Footage for the associated seminar: https://youtu.be/Z0Hkt7Sf0VA
The talk will focus on the current state of soil governance in Australia, alongside the recently released National Soil Strategy and debate how knowledge exchange on sustainable soil management is progressing. The need to maintain a healthy and functioning soil that is resilient and less vulnerable to climate change and land degradation is an ever-present goal. Yet to achieve this goal requires a critical mass of soil scientists who can effectively undertake research and more importantly people who can communicate such knowledge to farmers so that soil is protected through the use of landscape-appropriate practices. Decades of government de-investment and privatisation have led to a diminished and fragmented workforce that is distant from, rather than part of, the rural community, and farmers are also increasingly isolated with few functional social networks for knowledge exchange. Is it possible to chart a course that can see this decline in expertise and local soil knowledge corrected, and restore to it vitality and legitimacy?
Improving evidence on the impact of agricultural research and extension: Refl...africa-rising
Presented by David J. Spielman, Patrick Ward and Simrin Makhija (IFPRI) at the Africa RISING Monitoring and Evaluation Meeting, Arusha, Tanzania, 13-14 November 2014
Exploring motivations for volunteers in nature conservation to inform local p...SUSAN MARANGO
This document summarizes a study that explored the motivations of volunteers involved in nature conservation projects in Lincolnshire, UK. The study found that volunteers' primary motivation was interest in environmental protection. It also found that local conservation activities addressed themes of sustainable development better than local policies. The study concludes that involving volunteers in local policymaking could help inform policies with local knowledge, complementing expert knowledge and leading to more effective nature conservation policies that translate to local action.
A soil pedologist is a soil scientist who specializes in a branch of soil science that is concerned with identification, formation, and distribution of soils, which covers soil classification, soil genesis and survey as well as land evaluation. He interprets the results of his work in a simple, non-technical language in diagrammatic forms (maps) called interpretive soil maps. Examples are, land capability maps, soil suitability maps and soil fertility capability maps. They serve as visual aids for extension education in training the trainer or training of farmers. Literate farmers can use it without an aid. The maps should be able to assist a potential land user to solve soil – related problem or sets of problems such as soil fertility, erosion and drainage, in an area covered in the map with less difficulty. The interpretive maps should be able to provide information on the nature and distribution of a particular soil problem or sets of problems and enhance a potential user to predict soil attributes in an area covered by the map. Based on the maps, decisions on land use planning, dissemination and adoption of agricultural innovations can be effective within a recommendation domain.
Workshop Trade-off Analysis - CGIAR_20 Feb 2013_Keynote Todd CraneLotteKlapwijk
This document discusses the encounter between research and agrarian cultures. It provides conceptual clarifications around impact and culture, and examines examples of the co-production of knowledge through soil fertility trials and rotational grazing practices. The document concludes that achieving impact is a process, not a goal, and that change emerges from practice and relationships rather than being perfectly planned or predicted.
Innovation development for mountainous agriculture in SE Asia2020 Conference
The document discusses the Uplands Research Program which was established in 2000 to address issues of land degradation, poverty, and food insecurity in ecologically fragile and economically disadvantaged upland regions of Southeast Asia. The program carries out interdisciplinary research in Northern Thailand and Northern Vietnam with the goals of establishing sustainable land use and agricultural systems, improving research methods for complex mountainous environments, and developing policy measures to address rural poverty and food insecurity. A key concept is the integration of different knowledge domains like biophysical, economic, and stakeholder knowledge to understand the system and build scenarios to support sustainable innovations.
Hawkesbury institute soil biology masterclassDavid Thompson
This two-day masterclass on soil biology will be held on August 13-14, 2013 at the University of Western Sydney, Hawkesbury Campus. It will provide participants with an advanced understanding of soil biology concepts and theories, and insights into explicitly managing soil biology to improve soil productivity. The masterclass will be led by Professors Ian Anderson and Brajesh Singh, and Dr. Jeff Powell from the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, along with external experts Professor Lynette Abbott from the University of Western Australia and Associate Professor Pauline Mele from the Victorian Department of Primary Industries.
Improving evidence on the impact of agricultural research and extension: Refl...africa-rising
Presented by David J. Spielman, Patrick Ward and Simrin Makhija (IFPRI) at the Africa RISING Monitoring and Evaluation Meeting, Arusha, Tanzania, 13-14 November 2014
Exploring motivations for volunteers in nature conservation to inform local p...SUSAN MARANGO
This document summarizes a study that explored the motivations of volunteers involved in nature conservation projects in Lincolnshire, UK. The study found that volunteers' primary motivation was interest in environmental protection. It also found that local conservation activities addressed themes of sustainable development better than local policies. The study concludes that involving volunteers in local policymaking could help inform policies with local knowledge, complementing expert knowledge and leading to more effective nature conservation policies that translate to local action.
A soil pedologist is a soil scientist who specializes in a branch of soil science that is concerned with identification, formation, and distribution of soils, which covers soil classification, soil genesis and survey as well as land evaluation. He interprets the results of his work in a simple, non-technical language in diagrammatic forms (maps) called interpretive soil maps. Examples are, land capability maps, soil suitability maps and soil fertility capability maps. They serve as visual aids for extension education in training the trainer or training of farmers. Literate farmers can use it without an aid. The maps should be able to assist a potential land user to solve soil – related problem or sets of problems such as soil fertility, erosion and drainage, in an area covered in the map with less difficulty. The interpretive maps should be able to provide information on the nature and distribution of a particular soil problem or sets of problems and enhance a potential user to predict soil attributes in an area covered by the map. Based on the maps, decisions on land use planning, dissemination and adoption of agricultural innovations can be effective within a recommendation domain.
Workshop Trade-off Analysis - CGIAR_20 Feb 2013_Keynote Todd CraneLotteKlapwijk
This document discusses the encounter between research and agrarian cultures. It provides conceptual clarifications around impact and culture, and examines examples of the co-production of knowledge through soil fertility trials and rotational grazing practices. The document concludes that achieving impact is a process, not a goal, and that change emerges from practice and relationships rather than being perfectly planned or predicted.
Innovation development for mountainous agriculture in SE Asia2020 Conference
The document discusses the Uplands Research Program which was established in 2000 to address issues of land degradation, poverty, and food insecurity in ecologically fragile and economically disadvantaged upland regions of Southeast Asia. The program carries out interdisciplinary research in Northern Thailand and Northern Vietnam with the goals of establishing sustainable land use and agricultural systems, improving research methods for complex mountainous environments, and developing policy measures to address rural poverty and food insecurity. A key concept is the integration of different knowledge domains like biophysical, economic, and stakeholder knowledge to understand the system and build scenarios to support sustainable innovations.
