Work progress Pillar 2

Arwyn Jones
European Commission
Joint Research Centre
arwyn.jones@ec.europa.eu
@Arwyn_Italy
PILLAR 2
Encourage investment, technical cooperation, policy,
education, awareness and extension in soils

Pillar 2 is wide ranging in scope
Underpins many of the actions of the other pillars
Addresses lack of societal awareness of the importance
of soil
Lack of education underlies:
• unsustainable land management
• overall lack of investment
• political reluctance to meaningfully adopt and ensure soil
protection and enhancement measures
Background

1. Politicians and decision makers should be better
informed
2. Policy development should be supported by
regular and harmonised assessments (pressures,
state, trends, impacts) to prioritise and target
interventions (links to Pillar 4).
3. Education on soil should be promoted.
4. Promote strategies to engage with society as a
whole.
Objectives

5. Extension services should be supported,
developed and revitalised to reflect the multi-
functional services of soil.
6. Scientific and technical cooperation should be
promoted and strengthened (links to Pillars 1 and
3).
7. Foster investments in soils to benefit society … to
ensure effective implementation of activities
under the plans of action. The return from
investments should be assessed.
Objectives

“…two-way street, fostering communication and
information exchange in order to improve mutual
understanding…
…as well as mobilising communities and the whole
society to bring about the necessary change in
attitudes and behavior.”
European Institute for Gender Equality
Awareness Raising

PILLAR 2 OUTPUTS
Recommendation 1 : Improve the appreciation of the value and relevance of soil by all levels
of civil society
Action
•Development of targeted educational resources (SOIL-NET, MOOC, multilingual)
•Development of public outreach material, support to events (e.g. World Soil Day, citizen science-soil
biodiversity, revision of Soil Atlas of Europe, ENSA Workshop, Open Days,…) and field visits.
•Definition of best practices that can be applied by soil users (e.g. EUROSOIL 2020, national conferences)
•Engagement with other (scientific) disciplines (e.g. ESOF, EGU, Science Weeks, Slow Food,..)
•Lead: JRC/ENSA
Possible partners: EC /EEA + all + professional communicators / Min. Education / Universities /supply chain
Timeline: near, medium and long-term
Budget and funding: In-kind support, JRC will provide funding for Pillar 2 WG meeting, soil atlas events,
booth at EUROSOIL and ESOF

PILLAR 2 OUTPUTS
Recommendation 1 : Improve the appreciation of the value and relevance of soil by all levels
of civil society
Outcomes
•ENSA/JRC Pillar 2 Workshop Bratislava, 27-29 September 2017
•World Soil Day Inspiration Conference & EC Studies Meetings (Cross Border
Impacts, MAES-Soil), Brussels
•2nd Edition Soil Atlas of Europe (2019)
•Summer Schools, Training Programmes (2019)
•Support to teachers (ongoing but not coordinated)
•Museums and soil ECSITE2018, Geneva Natural History Museum, ESOF Toulouse
July 2018
•Best Practice Report
•Support to Eurasian Sub-Partnership & Asian-NENA Partnerships

ENSA-JRC Pillar 2 Workshop September 2017 Bratislava
50 participants from 18 countries
exchange experiences and learn about what is happening across Europe in relation to soil
awareness, education and outreach
Outcomes
•Development at a common portal for Pillar 2 activities, giving access to events (using a
common template), best practices, newsletter; and a mailing list;
•Consideration to the IUSS Decade of Soils, but explore links to UNEP and FAO priorities.
Develop link on education with UNESCO and DG Education;
•Focus on annual priorities (e.g. 2018 on pollution, 2019?);
•Look to increase membership of group – target industrial elements and communication
professionals;
•JRC to lead development of booklet on best practices to accompany policy briefing on need
for investment on soil awareness, education and communication;
•Pillar2 meeting should be planned for autumn 2018 (own costs)
•ENSA/JRC Workshop Wageningen 2019.

PILLAR 2 OUTPUTS
Recommendation 2 : Support to EU and national soil policy development
Action
•Development and sharing of policy briefings
•Support to EU and national initiatives in the development of soil protection / conservation / restoration
policies, including soil-based SDG targets
•Development and implementation of monitoring systems
Lead: EC (for EU)/EEA/ITPS + MS Competent Authorities
Possible partners: All partners
Timeline: 2017+
Budget and funding: Self-funding/EU/National-Regional schemes

PILLAR 2 OUTPUTS
Recommendation 2 : Support to EU and national soil policy development
Outcomes
•EU Soil Expert Group (evaluation of new directions for EU soil policy)
•Input to reform of EU CAP (soil erosion, soil organic carbon)
•Soil and climate issues (4/1000 initiative, LULUCF Regulation) – policy brief on soil
carbon -Soil carbon workshop under Estonia Presidency
•Global Soil Biodiversity Conference, China
•LUCAS Soil Survey – contribution to policy debate, trends in soil condition, SDG
Indicators (EUROSTAT, MS, LANDMARK)
•MAES-Soil Pilot (report ready for publication)
•SOER 2020, Global Soil Carbon Map, Global Soil Pollution Report
•JRC Progress towards remediation of contaminated sites indicator (Spring 2018)

