Third Global Soil Week 2015

Soil. The Substance of Transformation.

In the International Year of Soils the third Global Soil Week highlights the important role of soils in guiding development pathways in more sustainable directions and focuses on the post-2015 development agenda. The way we manage this non-renewable resource soil tells us whether our development pathways will lead us beyond planetary boundaries or whether we can avoid crossing them. Access to fertile soils is for many poor and hungry people also an indicator for development patterns. In order to pave the ‘Road to Dignity’ (Ban Ki-Moon), we need to manage our soils sustainably and govern land equitably and responsibly.

The Global Soil Week 2015 is an international event and knowledge platform that attracted more than 450 people from 70 countries and is convened by the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) and renowned international partners. It took place from 19 to 23 April 2015 in Berlin, Germany. As in previous years, this Global Soil Week brought together high-level decision-makers, scientists, civil society representatives and artists from a wide range of professional and cultural backgrounds. Over the past months, people from around the world had worked together to create a lively and exciting programme with interactive Dialogue Sessions, Open Space Sessions and Lunch Break Forums.

The Highlights of this year’s Global Soil Week ?

Discussion of the need for an integrated approach to the SDGs. The SDGs run the risk of not being sustainable because their land use and land take demands are incompatible ?
The development of a proposal for monitoring and accountability in relation to the SDGs
A focus on the need for an approach to soil and land management based on human rights. At the Global Soil Week, participants will explore how we can put human rights principles into practice for responsible land governance
The announcement of a large-scale development and research project on soil rehabilitation in five countries (Burkina Faso, Benin, Ethiopia, Kenya, and India)
The open space exhibition "1 hectare”, which will be officially opened by the Federal Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development Gerd Müller (tbc) on 22 April at Gleisdreieck.

Further Information: www.globalsoilweek.org
Global Soil Week 2015 brochure.
Award-winning animated movie "Let’s talk about soil”.
Soil Atlas 2015

Partners of the Global Soil Week
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), the International Union of Soil Sciences, the European Commission, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Development and Cooperation, the German Agency for International Development (GIZ), and the German Environmental Agency .