Soil Consumption

This activity, as part of a larger active citizenship project aimed to help students develop a greater understanding of soil issues and become actively involved in soil protection.

Description

Age of pupils: 15-16 years

This activity, as part of a larger active citizenship project aimed to help students develop a greater understanding of soil issues and become actively involved in soil protection. Students worked in groups to identify and investigate soil consumption in their town they believe requires greater awareness, culminating in the creation of a poster showcasing their findings and highlighting their suggestions in using soil in a sustainable way. There is no doubt that the posters displayed have generated increased awareness around soil issues and generated meaningful discussion in the community.

Target: It’s a recurring program and it’s dedicated to 15-16 years old students.

Program Activities

1) Learn about soil and its problems on a global level

Starting activity: The issue of soil consumption was introduced on a global level by watching the video "Let's talk about the soil" by the designer and animator Uli Henrik Streckenbach ". The video shows that the soil, which we experience every day by walking on it, is being neglected even though mankind is in dire need of it.

2) Learn about soil issues on a national level

Reading activities: In order to learn more about soil issues on a national level, students were invited to read the most up-to-date report "Soil Consumption, Land Use Dynamics and Ecosystem Services", produced by the National System for Environmental Protection (Snpa) in 2022. The document provides an up-to-date picture of land cover transformation processes and makes it possible to assess land degradation and the impact of land consumption on the landscape and ecosystem services at a national level.

3) Reflecting on soil issues

The students were guided in cooperative learning mode to discuss and confront each other by answering the following questions:

• Why should soil be preserved and not consumed?
• What are the consequences of soil consumption on climate change?
• What does the 2030 Agenda say about soil consumption?
• According to the ISPRA 2022 report, what is soil consumption in Italy due to and how has it evolved?
• Which areas of the country are most affected?

4) Investigate soil consumption in one's own municipality

Students divided into groups per municipality of residence are invited to interact and discuss about the land consumption in their municipality.  Discussion and debate were prompted with the following questions:

• What changes has the landscape in your municipality undergone in the last 10 years?
• What has happened to the soil in your municipality?
• What socio-economic phenomena do you think have contributed to soil consumption?
• After investigating the soil problem in their territory, the students became aware that as citizens they could identify ways to better apply their knowledge on the problem of soil consumption.

5) Skills  consolidation about soil preservation

Each student was given the following reality task: 

"You are an activist of the EATH DAY Association. You have to send out a poster to be publicised in your municipality with the aim of inviting people to protect the soil in their area by suggesting strategies to be adopted.”