What is new?
| Latest updates in 2012 | Updates 2012 Updates 2011 Updates 2010 Updates 2009 Updates 2008 Updates 2007 Updates 2006 Updates 2005 Updates 2004 | |
| Date | Title | Information |
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| 10 May 2012 | Risk Assessment Methodologies of Soil Threats in Europe | Important Report:This report which presents the results of the RAMSOIL project is published. The general objective of the RAMSOIL project was to provide scientific guidelines on possibilities for EU wide parameter harmonization based on detailed information on current risk assessment methodologies of soil threats encountered within EU Member States. In RAMSOIL current risk assessments methodologies used in the EU are collected and evaluated. The results are summarized in this book. Currently, there are various risk assessment methodologies (RAMs) and the question has risen to what extent these RAMs yield similar outcome and, if not, whether the outcome can be harmonized, i.e. whether the results of
the various RAMs can be made compatible or comparable. In this study i) the current status of RAMs for erosion, soil organic matter decline, compaction, and salinization in the
European Union (EU27) is reviewed, and ii) the need and the options for harmonization are assessed. The need for harmonization was defined as the likelihood of achieving different outcomes when using different RAMs, whereas the
options for harmonization refer to the efforts that are required to harmonize soil RAMs.
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| 16 April 2012 | Development of software models for predicting environmental concentrations of plant protection products in soil | Interesting call: The objective of this tender procedure is to develop a single software tool for calculating the predicted environmental concentrations of substances and their transformation products in soil in support of an EFSA Guidance Document for predicting environmental concentrations of PPPs in soil. The software tool will be based on an analytical model for which both the concepts and the mathematical equations are described in the Opinion containing the science for scenario selection and scenario parameterisation for predicting environmental concentrations of plant protection products in soil. Deadline: 18/6/2012.
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| 04 April 2012 | 2012 call for proposals under the LIFE+ Regulation | Interesting call: The sixth LIFE+ call for proposals was published in the Official Journal (2012/C 74/08) on 13 March 2012. Under the Environment Policy & Governance component and for the policy area 'Soil', the Commission invites: demonstration activities at regional, provincial or municipal level to limit, mitigate or compensate for soil sealing; expanding the knowledge base concerning soil degradation processes; and developing and implementing land use practices and techniques, particularly in farming and forestry production processes, which protect and improve the status of soil.
Under the Information and Communication component, the Commission invites communication actions and awareness raising campaigns to, inter alia, increase the awareness and knowledge about the importance of soil and soil biodiversity and its many ecological functions, and sustainable land use. Deadline: 26/9/2012.
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| 04 April 2012 | 7th Environment Action Programme (7EAP) | Policy developments: The first concerns the 7th Environment Action Programme (7EAP), 2012-2020, which will run until 1st June 2012. Environment Action Programmes have guided the development of EU environment policy since the early seventies. During this period, environment legislation was consolidated and completed to cover almost all environmental media, with the exception of soil. Against this background, the Commission is considering how a 7th Environment Action Programme could best provide added value in the rapidly evolving environment policy context. The purpose of this consultation is to collect the views of all stakeholders, at EU and national level, and the public at large on the environment policy priorities up to 2020. Informed opinions are sought on the priority areas to be addressed and on the most effective tools for the EU to employ in addressing the challenges described in the consultation document. Comments are invited from citizens, organisations and public authorities.
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| 22 March 2012 | Global Soil Organic Carbon Estimates | Important Global Dataset: Organic carbon density (t ha-1) datasets for the topsoil (0 – 30cm) and the subsoil layer (30 – 100cm) from the amended HWSD are made available to the public users. The Global Soil Organic Carbon estimates are available in 2 different grid resolutions (ZIP compression): a)Raster layer with resolution of 30 arc second (which corresponds to a grid size of approx. 1km x 1km at the Equator and b) Raster layer with resolution of 5 arc minute (which corresponds to a grid size of approx. 9km x 9km at the Equator). The data are in Idrisi format. They are freely available upon request.
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| 20 March 2012 | Global Soil Organic Carbon Estimates and the Harmonized World Soil Database | Important Report: Global estimates of soil organic carbon stocks have been produced in the past to support the calculation of potential emissions of CO2 from the soil under scenarios of change land use/cover and climatic conditions (IPCC, 2006), but very few global estimates are presented as spatial data. For global spatial layers on soil parameters, the most recent and complete dataset is available as the Harmonized World Soil Database (HWSD). The amended HWSD was compared to data from 4 other global data sets on SOC stocks. The comparative evaluation has demonstrated that bulk density is the most important factor for estimating SOC stocks and mainly responsible for the differences between estimates. Most affected from the variability in bulk density are SOC stocks in areas with soils which are high in organic carbon.