Hawkesbury institute soil biology masterclassDavid Thompson
This two-day masterclass on soil biology will be held on August 13-14, 2013 at the University of Western Sydney, Hawkesbury Campus. It will provide participants with an advanced understanding of soil biology concepts and theories, and insights into explicitly managing soil biology to improve soil productivity. The masterclass will be led by Professors Ian Anderson and Brajesh Singh, and Dr. Jeff Powell from the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, along with external experts Professor Lynette Abbott from the University of Western Australia and Associate Professor Pauline Mele from the Victorian Department of Primary Industries.
This document outlines a study that aims to examine the relationship between income levels and ecological footprint in a village and city in India. The study will survey 30-40 households in each area using a standardized questionnaire to collect data on income and factors contributing to ecological footprint. Random sampling will be used to select households. Data will be analyzed using graphs to observe how income impacts ecological footprint between the two areas. The results could help determine how income correlates with ecological footprint and environmental impact.
This document provides an overview of the SERA-46 committee, which focuses on water quality issues in the Mississippi River Basin. It discusses the structure of SERA-46 and lists several ongoing and upcoming projects addressing priority areas like nutrient management, drainage, and social indicators. These projects involve collaboration between land-grant universities across 12 states and aim to translate science, develop educational materials, and strengthen networks among researchers and practitioners working on nutrient reduction.
This study examined how proximity to protected natural areas in the Wet Tropics region of Australia relates to residents' environmental values and connection to nature. Surveys were conducted with 376 residents across 10 towns, measuring how distance from the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area affected importance of natural areas, visit frequency, and sense of connection to nature. The study found that importance of natural areas increased with distance but visit frequency decreased, while connection to nature decreased with greater distance from protected areas. The implications are that programs are needed to increase interaction between urban residents and nature to address environmental disconnect.
o Spatially explicit data from various contexts in Indonesia shows that a very specific understanding of drivers of deforestation and recovery of tree cover is needed as they vary from context to context. Specific leverage points can be identified by understanding this interconnectedness and variation amongst the drivers
The document summarizes a workshop on institutions for ecosystem services that took place from October 27-29, 2014. The workshop objectives were to encourage sharing of research on links between institutions and ecosystem services, synthesize lessons about institutional arrangements needed to ensure ecosystem service projects deliver benefits, and identify policies to strengthen supporting institutions. It provided background on ecosystem services and discussed topics like the importance of institutions at multiple scales, challenges around time lags and spatial disconnects between ecosystem service production and use, and lessons that can be learned from other research and cases.
Business research project on
Farmers'Awerness & Attitude towards Sustainable Agriculture Practices
What do farmers think about sustainable agriculture, how much knowledge do they have & what practices do they perform in this field, prepare questioner & then perform Ground research & then prepare a report
Evidence-Based Forestry: Approaches and Results in the Asia-Pacific RegionCIFOR-ICRAF
This presentation was delivered at the third Asia-Pacific Forestry Week 2016, in Clark Freeport Zone, Philippines.
The five sub-thematic streams at APFW 2016 included:
Pathways to prosperity: Future trade and markets
Tackling climate change: challenges and opportunities
Serving society: forestry and people
New institutions, new governance
Our green future: green investment and growing our natural assets
This document provides an overview of Stephen Jones' PhD project at the University of Nottingham. It begins with background on his educational experience. His original project aimed to use a transdisciplinary approach to examine how UK farmers' knowledge-practices relate to measured soil quality. However, it posed challenges in integrating social and soil sciences. He refocused the project to compare farmers' assessments of soil quality to a scientific assessment. The document outlines the original and new methodologies and acknowledges continuing challenges in moving the project forward.
Delivered at Cornell University by Dr. Louise Buck, on April 25th, 2018 as part of the International Programs-CALS Seminar Series: Perspectives in International Agriculture, Nutrition and Development.
The document describes the Soils Training And Research Studentships (STARS) Centre for Doctoral Training. STARS is a collaboration between 8 partner organizations in the UK to provide training and studentships for 24 PhD students over 3 years focused on soil science. The goals are to create a unique training experience and develop the next generation of soil scientists. Students will be placed into 4 research programs and receive training through cohort activities, online resources, and placements. The management board oversees operations and quality assurance. Example studentship projects are provided covering areas like carbon cycling, soil biodiversity, and the impacts of climate change and agricultural practices on soils.
Centre for International Forestry Research: Landscapes and food systems CIFOR-ICRAF
The document summarizes a presentation by Terry Sunderland from the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) about CIFOR's work on landscapes and food systems. CIFOR conducts research on how forests, trees, and agriculture interact at the landscape scale. Key points include: CIFOR uses a landscape approach to understand complex land use systems; it has projects analyzing the link between tree cover and nutrition using national health survey data; and it aims to better integrate agriculture, forestry, and natural resource management through approaches like agroforestry and landscape management.
Participatory Research and Development on Natural Resource ManagementBhagya Vijayan
This document summarizes a seminar on participatory research and development for natural resource management. The seminar covered topics such as natural resource management, participatory research and development approaches, changing agendas in the field, and case studies. It defined key concepts and outlined the objectives, components, tools, and principles of participatory research and development for natural resource management. Case studies presented examined the impacts of user participation, approaches to land use modeling, and effects of participatory communication strategies. The seminar emphasized collaboration across stakeholders to address sustainability challenges through participatory approaches.
Session 4 - Measuring natural capital and biodiversityOECD Environment
Scene-setting presentation by Paul EKINS, Professor, UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources, University College London (UCL); Co-Chair, GGKP Expert Working Group on Natural Capital
The role of participatory monitoring in forest landscape restorationCIFOR-ICRAF
This document discusses the role of participatory monitoring in forest landscape restoration. It argues that local involvement is necessary for long-term restoration success as it creates ownership, increases decision-making speed and effectiveness, and fosters social learning. Participatory monitoring can provide reliable data when locals are trained appropriately. While challenging, it is important to involve locals to track progress towards restoration goals and ensure community benefits. Key elements include setting clear monitoring plans and goals, dedicating funds, involving marginalized groups, and encouraging social learning without imposing high costs locally.
This document summarizes a master's thesis that used GIS analysis to identify suitable locations for new community gardens in Syracuse, NY. The author reviewed the benefits of community gardens and Syracuse's existing gardens. She then described her methodology, which involved selecting vacant, city-owned parcels with slopes under 30% and bare earth or grass land cover. Her GIS analysis overlaid these criteria and identified several potential sites, particularly in underserved west Syracuse neighborhoods. The conclusions discussed how the spatial analysis could help organizations expand access to local foods and green space.
Evaluating the impacts of REDD+ interventions on forests and peopleCIFOR-ICRAF
Presented by CIFOR Scientist Amy Duchelle on behalf of the Global Comparative Study (GCS) REDD+ Subnational Initiatives research group on 12 December 2016 at CBD COP13 in Cancun, Mexico.
