National Soil Partnerships
Additionally to the Subregional Partnerships within the European Soil Partnership, five National Soil Partnerships have been established so far: Italy, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine.
Here we present main information and activities of our National Soil Partnerships.
Italian Soil Partnership
coming soon
Slovakian Soil Partnership
The Slovakian Soil Partnership cooperates with the EJP SOIL Project and has established a National Soil Mirror Group. This group consists of four working groups on (1) soil monitoring, (2) living labs, (3) SSM and business models and (4) awareness raising. A statute of the national group has been created.
Slovenian Soil Partnership
The Slovenian Soil Partnership was established in 2017 and is a voluntary association of organizations and individuals, in which anyone can participate or obtain information on sustainable soil management and soil protection. Since then, one meeting was held every year on World Soil Day following the same theme as World Soil Day.
Key areas of work include: Awareness raising, work with civil society and schools, harmonisation of soil legislation, knowledge exchange, connecting Slovenian soil experts, cross-sectoral cooperation and addressing problems related to sustainable land use and soil protection.
Portuguese Soil Partnership
Established in 2014 through a joint initiative of the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Develpmend (DGADR) and the Portuguese Soil Science Society (SPCS), the Portuguese National Soil Partnership currently counts 52 partners (March 2025) and has its own website.
The Partnership works on technical and scientific advice on policy proposals on sustainable soil use and management, the creation of a network for agricultural and forestry demonstrations related to sustainable soil management practices (Agri-Dem Solo Network). Two Regional Soil related Living Labs have been set in place (LivingSoiLL - Healthy Soil to Permanent Crops Living Labs, IBERSOILL - Iberian Living Soils) and a close collaboration with the Portuguese Soil Observatoy project has been established. The Portuguese Soil Observatory project works towards an interoperable, shared data infrastructure that integrates national and European reporting obligations.
Ukrainian Soil Partnership
The Ukrainian Soil Partnership (USP) was founded in November 2019 by FAO as part of a project funded by the Global Environment Facility. Since the war, the Ukrainian Soil Partnership practically ceased its work.
Beginning of 2025, the war had affected 14.5 million hectares of the Ukrainian agricultural land, including 9.5 million hectares of chernozems. Different kinds of military actions impact soil health and threaten national and global food security. Preliminary NSC ISSAR estimates indicate annual grain production losses from soil degradation and temporary land occupation from 10 to 15 million tons, equivalent to the loss of food supplies for 77 to 155 million people.
Soil research is ongoing despite the war: surveys and the restoration of war-affected soils in a focus region are supported by FAO and the World Food Program, the National Research Fund supports surveys and the rehabilitation of Chernozems and similar pilot projects are currently being discussed with Spanish partners. The ideas to create living labs, to develop an infrastructure for field surveys and analytical work and to monitor soil cover, are being discussed as well. Support for further projects and rehabilitation in the future will be needed.
Another soil public organization active in Ukraine, is the Ukrainian Society of Soil Scientists and Agrochemists (USSSA), that operates on the basis of the National Scientific Center "Institute for Soil Science and Agrochemistry Research named after O.N. Sokolovsky" (NSC ISSAR, Kharkiv, Ukraine). This nationwide public organization unites the majority of Ukrainian soil scientists as individuals. USSSA is a GSP/ESP partner from 2014 and is registered as a full member of IUSS.
Current USP contact: ecosoil54@gmail.com - USP Chair Prof., DSc Mykola Miroshnychenko (NSC ISSAR Deputy Director for Scientific Activities, Corresponding member of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences)
Current USSSA contact: utga-c@ukr.net - PhD Hanna Momot, Chief Scientific Secretary