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Short Abstract

Citizen science can play a crucial role in improving soil literacy and monitoring soil health. In this presentation we report on participatory soil testing activities in the Netherlands, Austria and the Czech Republic, comparing methods, participant engagement and preliminary findings.

Abstract

Citizen science raises awareness about environmental important topics such as soil health. The BENCHMARKS project is an EU funded project on soil health in different types of landscapes such as urban, agricultural and forest. Maintaining and restoring soil health is a significant process that requires changes across all types of land uses. BENCHMARKS supports the co-development within 29 European case studies of a monitoring framework on different scales and for a wide range of users. This will accommodate the diverse needs of users guiding them throughout the soil health monitoring process.

Earthwatch is working within the BENCHMARKS project with different case studies to provide participatory community soil testing also called a “Soil Blitz”. During these events participants measure soil quality using our soil health toolkit, to measure different types of soil components. The kit consists of a physical test kit and a smartphone survey app to collect the data. They will measure soil components to learn more about soil health. Raising awareness around soil health will impact on soil literacy and builds knowledge of how to support healthy soils.

This proposal will present different soil blitzes with farmers in the Netherlands, schoolchildren in Austria and allotment holders in the Czech Republic that have taken place over the last years in BENCHMARKS including results and outputs such as infocards. We will present methods used to measure soil health with citizens, different approaches of soil health in different landscapes and specific feedback using infocards to communicate findings and next steps to participants.