The document summarizes the structure and operations of Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE), which is the statewide extension program of Cornell University. CCE operates through a partnership between Cornell, the federal government, and county governments. It employs over 400 extension educators who provide non-formal educational programs to communities across New York State on topics like agriculture, youth development, natural resources and more. Key to its success is the integration of university research with outreach and its reliance on federal, state and local funding support.
Sania Dzalbe is a PhD student in economic geography at Umeå University in Sweden who studies how people in rural areas adapt to crisis and adversity. Drawing from her upbringing in rural Latvia, she notes the importance of social reproduction in sustaining rural livelihoods, which often goes overlooked in traditional regional economic analysis. She argues that the concept of resilience is connected to the concept of loss, as during moments of crisis and major restructuring, societies lose not only jobs and industries but also the very mechanisms through which they shape their environment, both physically and socially. Current resilience studies in economic geography tend to disregard the role of social reproduction and the losses experienced by individuals by predominantly focusing on firms and economic production. However, to understand the evolution of rural regions and communities amid various challenges they face, one must recognize that social reproduction cannot be separated from economic and knowledge production processes.
A presentation of participatory research methods and how CCRI has used them over time throughto the Living Labs approach now in use in a number of our grant funded research projects.
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This document outlines a study that aims to examine the relationship between income levels and ecological footprint in a village and city in India. The study will survey 30-40 households in each area using a standardized questionnaire to collect data on income and factors contributing to ecological footprint. Random sampling will be used to select households. Data will be analyzed using graphs to observe how income impacts ecological footprint between the two areas. The results could help determine how income correlates with ecological footprint and environmental impact.
This document provides an overview of the SERA-46 committee, which focuses on water quality issues in the Mississippi River Basin. It discusses the structure of SERA-46 and lists several ongoing and upcoming projects addressing priority areas like nutrient management, drainage, and social indicators. These projects involve collaboration between land-grant universities across 12 states and aim to translate science, develop educational materials, and strengthen networks among researchers and practitioners working on nutrient reduction.
This study examined how proximity to protected natural areas in the Wet Tropics region of Australia relates to residents' environmental values and connection to nature. Surveys were conducted with 376 residents across 10 towns, measuring how distance from the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area affected importance of natural areas, visit frequency, and sense of connection to nature. The study found that importance of natural areas increased with distance but visit frequency decreased, while connection to nature decreased with greater distance from protected areas. The implications are that programs are needed to increase interaction between urban residents and nature to address environmental disconnect.
o Spatially explicit data from various contexts in Indonesia shows that a very specific understanding of drivers of deforestation and recovery of tree cover is needed as they vary from context to context. Specific leverage points can be identified by understanding this interconnectedness and variation amongst the drivers
The document summarizes a workshop on institutions for ecosystem services that took place from October 27-29, 2014. The workshop objectives were to encourage sharing of research on links between institutions and ecosystem services, synthesize lessons about institutional arrangements needed to ensure ecosystem service projects deliver benefits, and identify policies to strengthen supporting institutions. It provided background on ecosystem services and discussed topics like the importance of institutions at multiple scales, challenges around time lags and spatial disconnects between ecosystem service production and use, and lessons that can be learned from other research and cases.
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What do farmers think about sustainable agriculture, how much knowledge do they have & what practices do they perform in this field, prepare questioner & then perform Ground research & then prepare a report
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This presentation was delivered at the third Asia-Pacific Forestry Week 2016, in Clark Freeport Zone, Philippines.
The five sub-thematic streams at APFW 2016 included:
Pathways to prosperity: Future trade and markets
Tackling climate change: challenges and opportunities
Serving society: forestry and people
New institutions, new governance
Our green future: green investment and growing our natural assets
This document provides an overview of Stephen Jones' PhD project at the University of Nottingham. It begins with background on his educational experience. His original project aimed to use a transdisciplinary approach to examine how UK farmers' knowledge-practices relate to measured soil quality. However, it posed challenges in integrating social and soil sciences. He refocused the project to compare farmers' assessments of soil quality to a scientific assessment. The document outlines the original and new methodologies and acknowledges continuing challenges in moving the project forward.
Delivered at Cornell University by Dr. Louise Buck, on April 25th, 2018 as part of the International Programs-CALS Seminar Series: Perspectives in International Agriculture, Nutrition and Development.
The document describes the Soils Training And Research Studentships (STARS) Centre for Doctoral Training. STARS is a collaboration between 8 partner organizations in the UK to provide training and studentships for 24 PhD students over 3 years focused on soil science. The goals are to create a unique training experience and develop the next generation of soil scientists. Students will be placed into 4 research programs and receive training through cohort activities, online resources, and placements. The management board oversees operations and quality assurance. Example studentship projects are provided covering areas like carbon cycling, soil biodiversity, and the impacts of climate change and agricultural practices on soils.
Centre for International Forestry Research: Landscapes and food systems CIFOR-ICRAF
The document summarizes a presentation by Terry Sunderland from the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) about CIFOR's work on landscapes and food systems. CIFOR conducts research on how forests, trees, and agriculture interact at the landscape scale. Key points include: CIFOR uses a landscape approach to understand complex land use systems; it has projects analyzing the link between tree cover and nutrition using national health survey data; and it aims to better integrate agriculture, forestry, and natural resource management through approaches like agroforestry and landscape management.
Participatory Research and Development on Natural Resource ManagementBhagya Vijayan
This document summarizes a seminar on participatory research and development for natural resource management. The seminar covered topics such as natural resource management, participatory research and development approaches, changing agendas in the field, and case studies. It defined key concepts and outlined the objectives, components, tools, and principles of participatory research and development for natural resource management. Case studies presented examined the impacts of user participation, approaches to land use modeling, and effects of participatory communication strategies. The seminar emphasized collaboration across stakeholders to address sustainability challenges through participatory approaches.
Session 4 - Measuring natural capital and biodiversityOECD Environment
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This document discusses the role of participatory monitoring in forest landscape restoration. It argues that local involvement is necessary for long-term restoration success as it creates ownership, increases decision-making speed and effectiveness, and fosters social learning. Participatory monitoring can provide reliable data when locals are trained appropriately. While challenging, it is important to involve locals to track progress towards restoration goals and ensure community benefits. Key elements include setting clear monitoring plans and goals, dedicating funds, involving marginalized groups, and encouraging social learning without imposing high costs locally.
This document summarizes a master's thesis that used GIS analysis to identify suitable locations for new community gardens in Syracuse, NY. The author reviewed the benefits of community gardens and Syracuse's existing gardens. She then described her methodology, which involved selecting vacant, city-owned parcels with slopes under 30% and bare earth or grass land cover. Her GIS analysis overlaid these criteria and identified several potential sites, particularly in underserved west Syracuse neighborhoods. The conclusions discussed how the spatial analysis could help organizations expand access to local foods and green space.
