11 June 2026, Lyon, France – Earthworm Foundation and InTent, the multi-stakeholder collaboration platform founded by André and Rosalie Hoffmann, announce their partnership, Resilience Along the Rhône, at the 3rd edition of the World Living Soil Forum.
The project aims to accelerate the regeneration of agricultural soils and support 8,000 farmers, helping transform the equivalent of 500,000 hectares into resilient soils to ensure the long-term sustainability of territories along the Rhône River.
“This partnership with InTent marks a key milestone in turning agroecological ambition into reality at scale. It allows us to connect with a broader range of stakeholders concerned with soil health. Across the Rhône territories, the challenges are systemic, including water, economic viability and farm succession, and they require a collective approach. At Earthworm, we believe that by reconnecting value chains with on-the-ground realities and providing practical support to farmers, we can generate lasting environmental and economic impact.”
Bastien Sachet, CEO, Earthworm Foundation
Between 60% and 70% of soils in Europe are now degraded. The Rhône River, historically a major driver of economic development, is a direct witness to this trend, with the health of its surrounding soils having significantly deteriorated over recent decades.
Soils play a vital role in water regulation by filtering and retaining water. Their degradation increases the risks of erosion, flooding and drought, creating significant costs for society and raising major concerns for drinking water quality. This growing vulnerability affects farmers, economic actors across value chains and citizens alike.
André Hoffmann, Co-Founder of InTent, explains:
“Agriculture sits at the heart of the defining challenges of our time: climate, biodiversity and food sovereignty. Through InTent, we want to demonstrate that economic performance and ecosystem regeneration can go hand in hand. This project along the Rhône seeks to address one of the main barriers to agroecological transition: the lack of coordinated and appropriate financing mechanisms.”
In response to the scale of these risks, Earthworm Foundation and InTent are joining forces to accelerate the mobilisation of value chain actors throughout the Rhône Valley, “from source to sea”.
The objective is to encourage the adoption of regenerative agricultural practices at farm level, an area in which Earthworm Foundation has extensive expertise, building on models that have already proven effective.
Over the next five years, the project will focus on three pilot territories: the Rhône-Alpes region and the Camargue in France, and the Lake Geneva region in Switzerland, including the cantons of Vaud, Valais and Geneva.
More broadly, the initiative aims to engage society as a whole, including businesses, local authorities, organisations and citizens, in the transition towards more resilient soils.
This collective challenge is increasingly recognised and increasingly urgent, as highlighted by Jean Hauss, Executive Director of InTent:
“Scaling up agroecology remains a major challenge today. Farmers face real technical, economic and climate-related risks, often on their own. Through this partnership, we aim to structure practical and collective solutions to support the transition: mobilising value chain actors and society more broadly to create innovative financing models that make change both possible and attractive.”
In this context, Earthworm Foundation and InTent invite all stakeholders across the relevant territories to express their interest and contribute to this collective effort by getting in touch with the project teams.
Media Contacts
Khanh-Linh Lê
Relationship Lead, Earthworm Foundation
Email: k.le@earthworm.org
Miriam Ben Ghazi
Regional Communication Manager Europe, Earthworm Foundation
Email: m.b-ghazi@earthworm.org
About Earthworm Foundation
Earthworm Foundation is an international non-profit organisation founded in 1999, with a mission to regenerate soils and forests, with and for people. Its distinctive approach is to leverage company value chains to connect businesses with impact projects at the landscape level. In France alone, Earthworm Foundation works with more than 1,000 farmers to support the transition to regenerative agriculture. Headquartered in Switzerland, the organisation has 340 employees across 15 offices worldwide, the majority of whom are based in the field.
About InTent
InTent is a platform founded in 2019 by André and Rosalie Hoffmann. Its mission is to accelerate sustainable solutions by connecting actors who do not naturally collaborate, including businesses, NGOs, academic institutions and public decision-makers.
Convinced that lasting prosperity requires systemic transformation, InTent works to place nature, human capital and social capital at the heart of business strategies. With 55 partners worldwide and an online community of nearly 8,000 members, it acts as a catalyst for structural change.
