EU-Projekt SOILSCAPE: Spreading Open and Inclusive Literacy and Soil Culture through Artistic Practices and Education (01.06.2024-31.05.2028)
The EU project SOILSCAPE brings together 19 organisations from 11 countries. The aim is to use innovative and creative approaches to promote soil expertise and soil awareness among the public.
The Campus Centre for Biodiversity and Sustainable Land Use (CBL) at the University of Göttingen is a consortium partner in this project, as is the German Soil Science Society (DBG). SOILSCAPE (derived from ‘Landscape’) is about the ‘soil landscape’ in the public consciousness in Europe. ‘What does the soil landscape currently look like in the public consciousness in Europe and how can it be positively changed towards a greater appreciation of our soil as a basis for life?’ is one of the initial questions. The kick-off took place on 7 June 2024 in Orléans.
The Europe-wide joint project with 19 partner institutions from eleven countries is coordinated by the French Soil Science Society (AFES). A network of more than 120 relevant stakeholders is being established in the eleven participating countries, which include ten EU countries and Switzerland. SOILSCAPE pursues a creative and cross-actor approach. This includes innovative communication strategies to promote context-related soil competence, soil communication via artistic techniques and the organisation of soil festivals. Soil communication includes both target group-specific information and information for the general public. The topic of soil is addressed directly and indirectly, whereby the effect of metaphors and symbolic associations is included. Innovative use of media as well as artistic forms of expression and process design play a central role in this project. For this reason, over 35% of the total budget of €6 million will be awarded to NGOs and artists as ‘realisation partners’ over the course of the project.
The SOILSCAPE project, funded by the EU for four years, is one of the building blocks for implementing the mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’, which aims to promote the transition to healthy soils by 2030 (Call: HORIZON-MISS-2023-SOIL-01).
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This is the current job advertisment in SoilScape