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| 14 March 2012 | Trainee in "Soil Atlas of Latin America" plus other 4 vacant posts in IES, Ispra | Call for interest for Trainees: The SOIL Action is compiling a new Soil Atlas of Latin America as part of the EUROCLIMA programme of the European Commission. The successful candidate will be in charge of the final editing and publication of this new major reference atlas for Latin America. Four(4) other vacancies are also available in various units in the Institute for Environment and Sustainability (Deadline: 12/4/2012)
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| 13 March 2012 | NICOLE Technology Award "Innovative solutions for soil monitoring" | Call for an Award: The award is open to individuals or groups of people. Entries from junior academics in universities or consultancy are especially welcome. Entries will be judged on innovation, potential contribution to cost savings, technical applicability and plans for communication and market availability, applicable to contaminated land
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| 16 February 2012 | 'The State of Soil in Europe - A contribution of the JRC to the European Environment Agency's Environment State and Outlook Report - SOER 2010 | State of Soil in Europe: This report published by the JRC and the European Environment Agency provides a comprehensive overview of soil resources and degradation processes. The core of this report was prepared for the Assessment on Soil, which forms part of the 'The European Environment - state and outlook 2010 Report' (SOER) 20102, coordinated by the European Environment Agency (EEA). This Reference Report uses data from the European Soil Data Centre (ESDAC), managed on behalf of EU institutions by the JRC. The information also helps European citizens to better understand, care for and improve Europe's environment. The soil assessment was one of a set of 13 Europe-wide thematic assessments of key environmental themes and the only one coordinated by the JRC.
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| 16 February 2012 | 'The implementation of the Soil Thematic Strategy and ongoing activities' COM(2012) 46 | Important Policy Development: Some five years after the adoption of the Soil Thematic Strategy, on 13 February 2012 the European Commission published a policy report on the implementation of the Strategy and ongoing activities (COM(2012) 46). The report provides an overview of the actions undertaken by the European Commission to implement the four pillars of the Strategy, namely awareness raising, research, integration, and legislation. It underlines that at the March 2010 Environment Council a minority of Member States blocked further progress on the proposed Soil Framework Directive and that the proposal remains on the Council's table. It also presents current soil degradation trends both in Europe and globally, as well as future challenges to ensure protection.
Available in all EU official languages under http://ec.europa.eu/environment/soil/three_en.htm |
| 14 February 2012 | Conference 'Soil remediation and soil sealing' | Important Policy Event:: The Environment Directorate-General of the European Commission will host a high-level conference on 'Soil remediation and soil sealing' in Brussels (Belgium) on 10-11 May 2012. The conference objective is to highlight the importance of tackling soil contamination at an early stage and the opportunities that that offers to the European remediation industry. Moreover, it will underline how addressing contaminated sites and brownfields can be helpful in limiting land take and soil sealing, which continues in many parts of Europe at alarming rates often at the expense of fertile agricultural lands. At the conference the Commission will present its Soil Sealing Guidelines, which are being finalised. The participation to the conference is free of charge but will be limited to 400 people on a first-come-first-served basis (Registration OPEN). |
| 14 February 2012 | EuDASM: Soil Legacy Maps & Metadata | European Maps Metadata:: SOIL Action (JRC) is making an effort to make Soil Legacy data and information available for the public users. In that regard, the European Digital Archive of Soil Maps (EuDASM) has been updated with new Metadata and Maps from 21 countries: Azerbaijan (3), Belarus (8), Belgium (19), Croatia (6), Cyprus (17), Czech Republic (12), Estonia (1), France (32), Georgia (2), Hungary (63), Italy(76), Kazakhstan (6), Moldova (1), Norway (19), Poland (21), Portugal (33), Romania (22), Russian Federation(17), Serbia (3), Slovakia (8), Ukraine (3). The whole EuDASM collection includes around 6.000 maps from 141 countries (available for free download). The impact of EuDASM archive is presented in the paper: European digital archive on soil maps (EuDASM): preserving important soil data for public free access |
| 10 February 2012 | Updated Global Carbon Map | Interesting Data updates: The updated global carbon map improves upon the rather coarse data on soil carbon (IGBP-DIS 2000) that were used in UNEP-WCMC’s Carbon and
biodiversity: a demonstration atlas (Kapos et al. 2008). A global map of estimated soil carbon stocks to 1m depth was generated based on the soil organic carbon and bulk density values included in the HWSD (FAO/IIASA/ISRIC/ISS-CAS/JRC 2009).
