The bioeconomy can save soil health. But where is Europe at?

Thursday 3 June at 3 pm, web conference for the EU Green Week to highlight the latest advances made by research and European institutions in favor of the bioeconomy, starting from the best practices already developed

by Emanuele Isonio

“Doing more with less” is not just a slogan. In the case of the soil question, it is nothing more than an imperative requirement. The restoration of the fertility of the world’s soils, put at risk by intensive agriculture, climate change, erosion, desertification, depends on a change of industrial and agricultural model, together with a new cultural approach, which knows how to marry the principles of the circular economy and act as an instrument of territorial regeneration. The goal is to bring the health of ecosystems and in particular the soil back to the center. An extremely intersectoral effort, which concerns the production method, the agricultural supply chains, the relationship between city and food, eco-design, biodegradability, the use of recycled raw materials, the transformation of waste into new products. In one word: bioeconomy. The concept is increasingly permeating European policies, starting from the Green deal, from strategies for biodiversity and farm to fork, to the Mission Soil Health and Food.

But is what is being done enough? And where are we in protecting the most precious and undervalued asset we have: the soil? Are there also best practices in Italy and Europe to be used as replicable examples?

Bioeconomy at the center of EU Green Week 2021

These are all topics at the center of the web conference organized by Re Soil Foundation, European Circular Bioeconomy Policy Initiative (ECBPI), Bionet Green Chemistry and Kyoto Club. Appointment: Thursday 3 June from 3 to 4.40 pm (here the link for registration). The meeting will be included among the events of the European Green Week. The European Green Week 2021 will in fact be dedicated to the “zero pollution” objective: an opportunity to discuss with all parties and interested citizens how to work together to make the goal of a zero-pollution and toxic-free environment a reality.

The two sessions of the conference

The first session of the event aims to provide an overview of the European policy framework related to soil protection and zero pollution strategies, starting with a presentation of the EU Mission Soil Health and Food. Among the speakers, Angelo Riccaboni, National Delegate to the Mission Soil Health and Food; Elena Panichi, Head of Unit Organic Farming – DG Agri of European Commission; Eduardo Cuoco, Director IFOAM EU; Martin Hojsik, MEP.

The second session of the web conference will focus on best practices in the areas of sustainable agriculture and the role of urban systems to restore soil fertility and forest the transition to the circular economy. As speakers: Francesco Pascale, member of Terra Felix Project; Claudia Di Bene, CREA – Research Centre for Agricolture and Environment; Prosdocimi Gianquinto, University of Bologna; Beppe Croce, Director of Chimica Verde Bionet.