Dear Colleagues,

Welcome to the June newsletter of the EGU Soil System Sciences Division! This month, we invite you to learn more about the last Soil COMMUNITY webinar on Policy & Governance for Soil Biodiversity and Soil Health, have a look back at the 2026 Regional Event Ireland of the Forum for the Future of Agriculture, read a new SOIL paper, and learn more about the SSS Division through our Linkedin and Bluesky pages. Moreover, we also have some reminders to attend the next MINAGRIS Conference and EU AgRI 2040 Conference, and apply to the EGU peer review training workshop 2026.

Heike Knicker, Division President

Beatrice Giannetta, Perrine Florent, ECS Reps

Diana Vieira, Fatima Meite

The ECS Team

What recently happened on Soil System Sciences?

The Soil COMMUNITY webinar “Policy & Governance for Soil Biodiversity and Soil Health” was held online on 28 May 2026. The following presentations were given by expert speakers: The Soil Monitoring Law: Moving Toward Ambitious Soil Protection, Incentives for Soil-Health Business Models: The SoilValues Toolbox, New Business Models for Soil Health: Barriers and Governance, and Policy Incentives for Soil Health: Lessons from the InBestSoil Case Studies. Discover these presentations with the recordings available online.

Get Information Here

The last regional conference organized by the Forum for the Future of Agriculture took place on 2 June 2026 In Dublin (Ireland). Aiming to discuss agriculture and the environment at a national level, this event was composed of panel sessions and discussions entitled Driving agri-food system transformation in the EU, Financing the transition – deep dive, and Sustainable livestock production, a presentation dealing with the European Competitiveness Fund, and a CAP relative interview. Recordings of all the sessions are available online.   

Learn More Here

Discover: “Electrical conductivity measurements as proxies for diffusion-limited microbial activity in soils under controlled laboratory conditions” by Orsolya Fülöp, Naoise Nunan, Mamadou Gueye, and Damien Jougnot. Measurement in luvisol soil samples of both electrical conductivity and respiration rates at different matric potentials suggest these variables depend on the connectedness of the aqueous phase and highlight the potential of electrical conductivity measurements as a mechanistically informed proxy for diffusion-constrained soil respiration. 

Read The Full Article

In addition, you can now read interesting updates of the Soil System Sciences Division and related topics on LinkedIn and Bluesky pages.

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Upcoming Events and Deadlines  

The MINAGRIS Conference “Healthy soils for sustainable food: Examining the presence and impacts of plastics in agricultural soils” will be held in Brussels (Belgium) on 16 September 2026. Among others, the participants will discover new research on the impacts of micro- and nanoplastics on soil organisms, water repellency and crop contamination, the way micro- and nanoplastics interact with other agricultural pollutants, or innovative detection methods for more accurate testing of micro- and nanoplastics in agricultural soils. Registration is still open. 

Read More Here

The EU AgRI 2040 Conference “Future-proofing EU Agri-Food through research and innovation” will take place in Brussels (Belgium) from 24-25 September. The conference will focus on the New Strategic Approach to Research and Innovation for competitive, resilient and sustainable agriculture, forestry, rural areas and food systems. Attend this conference to have a chance to exchange ideas on and co-create priorities for the next generation of EU research and innovation for agriculture, forestry and rural areas. Register by 3 July 2026.

Register Here

The EGU Peer Review Training workshop 2026  is an excellent opportunity for ECS to gain confidence in acting as peer reviewers. It is designed to provide hands-on experience via interactive sessions, with real manuscripts submitted to EGU Journals to review by participants with the guidance of EGU editors. The training consists of three online sessions on 31 August, 7, and 21 September, all starting at 16:00 CEST. Get a certificate and be automatically added to the Copernicus Referee Database by successfully completing the training! Apply by 28 July 2026.

Apply Here