2nd EUSO Stakeholders Forum
External event
One year after the publication of the EU Soil Strategy and with the EU Soil Health Law in the pipeline, the European Commission confirms the growing recognition of the importance of healthy soils and their central role in tackling major societal challenges such as climate change, biodiversity decline and food security. Building on the EU Soil Strategy, the EU Soil Health Law is expected to include legally binding obligations to achieve healthy soils in the EU by 2050.
In this context, the EU Soil Observatory (EUSO) is convening its second Stakeholder Forum, an annual event organised by the JRC whose purpose is to actively engage and exchange with the soil community, in a broad sense - from policy makers, soil and soil-related scientists, local actors, civil society representatives and citizens.
The EUSO aims to become the principal provider of reference data and knowledge at EU-level for all matters relating to soil. It is a dynamic and inclusive platform that supports EU soil-related policymaking by providing knowledge and data flows needed to safeguard and restore soils. EUSO is in close interaction with the soil-related research activities and aims to raise the public’s awareness of the need for soil protection.
The EUSO second Stakeholders Forum is an opportunity for the EUSO to update and exchange with anyone with an interest in soils on various themes including: the latest developments in soil policy, the state of soil science, new and ongoing soil research projects as well as methods to assess soil health in the EU and beyond.
PREPSOIL at the event
Niels Halberg (Aarhus University and Coordinator of PREPSOIL) presented PREPSOIL at the event. Niels provided an overview of PREPSOIL goals, namely an overview of the first work on Monitoring frameworks and soil indicators, the expected methodology and workflow of Soil Needs Assessment, the one-stop-shop for soil literacy, communication and engagement as a state-of-the-art web platform, amongst others.
Giulia Campodonico (Head of Projects at ENoLL and leader of PREPSOIL "Knowledge transfer and co-creation in regional living labs" team) joined the EUSO Plenary session "Soil Health Districts and Living Labs" and presented PREPSOIL misson on mapping Living Labs and Lighthouse in Europe, as well as to deliver a Business Plan Model to help Lighthouse and Living Labs to upscale their activities to a macro-level.
SEE GIULIA VIDEO PRESENTATION HERE (starting at 1h27min)
Official webpage: https://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/euso/second-euso-stakeholders-forum