Alpine Subregional Soil Partnership (AlpSP)
Official website
Governance
Chair: Michele Freppaz (Italy)
Coordination Unit: Maria Legner (Austria)
The Steering Committee consists of the chair and the pillar leaders. Additionally Mr Thomas Peham (Austria) acts as a link to the Alpine Convention Soil Working Group.
The following AlpSP Steering Committee members took over the leadership for the pillars of action:
| Pillar 1: Sustainable soil management | Mr Aleš Poljanec (Slovenia) |
| Pillar 2: Soil awareness raising | Ms Silvia Stanchi (Italy) |
| Pillar 3: Soil information & research | Mr Borut Vrščaj (Slovenia) |
| Pillar 4: Regional coordination | Ms Maria Legner (Austria) |
| Pillar 5: Data comparison & harmonization | Mr Frédéric Berger (France) |
Countries
Austria, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, Switzerland, France
History
The AlpSP was established in 2017 during the EU Alpine Space project Links4Soils (2016 - 2020) and aims at connecting soil experts and the users of soil knowledge (such as authorities, practitioners and NGOs etc.). The Subregional Partnership works towards better integration of soil protection into land management practices and cooperation in the Alpine region.
- International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation event targeting schools in Bard Fortress, Aosta
- 07/25: IPROMO Summer school on “Glaciers: understanding, preserving, and adapting to climate change” in collaboration with the FAO-Mountain Partnership, including a field excursion on mountain soils
- New website https://www.alpinesoils.org/ under construction in the framework of the SOIL Interreg project (old website https://alpine-soils.eu/?page_id=35)
- 02/2024: Participation of Michele Freppaz as expert member to the in-depth review of the topic “Conservation of wetland and peatland soils" dealt with in Article 9 of the Soil Conservation Protocol. Soil Working Group Alpine Convention, Monaco.
- 05/2024: Organization of the session “Caring for mountain soils, the hidden key to climate change adaptation and SDGs: challenges, threats, success stories” at the Congress of the International Union of Soil Sciences in Florence Italy. The session hosted 12 oral presentations and 9 posters. Further a post-conference tour “From Alpine Soils to Rice Paddies: an outlook into the soils and the services they provide” was organized. The tour was sould out with 21 participants from Japan, Scotland, Üoland, china, Switzerland and Germany.
- 06/2024: Invited oral communication by Michele Freppaz: “Mountain Soils in the Alps under a changing climate at the Seminar on Renewable energy at the service of the territory and climate impact in mountain areas: local solutions for European sustainable development”, organized by the EU-Commission for the Environment, Climate change and Energy, European Committee of the Regions, Saint Vincent.
- 07/2024: Lecture by Silvia Stanchi on Conservation and management of mountain soils at the International Programme on research and training on sustainable management of mountain areas (IPROMO), organized by the FAO-Mountain Partnership Secretariat and the University of Torino, 2024 Edition, Ormea.
- 09/2024: Start of EU INTERREG Alpine Space project “Soils: Our Invisible Allies” (active involvement in the drafting beforehand)
- 10/2024: Kick-off Project SOIL: OurInvisibleAlly in Ljubljana
- 12/2024: World Soil Day in Aosta Valley Region
- 03/2023: Workshop with AlpSP members, hosted by Kunst und Natur in Nantesbuch: planning next activities & explore future project opportunities. 3-day course on Applied Pedology for practitioners (40 participnats) from Aosta Valley & Piemonte regions.
- 06/2023: Field trip connected to the 3-day course in March
- 07/2023: Lecture by Emanuele Pintaldi on Mountain forest soils: their contributions to combating mountain threats at the International Programme on research and training on sustainable management of mountain areas (IPROMO), organized by the FAO-Mountain Partnership Secretariat and the University of Torino in Ormea
- 07/2023: Soil Science training for the Italian IESO Team (International Earth Sciences Olympics
- Keynote lecture by Michele Freppaz: Soil, climate change and sustainable development at the Italian Soil Science Society Conference in Palermo
- Organization of the World Soil Day 2023 in Aosta (Aosta Valley Region, NW Italy) by the University of Torino and the Local regional administration. The activities targeted both schools and soil practitioners.
- Alpine SOILutions 2022
- Publication of policy brief on sustainable use of mountain soils
- 02/2022: Participation in the Open Ended Scientific Commitee of the International Year of Mountains 2022 – A Policy Brief on the sustainable use of mountain soils was issued and is available here.
- 06/2022: Contribution to the LTAP -Long-Term Action Plan for the implementation of provisions and declarations on soil protection in the specific context of the Alpine region of the Soil Working Group of the Alpine Convention
- 12/22: World Soil Day in Aosta, Meeting Steering Committee
- Pillar 1: Translation of the FAO Voluntary Guidelines for Sustainable Soil Management to Slovenian and German
- Pillar 2: Newsletter (200 Alpine Soil Partners); preparation of a portable soil monolith
- 07/2021: Course on mountain soils for professionals
- 09/2021: Eurosoil Session: “Understanding and managing mountain soils, and related ecosystem services”
- 11/2021: Alpine SOILutions Congress 2021
SOIL:OurInvisibleAlly
The Interreg project SOIL:OurInvisibleAlly, granted for the period 2021 to 2027, focuses on implementing EU soil legislation in Alpine municipalities. Its objectives are to raise awareness and knowledge on soils and enhancing protection and preservation of nature.
More information on the project can be found here.
Links4Soils
The Interreg project Links4Soils was granted during the years 2016 to 2020 and focused on improving soil protection and sustainable soil management and enhancing knowledge on soils.
One of the main outcomes of the project is the Alpine Soil Platform with information on soils, soil data and best practices.
Read more about the project here.
Find more videos of LINKS4SOIL: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ_OUdjiHspNob1sk6DVdEQ