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Academic Papers

Do the new EU policy instruments manage to truly re-ground Europe in its dependence on soils? No - the Soil Monitoring Directive fails to achieve the objective of the EU Soil Strategy of ‘bringing soils closer to people’s lives’, and continues the debunked idea that simply more (scientific) information will drive societal change

 

We all want to see soil remediation and restoration - but how to achieve it? This paper looks at how design can help us build the kinds of relations which lead to soil restoration in marginal lands

 

New paper on ‘Effects of Organic Soil Amendments on Antimicrobial-Resistant Bacteria in Urban Agriculture Environments’

 

A team of researchers are trialling replacing soils with crushed recycled glass to grow vegetables. Early results show that plants grew faster and retained more water, with a ratio of over 50% glass to soil being the most productive.

 

A new study in central Europe shows permaculture performs better than conventional and organic agriculture, enhancing carbon stocks, soil quality and biodiversity

Are soil carbon credits empty promises? This research explores the shortcomings of current soil carbon quantification methodologies and outlines improvement avenues

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Soil Events

The Nantesbuch Art and Nature Foundation has been restoring and cultivating its land in Nantesbuch, Germany, for over 10 years – rewetting moorland, creating forest edges, practising permaculture, and making areas available for research, artistic engagement and visitor experiences. At the Nantesbuch Soil Days, an interdisciplinary festival at the interface of art, nature and science will focus on healthy soils, edible landscapes and water as a natural resource - with leading soil experts, literature, walks and music

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The first international SUITMA (Soils in Urban, Industrial, Traffic, Mining and Military Areas) Summer School will be hosted by the Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences (IEES-Paris) from 8 to 13 September 2024. It will be dedicated to Soils sciences in the Anthropocene era

 

The interdisciplinary study ''Characterizing, preserving and restoring soil quality: which indicators?” led by INRAE will held its symposium on the 20 November 2024 in Pairs. Drawing on  a global approach to soil quality indicators and their operationality in all soil contexts and uses (agricultural, forestry, urban, natural), this study takes stock of scientific findings, laying the foundations for a system of soil quality indicators

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Soil Arts

What does soil sound like? The Sounding Soil project is collecting soil sound samples from different environments in Switzerland; it’s wonderful to experience the diversity of soil sounds. Another soil sound project in Australia is also making the news!

 

Through the Eye of the Unicorn is a living artwork by Giovanni Aloi & Jenny Kendler that memorializes the ecologically irreplaceable 8,000 year old Bell Bowl Prairie that was destroyed by the Rockford Airport near Chicago, Illinois, including screen print flags and rare prairie plants growing in gavelly soils, at the Chicago Botanic Garden. Through September 22, 2024

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The Soils Project unites 13 practitioners and collectives from Australia, the Netherlands, and Indonesia to examine the complex links between environmental change and colonization. This exhibition is part of an ongoing research-based project developed in collaboration between the Tarrawarra Museum of Art (Wurundjeri Country, Australia), the Van Abbe Museum (Eindhoven, Netherlands) and Struggles for Sovereignty Collective (Yogyakarta, Indonesia), including contributions from: Uncle Dave Wandin and Brooke Wandin, Wandoon Estate Aboriginal Corporation; Peta Clancy; Megan Cope and Keg de Souza; D Harding; Badan Kajian Pertanahan (Bunga Siagian & Ismal Muntaha); Beyond Walls (Armando Ello, Jeremy Flohr, Glenda Pattipeilohy, Suzanne Rastovac); Wapke Feenstra; Lian Gogali and the Insitut Mosintuwu; Moelyono; Pluriversity weavers (Seynawiku Izquierdo Torres, Dwasimney Del Carmen Izquierdo Torres, Dwanimako Arroyo Izquierdo, María Eufemia Arroyo Izquierdo, Kwarte Umuke community, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia), Ana Bravo Pérez, Aldo Ramos, Aliki van der Kruijs, LI Yuchen; Riar Rizaldi; Yurni Sadariah; Diewke van den Heuvel; Rolando Vázquez. A series of short publications on the Soils Project is available to purchase at Tarrawarra online

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