Evaluating the impacts of REDD+ interventions on forests and peopleCIFOR-ICRAF
Presented by CIFOR Scientist Amy Duchelle on behalf of the Global Comparative Study (GCS) REDD+ Subnational Initiatives research group on 12 December 2016 at CBD COP13 in Cancun, Mexico.
The document summarizes the structure and operations of Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE), which is the statewide extension program of Cornell University. CCE operates through a partnership between Cornell, the federal government, and county governments. It employs over 400 extension educators who provide non-formal educational programs to communities across New York State on topics like agriculture, youth development, natural resources and more. Key to its success is the integration of university research with outreach and its reliance on federal, state and local funding support.
Similar to Soil Governance in Australia and priorities for engagement with farmers.pptx (20)
Sania Dzalbe is a PhD student in economic geography at Umeå University in Sweden who studies how people in rural areas adapt to crisis and adversity. Drawing from her upbringing in rural Latvia, she notes the importance of social reproduction in sustaining rural livelihoods, which often goes overlooked in traditional regional economic analysis. She argues that the concept of resilience is connected to the concept of loss, as during moments of crisis and major restructuring, societies lose not only jobs and industries but also the very mechanisms through which they shape their environment, both physically and socially. Current resilience studies in economic geography tend to disregard the role of social reproduction and the losses experienced by individuals by predominantly focusing on firms and economic production. However, to understand the evolution of rural regions and communities amid various challenges they face, one must recognize that social reproduction cannot be separated from economic and knowledge production processes.
A presentation of participatory research methods and how CCRI has used them over time throughto the Living Labs approach now in use in a number of our grant funded research projects.
This presentation introduces the UK Treescapes Ambassador team and the research projects and research fellows they have funded under the programme.
The presentation also looks at some of the research being carried out at the CCRI on Trees, Woods and Forests.
This presentation highlights key methods and issues arising from the research in the EU Horizon funded projects MINAGRIS and SPRINT regading the presence and effect of pesticides and plastics in the soil.
This presentation considers the changing policy environment for public funding of agri-environment, the shift from entitlements to action-based funding and 'public good' outcomes, using a 'Test and Trials' case study.
Presentation made to CCRI as part of our seminar series. Footage of seminar: https://youtu.be/tWcArqtqxjI
Latvian meadows are inextricably connected to the Latvian identity. An identity built on the concept of the industrious peasant working their own land, free from the oppression of tyrannical regimes. This cultural association also feeds into the mid-summer festivals as the women weave the flower-filled crowns and people collect herbal teas to ward off illness over the winter. These biodiverse havens are under threat, as they are neglected or replaced with improved grasslands with their higher yields but lower diversity.
1) The document discusses research into how social and intellectual capital contribute to collective environmental action through Countryside Stewardship Facilitation Fund (CSFF) groups in the UK.
2) Key findings indicate that while CSFF funding aims to develop social capital, most knowledge sharing currently occurs between members with close ties, and there is limited evidence of collective environmental action.
3) Continued support is needed to strengthen relationships, facilitate knowledge exchange across different actor groups, and provide funding to enable CSFF groups to deliver landscape-scale environmental improvements over time.
Professor Ian Hodge's seminar for the CCRI on 24th October 2022.
There are two emergent movements in the governance of rural land: voluntary and local government initiatives that assess, plan and enhance landscape and biodiversity and a largely separate central government initiative for the development of Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes as a key element of national agricultural policy. This is developed and implemented by central government with a relatively large budget.
These two movements should be better integrated through the development of a system of Local Environmental Governance Organisations (LEGOs). A LEGO would stand as a ‘trustee’ with a remit to protect and enhance the quality of the local environment in the long term. It can assemble evidence on natural capital, co-ordinate amongst stakeholders and work with them to identify local priorities for nature recovery. It would search for synergies and collaborative partnerships and raise funds to support priority projects. A key point is that a proportion of central government funding should be devolved to LEGOs. This would link the vision being developed locally with the capacity to generate financial incentives for land managers to change land management.
Natural Cambridgeshire as the Local Nature Partnership is developing a number of the attributes of a LEGO. It is engaging with and appears to have support from a broad variety of stakeholders and is energising actions at several different levels. Through a local deliberative process, it can have a much clearer view of local opportunities and priorities than can be possible via central government. Natural Cambridgeshire has begun to raise funds but the likelihood is that this is will be too little, relatively short term and unsystematic. Longer term core funding would give Natural Cambridgeshire the capacity to back up proposals with financial support, potentially matching funding from other sources. It would then need to monitor and audit the implementation of projects and report on expenditure and outcomes. Over time it would adopt an adaptive approach to respond to outcomes and changing threats and opportunities.
National government needs to establish a framework for the development and operation of a system of LEGOs. It would continue to act in support of national standards, both through regulation and investment to meet international commitments, such as for biodiversity and climate change.
The presentation will give a brief overview of the 'UrbanFarmer' project and its various facets, including the integration of a cohort of Norwegian farmers and agricultural research organisations in the co-production of applied knowledge.
The main thrust of the presentation will be to present similarities and differences in the way that food in short food supply chains is marketed through different farm enterprise business models, and different sales channels. Differences in policy backdrops and other, related, contexts which help or hinder urban marketing through short food supply chains concluding with some ideas of emerging recommendations will also be explored.
Dr Anna Birgitte Milford is a researcher at Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research, working on topics related to sustainable food production and consumption, including organic/pesticide reduced fruit and veg production, local sales channels and climate friendly diets. She was a visiting scholar at CCRI, University of Gloucestershire in autumn 2021 conducting field research on urban agriculture and local sales channels in Bristol.
Dr Dan Keech is a Senior Research Fellow at CCRI, University of Gloucestershire. His research topics cover European urban and alternative food networks, Anglo-German cultural geography and trans-disciplinary methods which link art and social science.
Slides from Damian Maye's Seminar - Using Living Labs to Strengthen Rural-Urban Linkages - Reflections from a multi-actor research project
Footage available at: https://youtu.be/Es1VHe69Mcw
The document discusses the benefits of meditation for reducing stress and anxiety. Regular meditation practice can help calm the mind and body by lowering heart rate and blood pressure. Making meditation a part of a daily routine, even if just 10-15 minutes per day, can offer improvements to mood, focus, and overall well-being over time.
The document discusses the benefits of exercise for mental health. Regular physical activity can help reduce anxiety and depression and improve mood and cognitive functioning. Exercise causes chemical changes in the brain that may help protect against mental illness and improve symptoms.
This document contains a presentation on research into bovine tuberculosis (bTB) and the related controversy over badger culling in the UK. The presentation discusses the research gap around understanding disease management practices and controversies. It outlines an ethnographic methodology to study multiple perspectives on the issue. Key findings include observations from badger culling operations and protests against culling, as well as results from a citizen science study on bTB prevalence in dead badgers. The presentation emphasizes how disease management practices shape understandings of disease and that controversies can foster alternative perspectives.
