Periodic Reporting for period 1 - LOESS (Literacy boost through an Operational Educational Ecosystem of Societal actors on Soil health)
Berichtszeitraum: 2023-06-01 bis 2024-11-30
Soils’ ecosystem services need to be protected and preserved for future generations. To achieve the goals and objectives of the EU Soil Strategy and the Mission Soil a comprehensive involvement of actors across Europe is required. To value soils, people need more than scientific information, they need to understand how healthy soils impact their lives. Education, multi-actor and societal engagement demand effective messaging and targeted actions, while acknowledging specific and locally relevant concerns. Pupils, students and citizens must have access to both general and tailored education and training on the different soil types and uses, its services and threats. In addition, best practices and peer-to-peer knowledge exchange and communication are needed to increase the number of engaged citizens who support healthy soil related action.
LOESS aims to enhance the understanding of soil functions and the factors influencing soil health across Europe. LOESS will develop educational offers to increase soil literacy and societal appreciation of the vital functions of soils and implement them in 15 pilot regions across Europe. LOESS activities will broaden actors’ experiences with various co-creation, collaboration, teaching and learning formats, for example, by identifying and solving local real life soil health problems or co-creating teaching modules with students or teachers.
LOESS aims to enhance the understanding of soil functions and the factors influencing soil health across Europe. LOESS will develop educational offers to increase soil literacy and societal appreciation of the vital functions of soils and implement them in 15 pilot regions across Europe. LOESS activities will broaden actors’ experiences with various co-creation, collaboration, teaching and learning formats, for example, by identifying and solving local real life soil health problems or co-creating teaching modules with students or teachers.
The project focuses on the engagement of key actors and capacity building. Communities of Practice (CoPs) were established in 15 pilot regions to connect civil society, scientists, practitioners, and policymakers. Their perspectives were gathered through focus groups, interviews, and surveys.
Research activities assessed the current state of soil health education in Europe and of the educational programs across 15 countries, identifying gaps, challenges, and opportunities. Additionally, educators’ knowledge, practices, and needs were studied to improve the integration of soil health topics into curricula. National workshops hosted by the CoPs validated the findings and allowed the incorporation of diverse stakeholder perspectives. These findings are now consolidated in a “Awareness, Needs, and Vision for Soil Education” report. The report provides a foundation for the project’s piloting and campaigning activities. In parallel, national advisory groups specifically focusing on education methodologies are facilitating the sharing of best practices and the alignment with national and international strategic education objectives.
The consolidation and enlargement of CoPs in the pilot regions is ongoing and since the summer of 2024, the project offers helpdesks to answer questions related to the implementation of project activities, e.g. on engagement strategies and methodologies. A Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) and an Augmented Reality (AR) application have been co-created with teachers and students and benefitted from input from the CoPs members.
The project also launched an online database which features more than 60 case studies of soil education resources and practices and a glossary of key soil-related terms to facilitate increased understanding. Different activities and campaigns are planned to promote these resources.
Research activities assessed the current state of soil health education in Europe and of the educational programs across 15 countries, identifying gaps, challenges, and opportunities. Additionally, educators’ knowledge, practices, and needs were studied to improve the integration of soil health topics into curricula. National workshops hosted by the CoPs validated the findings and allowed the incorporation of diverse stakeholder perspectives. These findings are now consolidated in a “Awareness, Needs, and Vision for Soil Education” report. The report provides a foundation for the project’s piloting and campaigning activities. In parallel, national advisory groups specifically focusing on education methodologies are facilitating the sharing of best practices and the alignment with national and international strategic education objectives.
The consolidation and enlargement of CoPs in the pilot regions is ongoing and since the summer of 2024, the project offers helpdesks to answer questions related to the implementation of project activities, e.g. on engagement strategies and methodologies. A Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) and an Augmented Reality (AR) application have been co-created with teachers and students and benefitted from input from the CoPs members.
The project also launched an online database which features more than 60 case studies of soil education resources and practices and a glossary of key soil-related terms to facilitate increased understanding. Different activities and campaigns are planned to promote these resources.
LOESS aims at putting competence for awareness raising and education on soil health on a broader basis, starting in pilot regions and including references to climate change adaptation, food security and biodiversity. This is supported by a co-design of teaching modules, validation and implementation at national and regional level combined with novel concepts of delivery.
LOESS will develop a program on community engaged research and learning (CERL) that will support overcoming the gap between theoretical knowledge produced at universities and needs and requests on working on current and local needs and soil health challenges, which finally will be transferrable into other regions facing similar needs and challenges.
A MOOC with four modules on soil education with a STEM integrated approach will be co-created with teachers of the European Schoolnet. New inspiring and supporting forms of artistic practices to address soil health are to be developed through the co-creation of virtual/augmented reality tools. A training on soil health to young autistic writers and illustrators with the aim of producing short inclusive texts written in the language of Alternative Augmentative Communication AAC are also in planning, which is a pedagogical experiment that could play a pioneering role soil health education.
LOESS will develop a program on community engaged research and learning (CERL) that will support overcoming the gap between theoretical knowledge produced at universities and needs and requests on working on current and local needs and soil health challenges, which finally will be transferrable into other regions facing similar needs and challenges.
A MOOC with four modules on soil education with a STEM integrated approach will be co-created with teachers of the European Schoolnet. New inspiring and supporting forms of artistic practices to address soil health are to be developed through the co-creation of virtual/augmented reality tools. A training on soil health to young autistic writers and illustrators with the aim of producing short inclusive texts written in the language of Alternative Augmentative Communication AAC are also in planning, which is a pedagogical experiment that could play a pioneering role soil health education.