Prepsoil outlines the future of soil monitoring

The first workshop dedicated to Soil Monitoring Law will be held on June 13. Topics on the agenda include innovation, indicators and key tools such as remote sensing and digital mapping

by Matteo Cavallito

 

Promoting knowledge exchange for land health ahead of the emerging European soil monitoring law. This is the goal of the workshop “Supporting Capacity Building in Soil Monitoring in Europe”, the latest initiative of the Prepsoil project: on the agenda are four online sessions divided into two modules scheduled on June 13 and June 20, respectively.

The meetings, organizers explain, are intended “to help refine priority content and approaches relevant to training needs in soil monitoring.” Each session, moreover, “will include a brief interactive final section to gather feedback from participants.”

Soil monitoring is the focus of the initiative

The sessions (click here to register) are aimed at individuals involved in soil monitoring and governance with a focus on policy makers, technicians, researchers and practitioners, institutions and civil society as well as stakeholder networks. Discussion topics include the EU Soil Strategy 2030, the Soil Monitoring Law and its implications (including the launch of national monitoring systems), and more.

There are four stated goals of the initiative:

• Gain access to validated methodologies and indicator systems
• Understand the legal and technical implications of the new EU directive
• Learn how to design monitoring frameworks and interpret soil data
• Engage in shaping future European capacity-building strategies

The program

June 13 meetings focus on innovation in monitoring activities by addressing key issues such as the characteristics and complexity of key indicators as well as different approaches to soil survey activities and a specific case study: assessing the impact of CAP measures on soil organic carbon in Spain. The June 20 module, instead, is dedicated to digital tools for monitoring soil health such as remote sensing and digital mapping.

The role of PREPSOIL

Launched in 2022, the Prepsoil project, which is now almost completed, aims to improve basic knowledge on the issue by working together with innovation centers on the ground such as Living Labs and LightHouse Farms. The initiative has involved several partners including Re Soil Foundation reaching a wide audience including universities, citizens, students, teachers and civil society as well as, of course, soil monitoring agencies.

Through this workshop, in particular, Prepsoil is contributing to the mapping of training needs of the public and professionals, content development on soil indicators, monitoring protocols and digital technologies. As well as promoting a shared vision of soil as a public good and environmental priority.