Presentation given by Dr Alessio Russ 8th July for CCRI seminar series.
Over the last few decades, the school of thought surrounding the urban ecosystem has increasingly become in vogue among researchers worldwide. Since half of the world’s population lives in cities, urban ecosystem services have become essential to human health and wellbeing. Rapid urban growth has forced sustainable urban developers to rethink important steps by updating and, to some degree, recreating the human–ecosystem service linkage. This talk addresses concepts and metaphors such as nature-based solutions and wellbeing, ecosystem services, nature-based thinking, urban regeneration, urban agriculture, urban-rural interface, rewilding.
The Going the Extra Mile (GEM) project aims to help people overcome challenges to employment and move closer to or into work. An evaluation team from the University of Gloucestershire conducted extensive monitoring and evaluation of GEM using both qualitative and quantitative methods. Process evaluations found that GEM provided innovative, relevant support during the pandemic. Outcomes evaluations found improvements in areas like skills, confidence and social connections. A social return on investment model estimated £2.50 returned for every £1 invested in GEM. Inclusive evaluation methods like digital storytelling captured personal impact stories. The evaluation aims to inform the design of any successor to GEM.
This document summarizes an evaluation of social innovation outcomes from England's 2007-2013 Rural Development Programme. It assessed Axes 1 (agricultural modernization) and 3 (improving rural services and quality of life). The evaluation used case studies across 3 regions, interviews with 196 beneficiaries and stakeholders, and social return on investment analysis to monetize impacts over 5 years. It found total social innovation benefits of £170-238 million, with the highest outcomes in individual, operational and relational scales from measures like enterprise support, technological change and service delivery. Issues discussed include potential lack of validity in extrapolating localized results nationally, missing data on some relationship and catalytic impacts, and timing effects on capturing benefits.
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The results of the MetaArray™ analysis’ support vector machine (SVM) identified groundwater monitoring wells with a 80% confidence that were characterized as either Limited for Reductive Decholorination or had a High Reductive Reduction Dechlorination potential. The results of MetaArray™ will be used to further optimize the site’s post remediation monitoring program for monitored natural attenuation.
Microbial characterisation and identification, and potability of River Kuywa ...Open Access Research Paper
Water contamination is one of the major causes of water borne diseases worldwide. In Kenya, approximately 43% of people lack access to potable water due to human contamination. River Kuywa water is currently experiencing contamination due to human activities. Its water is widely used for domestic, agricultural, industrial and recreational purposes. This study aimed at characterizing bacteria and fungi in river Kuywa water. Water samples were randomly collected from four sites of the river: site A (Matisi), site B (Ngwelo), site C (Nzoia water pump) and site D (Chalicha), during the dry season (January-March 2018) and wet season (April-July 2018) and were transported to Maseno University Microbiology and plant pathology laboratory for analysis. The characterization and identification of bacteria and fungi were carried out using standard microbiological techniques. Nine bacterial genera and three fungi were identified from Kuywa river water. Clostridium spp., Staphylococcus spp., Enterobacter spp., Streptococcus spp., E. coli, Klebsiella spp., Shigella spp., Proteus spp. and Salmonella spp. Fungi were Fusarium oxysporum, Aspergillus flavus complex and Penicillium species. Wet season recorded highest bacterial and fungal counts (6.61-7.66 and 3.83-6.75cfu/ml) respectively. The results indicated that the river Kuywa water is polluted and therefore unsafe for human consumption before treatment. It is therefore recommended that the communities to ensure that they boil water especially for drinking.
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2. A little bit about me
1. BSc(Hons), PhD at
University of WA on
role of ants and
termites in soil
modification in
agricultural and
naturally vegetated
soils
2. Work on Earthworm
activity and composition in
Dairy Farms in Northern
Tasmania
3. At UNE since 1993
working on a range of
land uses and
examining role of soil
biota, soil health
understanding by grain
farmers, and use of soil
testing in Australia and
in NSW, Soil carbon
management of long-
term practitioners of
rotational grazing and
effects of trees on soil
biota, and teaching UG
and PG students
2
3. Soil Governance: What is it?
Soil governance refers to the policies, strategies, and the
processes of decision-making employed by nation states
and local governments regarding the use of soil.
Governing the soil requires international and national
collaboration between governments, local authorities,
industries and citizens to ensure implementation of
coherent policies that encourage practices and
methodologies that regulate usage of the resource to
avoid conflict between users to promote sustainable
land management.
3
4. Regional Organisations (54 regions) for NRM
since 2003, and federally-driven
Source: Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment. 4
7. (Drought Resilience Adoption and
Innovation Hubs)
8 Regional Coordinators
Landholders and regional soil and land
managers
32 Smart Farms Small Grants Extension
activity grantees
National Soil Science Advisory Body (SSA)
National Soil Science Extension
Coordinator
Source: https://www.agriculture.gov.au/agriculture-land/farm-food-drought/drought/future-drought-fund/research-adoption-program/adoption-innovation-hubs
Soil Science Australia’s role in strengthening
soil knowledge and capacity
7
8. National Soil Strategy Education,
Training and Accreditation Program
Soil Extension Activities
Basic Soils Refresher
(pre-existing)
Soil Testing and Interpretation
for Extension
Soil field analysis and site interpretation
Soil sampling for laboratory analysis
Soil data interpretation and application
Core Competencies
Registered Soil Practitioner
Accreditation
Soil survey, land capability
and soil conservation
Acid sulfate soils
Soil carbon
Specialist Competencies
(optional)
Extension Activities
8
9. Snapshot of contemporary role, experience and gender
distribution of soil scientists in Australia (2014)
N=68 N=100
9
10. Loss of experience and expertise in soil
In 2011, farmers’ median
age was 53 years.
Nearly a quarter of
farmers were aged 65
years or over, compared
with just 3% of people in
other occupations.
A small proportion of soil
scientists are employed in
extension (12.5%) and in
teaching (6%).
