Abstract
Soil health is one of the most important issues we face, and it needs an immediate response as more than half of European soils are degraded. The LOESS project (Literacy boost through an Operational Educational Ecosystem of Societal actors on Soil health) funded by Horizon Europe, has 15 partner countries. We have developed tools and resources to address gaps identified in soil health education during the initial scoping phase of the project.
Primary, secondary and university education as well as vocational education and
training (VET) and awareness raising for the general public are all within the scope of the project. In response to the identified needs, a range of educational resources and tools have been co-created and piloted;
- A collection of over 60 case studies demonstrating exemplary existing soil
education initiatives.
- A Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on soil education for teachers – all
learning materials are free to access.
- Four learning scenarios for upper primary and secondary school level
- Augmented Reality app called Soil: A universe beneath your feet for immersive
experiential learning
- Crowdmapping tool to allow users to collaboratively build a local database by
adding information about soil conditions in their areas
- Soil health glossary
- Guidelines on applying community engaged research and learning (CERL) to soil health topics
- Training modules for university students on future skills needed for professionals working in soil health co-created by students
We are now in the campaigning phase which involves implementing these tools
widely and promoting their use among stakeholders. This presentation will provide an overview of what has been learned from the piloting phase and from the current campaigning phase as well as information on how to access and use the resources.
More information is available on the LOESS website; https://loess-project.eu/
Primary, secondary and university education as well as vocational education and
training (VET) and awareness raising for the general public are all within the scope of the project. In response to the identified needs, a range of educational resources and tools have been co-created and piloted;
- A collection of over 60 case studies demonstrating exemplary existing soil
education initiatives.
- A Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on soil education for teachers – all
learning materials are free to access.
- Four learning scenarios for upper primary and secondary school level
- Augmented Reality app called Soil: A universe beneath your feet for immersive
experiential learning
- Crowdmapping tool to allow users to collaboratively build a local database by
adding information about soil conditions in their areas
- Soil health glossary
- Guidelines on applying community engaged research and learning (CERL) to soil health topics
- Training modules for university students on future skills needed for professionals working in soil health co-created by students
We are now in the campaigning phase which involves implementing these tools
widely and promoting their use among stakeholders. This presentation will provide an overview of what has been learned from the piloting phase and from the current campaigning phase as well as information on how to access and use the resources.
More information is available on the LOESS website; https://loess-project.eu/
| Original language | English (Ireland) |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | British Society of Soil Science, Annual Conference 2025: Resilient Soils for a Sustainable Future |
| Pages | 87-88 |
| Number of pages | 2 |
| Publication status | Published - 3 Dec 2025 |