Soil health—From practical issues to indicators: A workshop at the 1st European Healthy Soils Conference

Abstract

The aim of the 1st European Healthy Soils Conference in September 2023 in Muttenz, Switzerland, was to bring together professionals working on soil health from academia, the private sector, policymakers and students. Within the conference, a workshop ‘From Practical Issues to Indicators’ was held. In addition to flash presentations and subsequent discussion rounds, the opinions of the participants on the definition of soil health and the major soil threats were also collected. A majority of participants were in favour of the statement: ‘Healthy soils are in good chemical, biological and physical condition so that they can provide ecosystem services that are vital to humans and environment’. Of the 10 soil threats put forward for discussion, the participants voted for the four most important at European level, those being soil erosion, loss of soil organic carbon, loss of soil biodiversity and soil compaction. The need for long-term observation plots in different agro-ecosystems in Europe was emphasised in contributions to the discussion. Furthermore, methodological developments and standardisations that are simple and direct enough to be accepted and applied at the practical level by farmers and advisors were called for.