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
Under 25
25 - 34
35 - 49
50 - 65
Soil Science Australia membership 2017 survey (n=227)
More than 50% of soil scientists are over
50 years
10
11. The state of Soil Science human
capacity
• Organisational change and regionalisation of natural resource management
has shrunk expertise for information delivery and engagement
• An aging workforce with no succession plan places more pressure on the
sector
• Soil science education and training is unlikely to fill the gap of soil science
expertise loss
• Since 1990s research is more focused on specific industries than landscape
scale activities, leading to increasing specialisation
• A widening chasm between researchers and engagement with relevant
audience to research findings
11
13. Social-ecological system of soil carbon
management (SCM) for graziers
SCM outcomes
Funding support
Policy
13
14. Understanding farmers’ social networks for
information flows and connectivity
Education and information
related characteristics of
no-till adopters
Farm manager with
tertiary degree (%) 33
Using a paid advisor for
agronomic advice (%) 41
Member of a local farmer
group focused on cropping
(%)
50
Been a member of a no-till
or cons. farming group (%) 29
n= 1172
Percentage of farm businesses in a catchment region
and who they source information on natural resource
management from according to main enterprise (Source:
ABS 4627: Land Management and Farming reports, 2011-12)
0
20
40
60
80
Broadacre Grazing
2011-12
NRM regional organisation
Landcare
Other farmers
Source: Llewellwyn and D’Emden (2010)
14
15. Who are we engaging with?
(Rogers, 1962)
25%
15
16. Role of interactive learning opportunities:
eg. Soil workshops
Capitalising on farmer-to-farmer learning and creating social groups
that can continue to meet in an informal capacity
16
17. Role of soil information in
governance and engagement
17
18. Soil data collection from 1982 to 2021, in Queensland under public-
funded research programmes
18
20. Relevance of soil data for land
management
The type of information currently available on
soil types and their behavior is limited, and if
we take the example of soil testing it is often
one dimensional:
• Mostly on soil chemical properties (87%)
• Little data collected on soil physical (12.5%) and
biological (non-SOC) (0.5%) properties
• No information on observational indicators for
soil monitoring
• Soil information collected outside the
production zone is rare
• Soil samples taken sparsely and at shallow depth
20
21. In summary: data on soil type and
condition
• Soil data collection is tied to funding, and
• most soil data points have not been revisited to look at trends or
impacts of land management on soil properties
• The impact of soil management on soil at the farm-level is often
unknown
• Soil data is skewed to chemical properties eg Soil pH, SOC and P,
measured to a shallow depth
• Mapping of soil data is also compromised, patchy and at a scale
only suitable for regional-level soil characterisation
21
22. Figure 3 Action Learning
Cycle (Source: Lobry de Bruyn et al., 2014)
Activity undertaken, CMA
opportunities presented,
administer surveys, enter
data into an organizational
database.
Actors gather data on
expectations and prior learning
from previous experiences before
activity commences as well as
observing participants in activity.
Design of evaluation survey,
Education and training
expectations with attendees,
produce Evaluation Report, debrief
of activity with actors after
activity undertaken.
Training needs, Design of
activity, Review Alignment of
Programs, previous evaluation
reports, and past evaluations on
previous education and training
reviewed before learning
contract designed, and activity
planned.
22
23. Role of reflection for sharing lessons learnt
• Collecting meaningful data on audience
experiences to inform practice
• Making time to listen to audience
feedback and being responsive
• Time to think and reflect equally on “hits
and misses”
• Organising opportunities to share
learning experiences
23
24. Face to face connections Online Connections
• Requires established social networks • Connect dispersed and unrelated audiences
• Forum for sharing experiences and
expectations in real-time
• Requires dedicated team of experts to
curate, organise, and respond
• Immediate and direct feedback possible,
but underused
• Analytics are output-based. More evidence
of impact of engagement
• Build sense of commitment and shared
vision, but difficult to sustain with limited
resources
• Interactive potential with participant’s own
data and legacy data sets underexplored
• Limited funding to support networks and
high transaction costs for support staff
• Visual, and can develop functionality for
input and display own data against others
• Continuity: follow-up is required to maintain
momentum
• Inclusive in that all people have ability to
comment or share their opinion equally
• Small reach and attracting individuals
already interested
• Large reach with open access and free (so
far)
24
25. Overall Outcome
Build a stronger research-practice nexus that can
communicate credible, local knowledge on soils and
connects audiences in meaningful ways to policy
initiatives and information on soils that increase the
capacity to manage soil sustainably for all.
25
26. Contact and Sources
Lobry de Bruyn, L, Abbey, J (2003) Characterisation of farmers' soil sense and the implications for on-
farm monitoring of soil health. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 43 (3), 285-305.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/EA00176
Lobry de Bruyn, L, Prior, J, Lenehan, J (2014) Weaving a Stronger Fabric for Improved Outcomes. The
Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension 20 (2), 169-189. 10.1080/1389224X.2013.803991
Lobry de Bruyn, L. & Andrews, S. 2016. Are Australian and United States Farmers Using Soil
Information for Soil Health Management? Sustainability, 8, 304.
Lobry de Bruyn, L., Jenkins, A. & Samson-Liebig, S. 2017. Lessons Learnt: Sharing Soil Knowledge to
Improve Land Management and Sustainable Soil Use. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 81, 427-
438.
Lobry de Bruyn, LA (2019) Learning opportunities: Understanding farmers’ soil testing practice
through workshop activities to improve extension support for soil health management. Soil Use and
Management 35 (1), 128-140. 10.1111/sum.12466
Lobry de Bruyn, L, Ingram, J (2019) Soil information sharing and knowledge building for sustainable
soil use and management: insights and implications for the 21st Century. Soil Use and Management
35 (1), 1-5. doi:10.1111/sum.12493
Lobry de Bruyn, LA, North, S, Biggs, A, Oliver, IC, Wong, VNL, Knox, OGG (2022) Australian
priorities for soil research and land manager engagement to improve sustainable soil
management. Geoderma Regional 29 e00509. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geodrs.2022.e00509
26
A/Prof Lisa Lobry de Bruyn E: llobryde@une.edu.au
Editor's Notes
Much emphasis is placed on governments to design effective policies and processes, in reality land is privately owned and is affected by the actions of individuals, with of course outside factors affecting how well the internal management is likely to succeed. Most of the land in Australia that has been degraded and continues to be vulnerable is under agricultural management with more than 54% in grazing lands and a much smaller proportion under cropping (4%). As I will explain the role of governance on the ability to promote SLM is hampered by social networks being less active and information that is relevant and credible on best management practices not being as accessible as it once was as governments reduce their workforce and expect private enterprise and landholders to fill the gap.
For the last 20 years funding of projects and activities has been through regional organisations operating at the State level but federally driven. As you can see some are analogous to catchments but many bear no resemblance to a biophysical entity. The regional organisations operate some a s the 4th tier of government after LGA and in other states have no statutory control. For many the advent of ROs saw a commensurate decline in Landcare than commenced in 1990, and also a splintering of extension staff from their former agency to the new one
The National Soil Strategy is Australia’s first national policy on soil. It sets out how Australia will value, manage and improve its soil for the next 20 years. It was released in May 2021, and there are three overarching goals: prioritise soil health, empower soil innovation and stewards, and strengthen soil knowledge and capability.
The guiding principles and goals are welcomed, but some cynics feel it sounds good but what does it really mean? Especially when within the soil science discipline we can’t actually agree on terms such as soil health or on how to increase and maintain SOC. It is the 1st time in many decades that soil has been placed in a central role, but it is nearly a decade after the Soil RD&E strategy was released so there have been many years of toil to get to this point. The NSAP is to kick start the 20 year NSS with a 5 year action plan that has 6 priorities to be achieved by 2027.