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| 10 February 2012 | Harmonized World Soil Database(HWSD) ver 1.2 | Interesting Data updates: Version 1.2 now contains SOTER/SOTWIS data for Tunisia and adds fields for the bulk densities reported by the source datasets (WISE/SOTWIS/ESDB) in addition to the reference bulk densities that have always been available in the HWSD.
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| 10 February 2012 | Upsoil Press Release | FP7 Project: The project Sustainable Soil Upgrading by Developing Cost effective, Biogeochemical Remediation Approaches (project acronym UPSOIL) is a Collaborative Project carried out under the 7th Framework programme, Theme 6 “Environment (including climate Change)” by an international consortium composed of research institutions and SMEs from the remediation sector.
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| 31 January 2012 | Spanish and Portuguese version of the Calendar are available | Awareness Raising: This calendar and the related Soil Atlas of Latin America and the Caribbean are initiatives under the EUrocLIMA Programme, which aims to encourage cooperation between Latin America and the European Union on climate change issues. ES: Este calendario, y el “Atlas del Suelo de América Latina y Caribe” del que surge, son iniciativas en el marco del Programa EUROCLIMA, que tiene como objetivo fomentar la cooperación entre América Latina y la Unión Europea en materia de cambio climático. PT: Este calendário e o correspondente Atlas de Solos da América Latina e do Caribe são iniciativas do Programa EUrocLIMA, que busca fortalecer a cooperação entre a América Latina e a União Europeia nas questões relacionadas às mudanças climáticas. Find also the Portuguese version of the Calendar |
| 31 January 2012 | Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative first open meeting | Interesting Global Event: The Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative will host its first Open Meeting immediately after the Planet Under Pressure Conference in London, England. We encourage all, including Planet Under Pressure attendees, to join us at the ExCel Center, London(UK), Friday March 30th 9:00am - 3:00 pm to discuss the future direction of the GSBI. We are particularly interested in your input during a working session where we will identify examples of why soil biodiversity matters, identify the available data that supports these examples, and determine the priorities for next steps for the Initiative.
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| 31 January 2012 | Joint Global Soil Partnership/e-SOTER workshop | Interesting Global Event: Strengthening of Soil Data and Information is one of the main pillars of action of the FAO Global Soil Partnership. Knowing the state of the art of Global soil data and information for serving different users demands is a crucial activity. This will then allow the global community to develop a coordinated joint plan of action for generating the required data and information in the coming future. Is in this regard that the Global Soil Partnership together with the EU-funded e-SOTER Project (coordinated by ISRIC) are organizing a one week workshop “Towards Global Soil Information: activities within the GEO Task Global Soil Data” at FAO Headquarters in Rome, Italy from 20-23rd March 2012. Keynote presentations addressing the state of soil information globally and the needs for soil data and information by users will be followed by a number of presentations by most of the different ongoing soil mapping initiatives. Then a hands-work session for developing a plan of action of the GSP pillar will be devoted. |
| 31 January 2012 | Work Programme 2012 | Policy Implementation: The Work Programme 2012 for SOIL Action is Available. Deliverables and Objectives of the Action are included.
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| 30 January 2012 | Dominique KING | Dominique KING, Research Director in INRA and President of the INRA Research Centre of Orléans has passed away the 6th of August 2011. INRA and the French Soil Science Society (AFES) will pay homage to him the 5th of April 2012 at Orleans at the following address : Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle 6 rue Marcel Proust Orléans, France This meeting will be the occasion to honour the researcher but also the research coordinator, so appreciated by the scientific community. |
| 5 January 2012 | REACCTIF - Research on climate change mitigation options for agriculture and forest | Call for proposal: The goals of this research are to increase knowledge on how agriculture and forest can contribute to climate change mitigation. The 3 following scales are included: (i) processes (know more about emission/sequestration of GHG in agriculture and forest), (ii) evaluation of production systems (how to integrate climate into evaluation schemes as LCA) and a (iii) territorial design (how to organise agriculture and forest at local scales to mitigate climate). Soil is a crucial compartment at any of those scales (e.g. C stocks, N emissions, effects of practices).
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