Soil can be degraded more by human mismanagement than climate change can. It is among the evidence that emerged from the Centenary Congress of the IUSS (the International Union of Soil Sciences), held in Florence which saw over 1500 scientists from all over the world discuss the hot topics: soil health and management, salinisation , gender equality, global policies, risk management, regeneration, degradation and increase in organic matter.
Around 100 scientific sessions for a 360° look at the soil, for an important moment of discussion and updating which also touched on more general topics such as sustainable development, circular economy, food and water security, sustainable and livable cities, technology, and digitalisation of information, but also more specific to the soil such as consumption, erosion, pollution, depletion of nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium), fertilisers, biodiversity conservation.
The international event was organized by the IUSS and the SISS (Italian Society of Soil Sciences) and sponsored by MASAF, to which Italy contributed significantly (the IUSS president Edoardo Costantini, formerly CREA, is Italian and, again Italian and branded CREA is the Secretariat, entrusted to Giuseppe Corti, director of CREA Agriculture and Environment and president of SISS and to Filiberto Altobelli, CREA Policies and Bioeconomy). Media partner of the GreenAccord initiative, an international network of environmental information and culture.
The congress, a moment of reflection that puts knowledge at the center because only through this can we produce more while safeguarding the quality of the soil, was celebrated in Italy, since it is in Italy that the IUSS, which brings together the national scientific soil societies of approximately 80 countries in the world, was established exactly 100 years ago, on 19 May 1924 in Rome, at Villa Lubin, the current headquarters of the CNEL, National Council of Economy and Labour.
