2. Soil contamination policy: increasing
students’ awareness
Cristina Lull*, Antonio Lidón, Amparo Soriano
Universitat Politècnica de València (Spain)
* President of the Soil Education and Public Safety Section of the Spanish Society of Soil Science

3. Soil - a key resource for the world
GLOBAL SOIL PARTNERSHIP
Pillar 1
Soil
management
Pillar 2
Awareness
raising
Pillar 3
Research
Pillar 4
Information and
Data
Pillar 5
Harmonization
It STARTS with a stimulus in our brain
SOIL
EDUCATION
Soil
Pollution
Policy
This pillar is justified due to the general lack of social
awareness of the importance of soils for a healthy
life.

4. Who are the guardians
 Students’ awareness means developing a responsible behavior towards, in this case, soil
pollution, based on knowledge and attitudes.
 The more students can learn about the role that healthy and clean soils plays in our
health and in the sustaining of the environment, the more they understand how
important clean soil is for all of us, and, the more likely they take care of it.
 It is important that we show the importance of clean soils to society at large. From young
children, school teachers, lectures, researchers, farmers, industrialists to politicians.

5. Soil - a key resource for the world
ROYAL DECREE 126/2014
Curriculum of Primary Education
Social Sciences  The world in which we live
Pollution problems
ROYAL DECREE 126/2014
Curriculum of Secondary Education
Education influences decisions regarding to soil care
1st and 3rd year: Biology-Geology  The
ecosystems 
4th year: Applied Sciences in the Professional
Activity  Contamination: definition, forms.
To assess the value of the soil and the risks
that implies its degradation
Soil contamination. Specify the polluting
effects that come from the industrial and
agricultural activities on the soil
In many cases, deficiency in education is the specific underlying cause of an unwise use of soils

6. Today’s University students will be tomorrow’s soil guardians
Soil sciences Bachelor's Degree in Agricultural and
Biological Engineering
Soil pollution and waste treatment Bachelor's Degree in Environmental Science
Waste and contaminated site management Master's Degree in Industrial Engineering
Soil - a key resource for the world
Students at university level constitute an important group of the population concerned with
environmental protection as can be deduced from different research studies

7. How to Raise Awareness in students on the risk of Polluted Soil?
DECREASE OF FOOD
PRODUCTION
Nowadays most of the students are concerned
about the degradation of the environment and
human health. Therefore, the first steps to
encourage them in this subject could be to talk
about the pairing soil contamination and risk,
illustrating this coupling with case studies.

8. Contaminated sites and Remediation Case Studies used in classroom
How to Raise Awareness in students on the risk of Polluted Soil?
Waste
Human risk
Soil Clean-up act 1983
(The Netherlands)
CERCLA 1980 (USA)
After the study of these
cases, students understand
that the first principle is the
Prevention of soil pollution
as the best way to take care
of our soils

9.  A documentary about lindane (HCH) was used in the class
 After watching the documentary, the students answered some questions about soil
pollution and the influence of the documentary on their critical attitude to this
problem
Audiovisual aids in an effort to stimulate Critical Thinking in Soil Pollution
Year of lindane ban?, etc.
Proper management of waste?
Toxicity of lindane?
Soil contamination  water contamination
Ethical responsibility
Environmental responsibility
Professional responsibility
StudentsSkills

10. Core body of knowledge of chemical soil contamination
Highly-competent professionals in Soil Pollution

11. SOIL PROTECTION ACT
Soil Remediation Circular 2013
Can we improve our Laws and Regulations about Soil Pollution?
Think about it!

12. Participation in on-line forums
Welcome to the Forum on Companies dedicated to
soil pollution and remediation!
In this Forum we will be looking at the Spanish and
foreign companies that are dedicated to:
 Studies (historical, exploratory and detailed) of
contaminated soils
 Risk analysis for human health and ecosystems due
to contaminated soils
 Certified companies to carry out analyses of
contaminated soils
 Studies of soil quality (certifications of
uncontaminated soils)
 Preparation of Remediation Projects
 Management and execution of soil remediation
 Supply and manufacture of soil decontamination
equipment
 Probes, installation of piezometers, soil sampling
 Specialized software for risk analysis, etc.
Collection of case studies of soil pollution
or remediation carried out by companies
PROJECT MEDINACELI: Decontamination of a site
contaminated with xylene
PROVINCE OF CACERES PROJECT: Recovery of damages
caused by the discharge of diesel and gasoline
SOMPORT PROJECT (France): Investigation of
contamination by potassium hydroxide

13. Conclusions
 Spreading knowledge about soil health and environmental and human risk relationship requires a
very conscientious education/training at both undergraduate and graduate level
 Universities should be aware of the need to promote the collaboration between industry,
research and education in order to train individuals to become highly-competent professionals in
Soil Pollution
 Students should be fully aware of the social responsibilities in this issue
 Students should keep in mind the need to help developing countries
 Students at university level constitute an important
group of the population concerned with
environmental protection and we can improve their
awareness: BE THE SOLUTION TO SOIL POLLUTION!

14. Bachelor's Degree in Environmental Sciences