Bulk Density Biodiversity
Lugatoetal,2018,NatureClimateChange

PILLAR 2 OUTPUTS
Recommendation 3 : Support to sustainable soil management
Action
•Promote inclusive dialogue between policy makers, industry, farmers and other stakeholders on soil
fertility management at EU level.
•Link with conferences/meetings on agriculture and soil functions.
Lead: Pillar 1
Possible partners: EC, farmer associations, ESCS
Timeline:2017+
Budget and funding: EU/In-kind

PILLAR 2 OUTPUTS
Recommendation 3 : Support to sustainable soil management
Outcomes
•Activities of Pillar 1
 Assessment of plant protection product residues
 Glyphosate and metabolites
•Targeted sessions at EGU
•EUROSOIL 2020
•JRC Summer school 2019 (under development)
•JRC Workshop on gully erosion (19-21 March 2018)

PILLAR 2 OUTPUTS
Recommendation 4 : Support to extension services
Action
•Improved engagement between soil science community and extension services to enhance the soil
component in land use advice.
•Mechanism to ensure dissemination of relevant scientific developments and outreach material to
support SSM and expanded knowledge base (link to Pillar 1).
Lead: University of Gloucestershire (UK) – Countryside and Communmity Research Institute
Possible partners: National focus / Farming Associations / ELO
Timeline: Long-term
Budget and funding: EU/National/Regional

PILLAR 2 OUTPUTS
Recommendation 4 : Support to extension services
Outcomes
• Investigate knowledge exchange within the agricultural community
and knowledge processes within the context of sustainable
agriculture
• Understanding the influence of farmer knowledge, attitudes and
motivations on behaviour.
• European Innovation Partnership (EIP-Agri), Brussels, 2018
 H2020 project AgridemF2F Building an interactive AgriDemo-Hub community: enhancing farmer
to farmer
 learning.
 Valorising European Research for Innovation in Agriculture and Forestry (VALERIE)
 Sustainable farm Management Aimed at Reducing Threats to Soils under climate change
(SmartSOIL)
 Support of Learning and Innovation for Sustainable Agriculture (SOLINSA)
 SoilCare for profitable and sustainable crop production in Europe (SoilCare)
 Preventing and Remediating Degradation of Soils in Europe through Landcare (RECARE)

PILLAR 2 OUTPUTS
Recommendation 5 : Strengthen scientific and technical cooperation
Action
•Targeting of EU (H2020, FP9, LIFE+, …) and national/regional funding programmes and integrated
schemes JPI /FP9
•Support to development of integrated research calls
•Recommendations for better funding of SSM–related research and development of best practice
•Implementation of Inspiration Strategic Research Agenda
Lead: tdb-Pillar 3?
Possible partners: EC + All
Timeline:2017+
Budget and funding: In-kind / Funding programmes

PILLAR 2 OUTPUTS
Recommendation 5 : Strengthen scientific and technical cooperation
Outcomes
•Ongoing EU H2020 Projects (Landmark, SOILCARE, INSPIRATION)
•DG AGRI Call on Joint Programming Initiative on agricultural soil
management (integrated community of research groups to evaluate and
foster implementation of novel technologies for soil management and
carbon sequestration)
 LUCAS as basis for Soil Information System for Africa (links to
AfSP)
•Summer Schools
 Wageningen
 JRC 2019
 …

PILLAR 2 OUTPUTS
Recommendation 6 : Investment
Action
•To foster investments in soils
•Demonstrate positive return from investments
should reflect EU, national and regional priorities
high relevance to CAP reform
Lead: tbd? Italy?
Possible partners: EU, All
Timeline: Long-term
Budget and funding: CAP, In-kind,…

PILLAR 2 OUTPUTS
Recommendation 6 : Investment
Outcomes
•Evidence based success stories
 Cost of soil erosion – JRC
 Natural capital accounting of soil ecosystem services
•Impact assessments – CAP
 Workshop on implementation of direct payment scheme for
carbon management (ENV, Brussels, March 2018)

PILLAR 2 EPS COMMUNICATION STRATEGY
Web page
http://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/networkcooperations/european-soil-partnership
Facebook – Twitter
Newsletter (biannually: after Plenary, before-after World Soil Day/January)
World Soil Day – saturation or targeting?
Support from/to Focal Points

PILLAR 2 Challenges
•A lot going on!
•Awareness raising still “secondary” activity
•Scale of outreach
•Improvement of communication and engagement – contributions
welcome
•Activities on extension, investment and scientific cooperation need
support

Thank you for your attention
Questions?

Work progress Pillar 2

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