: how can farmers be supported in transitioning to more sustainable practices without losing economic stability?

Radžele-Šulce identified industrial crops (such as flax and hemp) – plants grown for fibre and building material production – as a potential bridge for synergy.

“If our knowledge in organic farming becomes stronger, land resources will be used more sustainably and carefully, and products grown in organic systems will undoubtedly have higher added value,” she noted.

Dace Zariņa, also from the Latvian Rural Advisory and Training Centre, invited participants to look at soil from a closer perspective – at the microbiological level. She stressed that soil is a living organism.

The presentation explained that typical soil consists of approximately 45% minerals (sand, clay, sediments), 25% water, 25% air and only 5% organic matter. However, it is precisely this 5% that determines the vitality of the system.

“Organic matter represents a small proportion, but it has enormous importance. It structures the soil, stores water and ensures the availability of nutrients.”

Regenerative Agriculture in Practice

Practical experience was shared by Aivars Cimmermanis, owner of the family farm Aņģi, whose family has managed 340 hectares of land in Zemgale for five generations.

Until 2019, the farm used a traditional crop rotation and ploughing system with intensive nitrogen fertilization (180–200 kg/ha). This created significant challenges: during wet periods, clay soils quickly dried out and became difficult to cultivate, while during droughts crop yields suffered. Fuel consumption for ploughing technologies reached 40–50 litres per hectare.

After transitioning to direct seeding and no-till technologies, fuel consumption was reduced to 9–15 litres per hectare, while crop establishment costs decreased by approximately 80–100 euros per hectare. Mineral fertilizer use has been gradually reduced (by around 40%), year-round soil cover has been ensured, and cover crops have been introduced.

The farm’s long-term goals include replacing synthetic mineral fertilizers with organic fertilizers, using fermented products, significantly reducing pesticide use, and eventually eliminating insecticides and fungicides.

This example clearly illustrates the essence of the ABC project: sustainably managed soil is a prerequisite for high-quality agricultural raw materials that can become competitive construction products with a lower carbon footprint.

Discussion: Publics’ Opinion and Personal Responsibility

At the end of the event, participants were invited to join a discussion. The conversation included critical reflections on society’s opinion toward soil issues.

“If something is wrong with the soil, we only notice it when the situation is already very bad. Plants find ways to adapt beforehand. And when things fail, we blame external conditions and try again next year,” said Dagnija Lazdiņa, leading researcher at the Latvian State Forest Research Institute Silava.

The discussion highlighted that smaller farms in particular need the ability to think creatively and flexibly. Unlike larger farms with greater resources and scale, smaller farmers need to seek diverse markets and wider applications for their products. The more diverse the uses of what is produced – in food and in other sectors such as construction – the stronger the economic resilience of the farm and its ability to adapt to market fluctuations.

Lazdiņa noted that after a period when humans saw themselves as “masters of the world” and believed that chemistry and engineering could outperform nature, there is now increasing recognition that many solutions already exist in nature.

“When we achieve results through chemistry or engineering, natural sciences often show that it is actually the same thing that nature has been doing for a long time. We are simply repeating nature.”

At the same time, participants acknowledged that working in harmony with nature is not simple. Natural materials require careful harvesting, processing and storage. Biomass naturally hosts organisms that decompose it – which creates challenges for construction.

The discussion highlighted an important conclusion: agro-building is not only a technical issue. It requires a shift in thinking and a search for balance between human needs and natural processes.

The involvement of sector professionals is essential for building a community and developing policy recommendations so that agro-building in Latvia can become a real instrument for achieving climate goals and supporting sustainable regional development.

This event was organized within the framework of the INTERREG EUROPE Programme 2021–2027 project Agro Building Carbon/ABC. The project aims to improve regional policy instruments to create economic opportunities for the production of bio-based building materials and the associated value chain. This goal is to be achieved by adopting good practice examples regarding these materials and related support policies, particularly carbon sequestration certification.