On 17 March, at the Collegium Geographicum of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, science, practice, and environmental care converged during the seminar "Knowledge is Key: The Role of Soil in Research, Education and Practice". The highlight of the event was the opening of the new Demonstration Soil Garden, created with the support of the Provincial Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management (WFOŚiGW) in Poznań. The garden, created in collaboration between the AMU Faculty of Human Geography and Planning and the AMU Faculty of Geographical and Geological Sciences, will serve as a dynamic educational space. It will provide an opportunity to experience, observe, and explore the natural environment that exists right beneath our feet every day.
"Currently, the Soil Garden offers visitors the chance to view and touch a soil profile, and a soilarium, a space where one can observe the ongoing process of decomposition of organic matter such as leaves, branches or pine needles, and their transformation into organic matter, so necessary for enriching soils with nutrients, retaining water and fostering the development of soil organisms,” explains Prof. Karolina Lewińska. The professor adds that it is the first place of its kind in Poznań. The site features mini-plots demonstrating the effects of water and organic fertilisation on the health and biomass of perennial plants, as well as raised planters where various vegetables will be planted. – During classes and workshops, participants will be able to highlight the need to preserve healthy soils, the processes that support their productivity, and the discovery of the secrets hidden beneath our feet, because after all, hardly anyone knows that soil is not boring at all, but has different colours and structures – adds Prof. Karolina Lewińska.
During the opening ceremony, Rafał Ratajczak, Chairman of the Board of the Provincial Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management in Poznań, stated: "The Fund continuously supports various environmental protection initiatives; however, this project was developed as part of a call for proposals for environmental education. It is intended to educate students, demonstrate the diversity of soils, and show how to prevent the waste of what is produced in the soil. We are very keen to ensure that the project serves the purposes of education, counteracting drought in Greater Poland, since this is a very serious problem,” said the president of WFOŚiGW. And he added: “We have been working with the University for many years; every year we receive well-executed projects, our cooperation is excellent, and we are delighted that these projects are being developed — our role is to support them financially, and we need partners who will devise a good educational project and then implement it, not to mention run it, because that is the most crucial part," concluded President Ratajczak.
Soil, often unnoticed, is now becoming one of the crucial topics in the debate on the future of the environment. The "Soil" mission, operating under the Horizon Europe programme, aims to raise public awareness, foster cooperation with citizens and provide scientific tools to restore the health of Europe’s soils. AMU is pursuing these activities through, among other things, the international LOESS project, which involves 20 partners from 16 countries. During the seminar, selected highlights of the project’s findings were presented.
Photo by Przemysław Stanula
