PREPSOIL promotes soil literacy through education

(Press-News.org) One of the eight key aims of the EU Mission Soil is to enhance soil literacy in society. As part of this effort, the PREPSOIL project is working to inspire teachers across Europe to integrate soil topics into their teaching. By identifying and promoting innovative examples of soil education, PREPSOIL aims to empower educators to engage students in exploring the vital role of soil in natural, urban, and agricultural environments.

In 2023 and 2024, teachers were invited to submit their best practices in soil education targeting primary, secondary, and vocational students. The initiative received over 50 submissions, showcasing a variety of creative and interdisciplinary approaches that combined science, humanities, and hands-on activities. Examples included lessons involving multiple senses and practical experiences with soil in diverse contexts.

A committee consisting of three teachers, a soil scientist, and a pedagogy expert selected the winning entries. Participants from six countries—Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, and Sweden—collaborated to identify and share these exemplary teaching practices.

Partnering with specialized organizations
The Re Soil Foundation in Italy emerged as a key player in promoting soil education. The Re Soil Foundation has a strong track record of working with teachers and schools to develop free training resources about soil, which are available on its website. Leveraging its extensive network of 1,600 teachers and educators, Re Soil Foundation played a pivotal role in ensuring a high level of participation from Italy, which had the most submissions among the participating countries.

In Sweden, the Swedish Centre for School Biology helped promote the initiative by advertising the call in its newsletter, which reaches biology teachers across the country. However, soil-related issues are just one of many topics covered by the organization, and they are not among the most frequently discussed by teachers.

These experiences underscore the importance of partnering with reputable, specialized organizations like the Re Soil Foundation to effectively promote soil literacy initiatives. Collaborating with such actors enables more targeted outreach and engagement, ensuring that innovative examples of soil education can inspire teachers and students across Europe.

The effort to identify good examples of soil education and learning activities for European youth and the communication with teachers and pedagogic representatives is described in detail in the PREPSOIL Deliverable 6.1 which can be found on Zenodo.

Despite challenges in reaching educators in some regions, PREPSOIL continues to advance the EU Mission Soil’s goal of increasing awareness about soil health and sustainability.

On the 13th of February, 2025, a webinar will take place where two of the winners in the PREPSOIL competition on soil pedagogy in 2024 will present their projects.

and register for the webinar Soil literacy among young people – why does it matter and how can educators deal with it? here.

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