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From Ocean to Soil Literacy: advancing SOILSCAPE’s mission
Soil is fundamental to life on Earth. It stores more carbon than the atmosphere and vegetation combined, regulates greenhouse gases, sustains biodiversity and supports 95% of global food production. Soil also plays a critical role in water filtration and climate regulation. Yet, despite its vital role, soil continues to degrade at an alarming rate – every 5 seconds, an area equivalent to a football pitch is lost to erosion.
While soil remains largely underappreciated, art and creativity are emerging as powerful tools to raise public awareness and inspire action. In this spirit, the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe, in collaboration with the French Soil Science Society (AFES), hosted the workshop ‘From Ocean to Soil Literacy’ in Venice on 14-15 April 2025.
The event marked a key milestone in the SOILSCAPE project, co-funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme and the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI).
By engaging with artistic perspectives, we learn to identify questions rooted in “novelty” rather than just utility – precisely what science needs today.
SOILSCAPE brings together cultural and creative industries, artists, and civil society in a shared effort to promote soil literacy across Europe and beyond. Central to the workshop was a pressing question: how can we spark a collective movement that reconnects us with soil, driving action to protect it?
The workshop drew inspiration from the Ocean Literacy Portal, developed by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (UNESCO-IOC), and incorporated insights from SOILSCAPE’s first year – including stakeholder mapping, narrative analysis, SEPIA activities, and case studies. Participants collaborated to co-design a Soil Literacy starter pack and explored the next steps towards launching the ‘Artistic and Cultural Soil Orchestras’.
The workshop also examined potential synergies between the projects and the (EUSO), led by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, with a view to co-creating a Soil Literacy Portal, a dynamic digital platform to raise soil awareness.
Through hands-on sessions, participants refined outreach tools, identified ways to integrate artistic and educational modules into local events and festivals, and crafted engagement strategies tailored to specific national contexts.
As the urgency of soil awareness grows, the event planted the seeds of a new movement centred on soil health and preservation. Arwyn Jones, Deputy Head of Unit, EUSO, Joint Research Centre of the European Commission emphasised the importance of empowering society, making people more aware of the role of soil in their day-to-day life. This is challenging, given that we live in an urban environment where soil is often hidden or forgotten.
Soil is everywhere, even here in Venice all the buildings are supported by trees that grew on soil. So, with no soil, there is no Venice.
