Panels
The Panels bring structure to the Network’s work. In five thematic areas of action, members contribute their specialised knowledge, experience and perspectives, define common issues and develop approaches that can be carried forward in projects, events or cooperative actions.
Innovation & Technology
Soil management crucially determines what soils can provide: as bases for production, habitats, reservoirs, filters and in regulatory roles. The Innovation & Technology Panel examines the challenges that come with soil management and points the way to possible solutions. The panel’s work centres on the issue of how innovative and ecosystem-adapted technologies can best contribute to preserving and regenerating soils.
Metrics & Finance
Soil is always also property, and is therefore connected with obligations. The principle of “property entails responsibility” is especially true in the case of soil. At the same time, property ownership opens up economic perspectives. The Metrics & Finance Panel is concerned with the planetary, market-economic and socio-political limitations of our actions. Here, soil is viewed not only as a production surface, but above all as a living environment. We are currently developing instruments that make the careful handling of soils measurable, assessable and rewarding.
Nutrition & Health
The connection between nutrition and health is undisputed. However, the crucial significance of healthy soil often remains in the background in this context – even though it is obvious: we eat what the soil produces, and are therefore in a direct exchange with it. The Nutrition & Health Panel makes the many facets of this connection accessible and understandable through a holistic approach. Currently, our work centres on the microbiome as the direct connection between soil and gut.
Art & Culture
Cultural ideas shape the way we perceive, use and value soils. Here, art can uncover the things that lie hidden: structures, dynamics and relationships that determine our relationship with the soil. Given that soils often escape our immediate perception, an artistic approach can open up new perspectives. The Panel’s projects make it possible to experience soil with our senses, access it through our emotions and, as part of our shared habitat, make it negotiable in a new way.
Ethics, Justice & Sociology
Soil is a limited resource: it cannot be propagated, and it regenerates only over long periods of time. Due to various, sometimes opposing user interests, soils are coming increasingly under pressure. The Ethics, Justice & Sociology Panel focuses on concepts of ownership and usage and the associated rights and obligations. At the same time, it poses the question of soil ethics and a soil philosophy that can do justice to the societal demands related to soil.
Join us
Are you interested in healthy, living soils – in research, practice, culture or education? We would love to hear from you!