In tandem with the NSAP there are other Programmes like the RLP with common goals and strategies that are relying on the NSS to be successful. Without it their goals will also flounder. Priority Action One: Improve soil health across land uses, sectors and location through practice change, which strongly links to RLP outcome 5 and 6 which is about greater adoption of SLM practices and improvements in soil condition, and to demonstrate those sustainability credentials.
The Regional Land Partnerships (RLP) program is a major component of the National Landcare Program Phase Two. The RLP program is funded through the Natural Heritage Trust of Australia Account, established under the Natural Heritage Trust of Australia Act 1997 (NHT Act). The RLP program is providing $450 million over five years from 2018–19 to 2022–23 for services that contribute to the achievement of four environmental and two agricultural outcomes.
Fifty service providers have been contracted to deliver 225 projects in 54 regions across Australia. The program comprises 159 environment projects and 66 agriculture projects. Twenty-two projects have been completed as at 9 September 2021.
SSA has a leading role in strengthening soil knowledge and capacity that is working with the already established Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hubs.
NSAP priority action 6: Identify and address shortfalls to ensure a “future pipeline” of soil scientific technical and professional expertise and skills among sectors engaged in soil health.
The flow chart illustrates the rather top-down approach to soil governance where projects under federal funding (32 successful ones out of 278 applications) are addressing the low adoption of soil testing and improving soil health awareness and best management practice.
Connect to land managers and regional soil and land managers
The RSP accreditation was funded federally to SSA to develop, and it hopes to provide the knowledge and skills to those people working with landholders and agencies so that any soil data collected in robust and sampled systematically. Feed into the ANSIS and address the shortfall in soil information collection (more on that later). Also harness the land manager as a collaborator in collecting the information.
Human capital involved in Soil Science and projections. Its not new data but the only data I have. Using experience and role against academic standards.
This data is from a 2014 survey of SSA membership and is relatively a small sample with 168 responses. The membership is around 800 so a small sample, but the only one available where gender, and role by experience was captured. The take home message here is there were more highly experienced men in diverse roles, close to retirement (> 30 years), and few women represented in experienced roles (greater than 20 years). For women there were more employed in project officer roles, which are also short-term contracts of between 3 to 5 years.
This means that those nearing retirement are unlikely to be training the next generation to take over their role, and the fertile ground where new graduates would join a government department and be mentored in their role is fast disappearing or already gone.
Another development in the workforce is a reliance on the private sector to be the go-between the research org or govt dept and the land manager. In a project we are currently involved with at UNE we are relying very much on local agronomists to organise small groups of farmers into a workshop group for us.
The aging nature of the workforce, both in agriculture and the service industries, leaves a gap in who is undertaking the education and training of those people employed in extension or project roles (CoA 2014).
Australia’s farmers tend to be considerably older than other workers. In 2011, almost a quarter (23%) of farmers were aged 65 years or over, compared with just 3% of people in other occupations. The tendency of farmers to work beyond the traditional retirement age may reflect the decline in younger generations taking over family farms.
A recent stocktake of Australian Soil R, D & E staff re-enforced the limited investment in soil knowledge exchange showing 12.5% in extension and 6% in teaching, with the majority of staff in research (39%), and postgraduate training (26%) (DAFF, 2011). There is some positives with the training of the next generation of knowledge holders and generators but to ensure their success, they require mentoring by soil scientists remaining in the workforce.
This loss of experience and expertise in soil with an aging workforce is a dilemma that could be addressed in some way with succession planning and use of mentoring. Alternately using existing or developing knowledge networks (such as those that currently exist in NSW with retired soil scientists) or remotely accessed nation-wide data bases may in some way address these concerns.
Organisational change and regionalisation of natural resource management has shrunk expertise for information delivery and engagement. The NSAP last priority was Succession planning but without it the other priorities will also falter.
An aging workforce with no succession plan places more pressure on the sector
Soil science education and training is unlikely to fill the gap of soil science expertise loss. Currently the NSS is developing training materials to train people to collect soil samples and ID soils so it does conform to a rigorous data set, usable for ANSIS.
Since 1990s research is more focused on specific industries than landscape scale activities, leading to increasing specialisation
A widening chasm between researchers and engagement with relevant audience to research findings.
Priority 4: private-public partnerships and linked to agricultural techniques and tools
Where do we place the scarce human capital to ensure greater engagement and co-operation?
These images are familiar to many of us - a group of landholders listening to a scientist. Engagement is often at the END of a research program, and rarely at the START. The top left picture actually is an instance where the roles were reversed and the scientists were listening to the landholder about their management goals and farming practices. We need to engage in more situations like this where we can validate the use of soil knowledge in the field, BEFORE we do the research and development. The reason is to find out what land managers view as the problems and often how they have tried to address them.
Engagement
Communicate with stakeholder. Identifies the actual problem.
Development
Stakeholder involvement in research ideas.
Research
Provides and proves solutions.
The causal loop diagram shows the SES of SCM for graziers. It is a rather busy diagram, but you don’t have to worry about the intricacies. Its the outcome of Nurul Amin’s PhD research where he undertook farmer interviews and workshops through the Northern Tablelands with long-term practitioners of rotational grazing. They decided what were the features that helped or hindered theirs SCM, and it is composed of 51 features and their interactions. The red outlined areas in ecological are the SCM outcomes and in social is the governance areas with government control. Farmers are far more focussed on the SCM outcomes that interact with soil health and pasture production and less so on interacting with Government policy on SC, especially earning soil carbon credits through a payment scheme.
The other reason for showing this diagram was that farm debt was not a strong motivator for these graziers undertaking SCM practices but the co-benefits and improvements in production potential and soil health were. Service-providers, who also did a causal loop diagram, felt that profit was a driver of practice change. Hence there is a mismatch between what farmers were motivated by and how service providers’ perceive it to be.
What I am advocating is undertaking this type of research FIRST, where we unpick the SES for SCM, in this case, but other best management practices, so that any policies and programmes are designed with the landholders in mind, combined with a firm understanding of the science and fit with their present day practices.
Success is more likely.
Another important piece of the puzzle is understanding farmers’ social networks for information flows and connectivity for improving ENGAGEMENT, especially when human resources are stretched or absent.
The current situation is there are fewer people to work with local landholders.
An largely untested claim is that placing information online can fill the void left by a shrinking local workforce that a land manger trusts. Sure we have greater internet connectivity, making this possible, but the information is largely uncurated, with no explanation, and lacking locally-specific information that is relevant at the farm scale, and directing people to local on-ground contacts.
Another prerequisite for making the connection between scientists and land managers requires greater support for developing social networks. Examining the role of existing social connections and how they have enabled people to connect to information either online or through those personal connections. The role of agronomists and further education as knowledge brokers and providers is important and needs to be looked at more closely.
For those adopting no-till being a member of a group and using a paid advisor was an important characteristic that defined them as a group.
