Program Symposia 18
Special EUROSOIL Symposium and Workshop: Putting soils higher on the international agenda: New Mechanism in support of sustainable land management Organized
by the IUSS Working Group IASUS (International Soil Politics) Background: Land-related issues are a central factor of global sustainable development. Yet, there is little indication of effective international cooperation between scientists, policy makers and other stakeholders in relation to land degradation and sustainable land use and management. At the World Congress of Soil Science in 2002 in Bangkok, the IUSS General Assembly unanimously adopted a 9-point world soils agenda, which included tasks for science, monitoring and research, for policy guidance, and for support of implementation. The current Eurosoil Conference is taken as a subsequent initiative for the IUSS Working Group IASUS to resume its initiative and to help improve the status of soils on the international policy agenda. The need for an improved science-policy dialogue through an appropriate mechanism will be highlighted by presentations and a panel discussion involving representatives from key international programs and institutions. Goal: This symposium attempts to provide an overview of science and policy-focused international actions on sustainable land management, and to identify potentials for increased added value through closer cooperation and better dialogue amongst science and policy (society) through the mechanism of an international panel on land and soils. By 2006, participants at the IUSS World Soils Congress to be held in Philadelphia should perceive the first concrete outcomes of this symposium as an important initiative of Europes soil science community towards sustainable use of soils at the global level.
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