Sustainability Webinar | The Sustainability of Agricultural Soils
the chair
8th Sustainability Webinar
The Sustainability of Agricultural Soils
Soils are the key to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs) proposed by United Nations and mitigate the climate change adverse effects. Agriculture is the activity that needs a greater occupation of soil, consuming land resources, and therefore, it is basic to be able to achieve sustainability. In addition, it is essential for food production and to ensure food safety as FAO constantly reminds us.
In order to achieve the SDGs and to reduce the effects of climate change and ensure food production, sustainability in agriculture must consider numerous aspects, beyond technical aspects and soil management.
Without any doubt, there is a clear need to increase organic carbon stock in soils, with proper management, but other strategies must also be applied that involve the diversification of production, the implementation of the circular economy and education. Moreover, Citizens must be involved and participate in order to achieve the objectives of environmental sustainability.
A combined effect of all these actions is what will allow us to reduce soil degradation and stop the continuous loss. As indicated by the FAO, every five seconds an area equivalent to a football field is degraded and at this rate, in the year 2050 90% of the soil will be degraded. Only with sustainable strategies can we avoid it.
These are some of the ideas that we want to discuss in this webinar and hope that participants can give us opinions and good feedback.
Date: 2 May 2022
Time: 11:00am CEST | 5:00am EDT | 5:00pm CST Asia
Webinar ID: 818 7983 0184
Webinar Secretariat: sustainability.webinar@mdpi.com
Meet Our Speakers
Prof. Dr. Jose Navarro Pedreño
Department of Agrochemistry and Environment, University Miguel Hernández of Elche, Spain;
Full professor at University Miguel Hernández of Elche, Spain, previously at the University of Alicante, Autonomous University of Madrid and Polytechnic University of Valencia.
Graduate in Sciences (Chemist), graduate in Geography and History (Geography), master in Water Management, Treatment, master in Fertilizers and Environment and master in Environmental Management, and PhD in Environmental Sciences.
Research is focused in soil-water and waste-environment relations, mainly in soil-water and soil-waste interactions under different management and waste reuse. Researcher ID:A-7830-2010 and ORCID code: 0000-0002-4765-2191.
The dissemination of research activity is reflected in 235 communications presented in national and international conferences and congresses, 29 invited lectures from universities, associations and government agencies.
Director of the PhD Program Environment and Sustainability (2012-present).
Member of the Spanish Society of Soil Science, International Union of Soil Sciences, European Society for Soil Conservation, DessertNet and the Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry.
Sponsors and Partners
Organizer
On Monday, 2 May 2022, MDPI and the Journal Sustainability organized the 8th Webinar on Sustainability, entitled " The Sustainability of Agricultural Soils”. This online seminar was chaired by Prof. Dr. Jose Navarro Pedreño from the Department of Agrochemistry and Environment, University Miguel Hernández of Elche, Spain. The three speakers Prof. Dr. Raúl Zornoza Belmonte, Dr. Maria Doula, and Prof. Dr. Laura Bertha Reyes Sánchez discussed the three main issues of sustainability – the Environment, the Economy and the Society (EES) – related to sustainable agricultural management.
The first speaker to kick off the webinar was Prof. Dr. Raúl Zornoza Belmonte from the Technical University of Cartagena, Spain. He explained the achievements of adopting good agricultural practices such as reducing soil losses and maintaining ecosystem services. Dr. Maria Doula, from the Benaki Phytopathological Institute, Greece, followed with her presentation about the complexity of the circular Economy and its relationship with agriculture and soils. Finally, Prof. Dr. Laura Bertha Reyes Sánchez, from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, highlighted the importance of soil education to stop land degradation, and gave some tips like “educating is not teaching - teaching is only a part of the process” and “a planet without soils has no life - we need soil for food, breath and drink water”. Their presentations were followed by Q&A sessions moderated by the chair.
The webinar was offered via Zoom and required registration to attend. The full recording can be found below. In order to stay updated on the next webinars on Sustainability, be sure to sign up for our newsletter by clicking on “Subscribe” at the top of the page.
Guest Editors: Prof. Dr. Jose Navarro Pedreño and Prof. Dr. Manuel Miguel Jordan-Vidal
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2022