Dear Colleagues,

Welcome to the September newsletter of the EGU Soil System Sciences Division! This month, we invite you to go back on the last EUROSOIL event and attendance of members of the SSS division, read a new SOIL paper and another publication on land degradation, and learn more about the SSS division through our new SSS Blog post and the Linkedin and Bluesky pages. Moreover, we also have some reminders for the call for subdivision officers, the upcoming European Mission Soil Week, an Agricultural Land Classification training course, and for the EGU mentoring workshop.

Heike Knicker, Division President

Beatrice Giannetta & Sana Boubehziz, ECS Reps

The ECS Team

What recently happened on Soil System Sciences?

Several members of the Soil System Sciences Division participated in the EUROSOIL 2025 conference. Highlights included the successful organization of the 1st European Soil Judging Contest (ESJC), the strong presence of numerous Soil Mission projects, and a series of inspiring talks held between 8–12 September.

Read More Here

The paper highlights that achieving the Rio Conventions’ goals depends on bending the curve of land degradation and that transforming food systems is essential to this effort. It presents a set of actions that address land degradation while delivering co-benefits for climate, biodiversity, and food security.

The authors also propose ambitious 2050 targets linking land and food systems, and call for collective global action to integrate food systems into intergovernmental frameworks.

Learn More

Discover the article: “Portable X-ray fluorescence as a tool for urban soil contamination analysis: accuracy, precision, and practicality".

By Eriell M. Jenkins, John Galbraith, and Anna A. Paltseva.

Here is a short summary: 

Urban agriculture faces risks from heavy metal(loid) soil contamination. Traditional lab methods are accurate but costly and time-consuming. This review of 84 studies shows that portable X-ray fluorescence (PXRF), especially when calibrated with reference materials, offers reliable, rapid, and practical analysis, supporting safer urban soils and food systems.

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.

Follow us on LinkedIn

Follow us on Bluesky

Upcoming Events and Deadlines

The 2025 edition of the annual event European Mission Soil Week (EMSW) will take place on November 5-6 at Aarhus University, Denmark. EMSW 2025 will focus on investments and business models for soil health. By attending this event you will stay informed on the latest achievements of the Mission Soil and upcoming opportunities, know how healthy soils can be included in policies and governance models for sustainable multifunctional land use at multiple levels, and much more.

See event information

Learn about the background and technical basis of the Agricultural Land Classification (ALC) guidelines during a 2-day in-person training course at Cranfield University, UK, on November 12-13. Presented by ALC experts, this course designed for soil scientists will focus among others on the development of the ALC system over time and how land is graded.

Get more information

EGU mentoring workshop

Interested in the power of mentoring to grow as a scientist, gain confidence and increase your skills? Join the EGU Outreach Committee’s Mentoring to explore what mentoring is, why it’s valuable, and how mentors and mentees benefit from mentoring. This interactive 60-minute free workshop will be held online on Thursday 16 October, at 10:00 CEST. Register by Monday 14 October!

Register here