We are pleased to share with you exciting news from the CURIOSOIL Project and some interesting initiatives and events happening in the soil community.
Enjoy the read!
Save the Date: "Cultivating Curiosity About Soil: Engaging Through Education"
Save the Date! Join us on 2 July, 15:00–16:00 CET for "Cultivating Curiosity About Soil: Engaging Through Education" the closing webinar of the Women Root for Soil campaign.
This webinar by CURIOSOIL will bring together perspectives from across the education spectrum to explore practical approaches to soil learning and engagement in different settings.
The webinar will reflect on how educators, practitioners and communities can strengthen connections with soil and build soil literacy in meaningful and accessible ways. Speaker announcements and more details to come. 📅2 July 2026 🕓15:00–16:00 CET
Save the Date! CURIOSOIL CoP Summer Meeting 16 June 2026
Are you passionate about soil education and innovation? Join us in the CURIOSOIL project’s Community of Practice (CoP) and become a part of a collaborative network dedicated to advancing soil literacy across Europe. Save the date: 16th June!
In our #WomenRootforSoil series video, Ana Isabel Machado reflects on the connections between soil, water, forestry and the communities affected by environmental decisions. Her work as a researcher at Universidade de Aveiro focuses on land degradation and soil rehabilitation, but her message goes beyond science alone. Ana highlights why solving today’s environmental challenges requires collaboration across disciplines from social sciences and governance to economics and education.
Video produced and edited by the ESCI - European Science Communication Institute, a partner of the CURIOSOIL project.
In the first video of our #WomenRootforSoil series, Juliana Jäggle takes us from the field to the lab. She works with farmers experimenting with regenerative practices like diverse cover crops and studies how these choices shape what’s happening below the surface. Early results show stronger microbial communities and improved soil carbon, pointing to more resilient systems under climate stress.
Video produced and edited by the ESCI - European Science Communication Institute, a partner of the CURIOSOIL project.
Reflecting on LOESS Project High Level Symposium in Barcelona, Spain
A special occasion marked the conclusion of the LOESS Project after three years of work. On behalf of the CURIOSOIL Project, Cristina Biddlecome attended the final symposium alongside Judit Horgas and Javier Montellano López (also representing NBSOIL Project) where sister projects exchanged ideas on strengthening soil literacy, integrating soil education into school curricula and everyday life, and increasing the impact of awareness-raising activities.
Some of the resources already available include:
LOESS Learning Scenarios
ECHO Toolkit
CURIOSOIL Soil Curiosity Kit
Thanks to ACUP - Associació Catalana d’Universitats Públiques for organising a successful event and creating valuable opportunities for collaboration across projects. Looking forward to continuing these conversations at the Soils for Europe Conference.
Want to help protect soils and grow soil curiosity? Fill out our questionnaire! With your insights the CURIOSOIL Project develops educational materials and activities to enthuse the next generation for soils. 🪱 🪴 The questionnaire is open to anyone (no soil knowledge needed) and participation takes 10-15 minutes.
The Soil Curiosity Book of Activities is an ongoing, co-created resource that forms part of the Soil Curiosity Kit. You are invited to share activities that awaken soil curiosity across a wide variety of educational contexts, using accessible and affordable materials and without requiring specialised knowledge from educators or facilitators.
Meet Our Community of Practice Leaders Across Europe
Sonja Medwedski is a soil scientist and author from northern Germany. With extensive experience in preventative and remedial soil protection, she has dedicated her career to preserving and improving soil health. She is passionate about raising public awareness of soil-related issues and actively campaigns for greater soil awareness in society. Sonja also serves on the board of the German Soil Association, where she helps to drive soil protection initiatives at a national level.
At the heart of Massimo’s work is a deep interest in co-creating regenerative cultures. He focuses on leading and supporting projects that embrace regenerative transformation, offering his experience, skills, and practical toolkit to initiatives and organizations that share this vision.
With a background in political economy, Massimo has spent many years questioning the status quo and engaging in a process of “unlearning.” Over time, his connection to the soil has grown through his passion for food, the kitchen, and the cultural meaning embedded in both. This curiosity naturally led him to explore questions such as where our food comes from, how it is grown, and how the health of our bodies is connected to the health of the soil.
Heeltsje Graansmais an environmental scientist, permaculture designer, and educator dedicated to ecological transition and soil awareness. After completing her MSc in Environmental Sciences and spending time in direct non-violent eco-activism, she deepened her commitment to “practising what you preach” by studying and applying permaculture design.Guided by the motto “what you pay attention to grows,” Heeltsje began designing food forest gardens and developing courses on food forest design, community-led co-creation, and nature awareness, encouraging people to reconnect with the land and rediscover indigenous ways of relating to nature. She also introduced practical educational tools for teaching about the Soil Food Web, including the programs Gevoel voor Humus and the Humusbox for kids, which make soil life accessible and engaging for learners of all ages.
Anastasiya Volkova is head of the NGO ‘Permaculture in Ukraine’. She lives in an ecovillage, grows her own food, runs a family business of canned vegetables, an educational permaculture center and a certified carbon farm of 4 ha. A former French teacher, she once changed her life completely, moved from the city to the countryside and dedicated herself to sustainability projects. Iryna Kazakova has a degree in agricultural economics and has worked at the Institute of Soil Science and at the Agricultural University in Kharkiv. Since 2019 she is a project manager at NGO ‘Permaculture in Ukraine’. She coordinates the Network of Training and Demonstration Centres and the educational activities of the organisation. In 2023-2024 Iryna was one of the coordinators of the Green Road of Ecovillages project.
Have you ever noticed the distinctive earthy smell that appears when rain falls after a long dry period? That scent has a name: petrichor. The term was coined in 1964 by Australian scientists Isabel Joy Bear and Richard G. Thomas. It comes from the Greek words petra (stone) and ichor (the fluid said to flow in the veins of the gods in Greek mythology). The smell is produced by a combination of substances. One of the most important is geosmin, a compound released by soil-dwelling bacteria called Streptomyces. During dry periods, geosmin accumulates in the soil. When raindrops hit the ground, tiny air bubbles become trapped and then burst upward, releasing microscopic aerosols carrying geosmin into the air, creating the familiar scent. Humans are remarkably sensitive to geosmin and can detect it at extremely low concentrations, far lower than many other animals. BEAR, I., THOMAS, R. Nature of Argillaceous Odour. Nature 201, 993–995 (1964). https://doi.org/10.1038/201993a0
Mission Soil presented and discussed in the European Parliament
Mission Soil Manager, Diego Canga Fano (Acting Deputy Director-General - DG AGRI) was invited to the committee for agriculture and rural development in the European Parliament to give a presentation of the EU Mission Soil.
Wanted: specialists to assess EU-funded research and innovation projects!
The European Commission is looking for specialists in Social Sciences and Humanities to assess EU-funded research and innovation projects. Register and contribute!
Soils for Europe Conference & 7-11 September Coimbra, Portugal
The Soils for Europe Conference co-organised by multiple Mission Soil projects will cover sessions on all Mission Objectives, including cross-cutting sessions, aiming to showcase the latest research being developed across Europe.
The 13th edition of the International Symposium on Earthworm Ecology
The 13th International Symposium on Earthworm Ecology (#ISEE13) is coming to Wageningen! This edition’s theme “From the lab to the field, from the field to the lab” highlights the crucial links between experimental research and real-world practice.
Save the Date: 23–28 August 2026 #ISEE13 in Wageningen, Netherlands. Registration deadline: 17 June.
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