Abstract
The LOESS project has created useful and accessible tools to support educators to embed education for soil health in their teaching.
The initial project phases involved desk research, focus groups and interviews with stakeholders across Europe to map gaps and needs in soil health education. Several findings emerged. For example, outdoor activities encouraging personal connections to soil and reflecting real-world situations, and collaborations with societal partners were insufficiently integrated into current educational approaches. A strong desire to address this was also identified.
As a result, we prepared guidelines for Community Engaged Research and Learning (CERL) for further and higher level educators.
We also:
Developed a CERL module for lecturers which begins in October 2025
Developed an online workshop to help educators design a research question from a problem (running October 2025 and February 2026)
Designed and ran a MOOC (completed by 400 educators)
Created a soil glossary, AR app and crowd mapping tool
Developed and piloted four soil health learning scenarios for primary and secondary school levels.
Next steps are piloting CERL across Universities, using evaluation and feedback to optimise resources and sharing tools and resources with the wider education and policymaker communities.
Information is available on the LOESS website: https://loess-project.eu/.
The initial project phases involved desk research, focus groups and interviews with stakeholders across Europe to map gaps and needs in soil health education. Several findings emerged. For example, outdoor activities encouraging personal connections to soil and reflecting real-world situations, and collaborations with societal partners were insufficiently integrated into current educational approaches. A strong desire to address this was also identified.
As a result, we prepared guidelines for Community Engaged Research and Learning (CERL) for further and higher level educators.
We also:
Developed a CERL module for lecturers which begins in October 2025
Developed an online workshop to help educators design a research question from a problem (running October 2025 and February 2026)
Designed and ran a MOOC (completed by 400 educators)
Created a soil glossary, AR app and crowd mapping tool
Developed and piloted four soil health learning scenarios for primary and secondary school levels.
Next steps are piloting CERL across Universities, using evaluation and feedback to optimise resources and sharing tools and resources with the wider education and policymaker communities.
Information is available on the LOESS website: https://loess-project.eu/.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | 13th International Conference on Sustainable Development: Proceedings |
| Publisher | European Center of Sustainable Development |
| Pages | 84 |
| Number of pages | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - 10 Sept 2025 |
| Event | 13th International Conference on Sustainable Development - Rome, Italy Duration: 10 Sept 2025 → 11 Sept 2025 |
Conference
| Conference | 13th International Conference on Sustainable Development |
|---|---|
| Country/Territory | Italy |
| City | Rome |
| Period | 10/09/2025 → 11/09/2025 |
Keywords
- soil health
- education
- tools and resources
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