The paper presents a qualitative study on education in Germany in the field of soil health, which includes a focus group discussion and interviews. Soil health can be understood as “the continued capacity of soils to support ecosystem services” (European Commission, undated). Past analyses by Belek et al. (2019) have shown that numerous and diverse events are taking place on the ground in Germany for the communication of soil-related issues. Yet, there is still insufficient awareness of the topic in public perception and in media reporting. Accordingly, the complex topic of soil remains to date not well presented, especially for people who are not soil experts. New approaches for soil science education and awarness raising are necessary (Brevik, 2022).

This study complements parallel secondary research and participatory activities that involve experts in a newly established network of a community of practice at country level as well as on an European level. It aims to identify the experiences, training needs and teaching requirements of participants on soil health education by answering the twofold general research question, what the state of soil health awareness education is and what the wishes for future soil health awareness education are. Findings in this qualitative study will be triangulated with findings provided by a desk research on soil health education, focusing on teaching and learning offers, policy documents, scientific literature as well as grey literature and various kinds of media formats.

At a later stage, the results of studies in 14 other countries in Europe based on the same research design will be combined and further analyzed in order to further develop educational concepts and materials for the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors, including VET and also addressing the general public, so that the importance of soils can be better understood on a broad scale and their protection can be increased more effectively.

Soil is a very basic, vital component of the natural environment. Countless, predominantly microscopic creatures find their habitat in the soil. They influence the composition of the soil and its fertility and keep the global carbon cycle going. Soils store the greenhouse gas CO2 to a greater extent than the world's forests. Through their storage function, they regulate the availability of water and purify it at the same time. Without intact soils, humans lack the basis for their nutrition and health. However, the soil is under enormous threat, and with it the ecosystem services it provides (Baer and Birgé, 2018). The high proportion of sealed surfaces, which has increased year on year, threatens biodiversity. 60% of European soils are considered to be damaged and the harmful effects associated with industrial agriculture continue to exacerbate the situation. Together with global warming, this is the reason why desertification is also taking place in Europe. (Luig, 2024). To draw attention to the need to protect and restore soils and promote sustainable management practices in urban and rural areas, the European Union (2023) has launched the initiative 'A Soil Deal for Europe' (Mission Soil). Its aim is to raise awareness and to help ensure the long-term health and productivity of soils of all types. The mission also promotes the exchange of knowledge with interest groups and the general public. Specifically, the Soil Mission focuses on sustainable practices in the areas of land use planning, soil conservation and agricultural techniques that rely less on the use of chemical inputs.

The data collection is semi-structured, based on a catalog of questions. From the two interlinked general research questions, subordinate questions were formulated. They cover six analytical dimensions of soil health education, its purpose (for what), important collaborations (with whom), learning spaces (where), processes (how) and activities (in what way) and last but not least paradigms (of which assumptions). The focus groups (n=15) consists of school teachers and university lecturers who have expertise or actively contribute to soil health education and related issues. Interviews (n=10) adress students, teachers, lecturers, representatives of vocational training institutions, policy makers and representatives of NGOs and civil society groups who have expertise or actively contribute to raising awareness on soil health and related aspects. All data collected is recorded and transcribed for coding and further analysis.

The recultivation of degraded soils is considered an important lever for stabilizing several ecosystem services and functions simultaneously (IPCC, 2019). The interview and focus group studies contribute to improving education on soil health across Europe. They are part of the HORIZON project Literacy boost through an Operational Educational Ecosystem of Societal actors on Soil Health (LOESS) funded by the European Union. The aim is to address the problem that the value of soil, which is a scarce and non-renewable resource, is all too often not fully recognized in society (European Commission, 2022). The knowledge gained will be incorporated into new educational approaches to be implemented throughout Europe. These should help to create the understanding within society that is needed to change the human pressures on soil health.

Baer, Sara G.; Birgé, Hannah E. (2018): Soil ecosystem services: an overview. In: D. Reicosky (Hg.): Managing soil health for sustainable Agriculture Fundamentals, Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing. Volume 1. Cambridge, S. 17–38. Beblek, A.; Lahaye, L.; Meiser, M.; Schmidt, K. (2019). Erarbeitung eines Leitfadens für die Kommunikation von bodenbezogenen Themen für Verbraucher und Konsumenten. Umweltbundesamt. https://www.bmuv.de/fileadmin/Daten_BMU/Pools/Forschungsdatenbank/ fkz_3717_71_2810_leitfaden_kommunikation_bodenbezogen_bf.pdf. Brevik, E. C.; Krzic, M.; Muggler, C.; Field, D.; Hannam, J.; Uchida, Y.(2022): Soil science education: A multinational look at current perspectives. In: Natural Sciences Education 51 (1). European Commission (27 June 2022). Foster Soil Education Across Society. https://cordis.europa.eu/programme/id/HORIZON_HORIZON-MISS-2022-SOIL-01-07; 31.01.2024, 23:01 European Commission (undated). A Soil Deal for Europe. 100 living labs and lighthouses to lead the transition towards healthy soils by 2030. Implementation Plan. Internal Working Document. https://errin.eu/RI-Policy/missions/soil European Union (2023). EU Missions. Soil Deal for Europe. https://mission-soil-platform.ec.europa.eu/sites/default/files/2023-10/FS-Soil-Deal-for-Europe_EN_042023_0.pdf. https://cordis.europa.eu/programme/id/HORIZON_HORIZON-MISS-2022-SOIL-01-07; 31.01.2024, 23:00 IPCC, 2019: Summary for Policymakers. In: Climate Change and Land: an IPCC special report on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems [P.R. Shukla, J. Skea, E. Calvo Buendia, V. Masson-Delmotte, H.- O. Pörtner, D. C. Roberts, P. Zhai, R. Slade, S. Connors, R. van Diemen, M. Ferrat, E. Haughey, S. Luz, S. Neogi, M. Pathak, J. Petzold, J. Portugal Pereira, P. Vyas, E. Huntley, K. Kissick, M. Belkacemi, J. Malley, (eds.)]. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009157988.001 Luig, L. (2024): Bodenatlas 2024. In cooperation with I. Dewitz, T. Witte, D. Wannemacher, L. Stiem-Bhatia; J. Weigelt. Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung in colaboration with Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland, TMG – Think Tank for Sustainability, TMG Research gGmbH. Berlin.