The graph shows that broadcare and grazing farmers in Regional areas were always more likely to seek out other farmers for information (strong ties, affirm what is known) rather than go to the NRM RO or to Landcare (weak ties, acquire new information), but the more worrying trend is the decline in these regional level organisations as sources of information, especially Landcare. At its peak Landcare had 40% of landholders involved, and in the last survey conducted in 2012 membership had slipped to just over 20% of Australian farmers.
All this data is also 10 years old so is the situation improved or declined further?
Who are we engaging with? This graph was developed from Rogers over 60 years ago. Especially information is online.
Often we have NO idea. I suspect it is with the innovators and early adopters or people willing to embrace change and new ideas. The recent project on “targeted soil testing to enhance farmer capacity for improving soil health and sustainability” with colleagues at UNE, UQ and QDAF is trying to make sure we do know who the project is engaging with and the impact we might have. We have been collecting baseline data on their soil testing experience.
The trajectory of change shown on the bottom axis not a specific timeline. For many innovations it might take up to 40 years. No-till is such an example to get to our current level of no-till adoption, 90%.
I still believe there are compelling reasons to continue with face-to-face and group experiences in soil, which provide tactile experiences to users and greater immediacy and feedback to providers on engagement and impact with the participants (Ball et al., 2018). The downside is that it is a slow process but in the end change is more likely where there is a personal connection, and opportunity for ongoing support.
Many CMAs and LLS are undertaking such activities and it is also a great opportunity to learn more about farmers practice and the reality of their experience with soil. Also for LLS these type of extension activities need to be funded are not part of recurrent funding, so they are also competing for funding with other organisations.
NSAP Priority 3: review, extend and promote current and new structures for knowledge sharing, peer learning and collaboration that facilitate soil stewardship among land managers.
Priority 2: Develop and make tools available to demonstrate the return on investment in improving soil health
Priority 5: Develop a harmonised National approach to the collection, aggregation and analysis of soil information
The bulk of soil sampling effort was made around 1990-2000 (CoA, 2014). Mainly through time-bound funding programmes.
Andrew Biggs presented this in a paper also wrote the role of Digital Soil Mapping
He raised:
One of the largest data gaps in Australia concerns cropping lands. There is a significant absence of data representing soil attributes of cropping lands in soil survey databases. Thus, the use of data from state and territory soil survey databases for DSM will invariably lead to difficulties in depiction of cropping lands, in particular, for dynamic soil attributes such as pH, organic carbon and nutrients.
What does this mean for the land manager?
Each state has electronically stored data, but not every jurisdiction makes it publically available, and almost certainly in different formats. This eg here is from NSW, e-SPADE. It holds all soil data collected over several decades through government activities and research projects, some even with landholders such as the healthy soils for sustainable farms (2008-12). If you live in the area circled by red there is NO information on soil, except you own local soil information. While the area circled by green has a soil-landscape map, individual soil profiles, and land capability layer.
I suppose one good question to pose here is how useful is this type of soil knowledge for a land manager, student, or consultant? What can they do with it? It does not embed learnings from the soil data or how it affects soil management.
We do know farmers are collecting local soil information, maybe not at an intense level or very often, but it does not form part of this repository, and a farmer rarely holds onto their soil information or it is kept by a private company.
The project I am currently involved in wants to change this situation, and get MORE farmers soil testing by showing the value of soil testing in identifying soil constraints to production
The expectation that data collected through soil testing, will bring with it a much richer understanding of soils and will be made public for others is being proposed.
The data will be added to a National Soil Database – revamping ASRIS (Australian Soil Resources Information System). The National Soil Strategy has identified this opportunity and is investigating options regarding the collation of the large body of private sector data collected in cropping lands by paying people for their historical or contemporary soil data.
My criticism of this approach is that it is further outsourcing a govt commitment to fund public good research, with the expectation that into the future farmers will supply soil testing data to support ANSIS.
For a land manager to understand how their soil behaves in a landscape, and how their management affects it they need soil property data linked to soil function.
A soil test is not able to reflect the 3D reality of a soil and how it might behave under erosion events or with cultivation.
The type of information currently available on soil types and their behavior is limited, and if we take the example of soil testing it is often one dimensional:
Mostly on soil chemical properties (87%)
Little data collected on soil physical (12.5%) and biological (non-SOC) (0.5%) properties
No information on observational indicators for soil monitoring
Soil information collected outside the production zone is rare
Soil samples taken sparsely and at shallow depth
Soil data collection is tied to funding, and most soil data point have not been revisited to look at trends or impacts of land management on soil properties
The impact of soil management on soil is often unknown – feedback for the farmer on impact of land management.
Soil data is skewed to chemical properties eg Soil pH, SOC and P, and shallow depth
Mapping of soil data is also compromised, patchy and at a scale only suitable for regional soil characterisation
How we learn from past experiences and how we build from what we currently know.
Generalised the terms.
Parts we do poorly are observing and reflecting.
Mostly plan and act, and not completing the loop
In fact, we can probably learn more from where experiences have failed. However, we need to place a mirror up to our experiences and take the time to reflect on the positives and negatives, and how those experiences can be used to improve on the types of mechanisms and resources available to those wanting to learn about soil, and not simply - failing to learn (Lobry de Bruyn et al., 2014). To improve the way we capture and share the experience and expertise of scientists and practitioners it will involve a change in mind-set where we value equally the soil knowledge of others, including: farmers, scientists, educators, extension staff, commercial sector and the public.
We need to highlight for those working on soil and with practitioners how they have adapted their mental model of soil to work with others.
Face-to face opportunities need to be balanced with online access to soil knowledge and the two mechanisms offer ways of building connections that can compliment each other.. At the same time there is an urgency to address to transaction costs and fatigue experienced in face-to-face by capitalising on positives of online interactivity potential and “anywhere and anytime accessibility”. Oftent the most productive moments are outside the workshop activities when people are congregating around a tea break or lunch.
Established social networks required
Forum for sharing experiences and to place realistic expectations on how knowledge can inform management
Immediate and direct feedback to provider and participant is possible
Build sense of commitment and shared vision, but difficult to sustain with limited resources
Limited funding to support networks and high transaction costs for support staff
Small reach and attracting individuals already interested
After the face to face experience follow-up is required to maintain momentum
Online connections
Connect dispersed and often unrelated groups of people
Require dedicated team of experts to curate, organise soil portals, and respond to queries
Analytics are output-based – likes, time spent on a page, but need to build evidence of impact of engagement
Interactive potential with participant’s own data and legacy data sets underexplored
Visual, and can develop functionality for input and display own data against others
Inclusive in that all people have ability to comment or share their opinion equally
Large reach with open access and free (so far)
Build a stronger research-practice nexus that can communicate credible, local knowledge on soils and connects audiences in meaningful ways to policy initiatives and information on soils that increase the capacity to manage soil sustainably for all.