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Links4Soils 
Linking Alpine Soil Knowledge for Sustainable Ecosystem Management and Capacity Building
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Outcomes

Overview

The soil provides us with many services, often unrecognised: it purifies water, retains it in the case of floods, stores large amounts of carbon, allows plants to grow and influences our well-being in many ways. Its wide-ranging functions make soil governance difficult for public administrations, which often lack soil knowledge and applicable management tools. To provide this much-needed soil expertise and information, Links4soils created the alpinesoils.eu website, which includes an Alpine soil map, cross-sectoral case studies and a soil management consulting service, as well as a transnational community of soil experts.

Factsheet

  • 2014 – 2020
  • Liveable
  • Enhance the protection, the conservation and the ecological connectivity of Alpine Space ecosystems
    • Group 6: To preserve and valorise natural resources, including water and cultural resources
  • 11/2016
  • 04/2020
  • 2.317.513 EUR
  • 1.975.881 EUR
  • Completed
  • Knowledge and technology transfer, Soil and air quality, Sustainable management of natural resources

Partners

Agricultural Institute of Slovenia (Lead partner)
  • Lead partner
  • Slovenia
  • Zahodna Slovenia
  • Ljubljana
    Slovenian Forest Service
    • Slovenia
    • Zahodna Slovenia
    • Ljubljana
        Office of the Tyrolean Provincial Government
        • Austria
        • Tirol
        • Innsbruck
            Climate Alliance Tyrol
            • Austria
            • Tirol
            • Innsbruck
                Institute of Geography, University of Innsbruck
                • Austria
                • Tirol
                • Innsbruck
                    University of Torino
                    • Italy
                    • Piemonte
                    • Torino
                        Autonomous region of Aosta valley
                        • Italy
                        • Valle d'Aosta/Vallée d'Aoste
                        • Aosta
                            LAND-PLAN Bureau for Landscape Ecology
                            • Germany
                            • Oberbayern
                            • Ebersberg
                                National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment
                                • France
                                • Rhône-Alpes
                                • Villeurbanne
                                    Municipality of Kaufering
                                    • Germany
                                    • Oberbayern
                                    • Kaufering
                                        • 46.06067394999999514.518476205129538
                                        • 46.052666214.480088002780466
                                        • 47.26195244999999511.397072092879615
                                        • 47.261458611.39377785131579
                                        • 47.263063511.384189121260377
                                        • 45.0693797.6897242
                                        • 45.73685187.3221999
                                        • 48.07235511.970901000000001
                                        • 45.77335734.8868454
                                        • 48.0870954510.86010337023528

                                        Outcomes

                                        • Soil Management Practices in the Alps - a collection.

                                          Network
                                          The book "Soil Management Practices in the Alps" is the collaborative effort of Links4Soils project partners, observers and Alpine Soil Partnership members. Good practice examples of the Alpine are for sustainable soil management in different sectors show: Sustainable Soil Management is possible.

                                        • Soil Ecosystem Services in the Alps - an introduction for decision-makers

                                          Tool
                                          The booklet "Soil Ecosystem Services in the Alps - an introduction for decision-makers" gives an overview of the importance of soils for our society. Using the ecosystem service approach deepens the understanding and makes complex soil dynamics and processes understandable for decision-makers.

                                        • Sustainable Soil Management Guidelines

                                          Tool
                                          This visually designed flyer lists soil management activities in all relevant sectors. Soil is a complex topic, by to land use management and policy questions it gets tangible. The result is: "Soil Etiquette" a how-to on soil management.

                                        • SoilCheck - a digital survey to evaluate soil management in municipalities

                                          Tool
                                          The SoilCheck provides local public authorities with a simple to use questionnaire to find out strengths and weaknesses of their soil protection actiivties. Innovative and comprehensive activities towards sustainable soil management are described.
                                          The user gets an overview and tailor-suited soil management activities in the realm of possibilities of local public authorities. The questionnaire is available in all Alpine languages. Digital SoilCheck for decision-makers of Alpine municipalities: bodencheck.klimabuendnis.at (German), it-soilcheck.alpinesoils.eu (Italian), fr-soilcheck.alpinesoils.eu (French), si-soilcheck.alpinesoils.eu (Slovenian).

                                        • Alpine Soil Information and Decision Support Platform

                                          Strategy
                                          The first Alps-wide public web information tool for soil protection and ESS management – it serves as an information hub (incl. an Alpine Soil web GIS viewer and a GeoNetwork node) and offers the opportunity to join the Alpine Soil Partnership, a permanent transnational soil cooperation network.
                                          The soil web platform serves as an information hub for users that seek information about the soils in the Alpine space. The platform shares knowledge about soils and the Links4Soils project results, such as applicable soil thematic maps, case studies reports, consultancy service with FAQ, sectoral best-case practices for management and protection of Alpine soils etc., which will be gradually added to the Platform. The Links4Soils project encourages stakeholders from different sectors like forestry, agriculture, nature conservation, natural disaster protection and spatial planning, to benefit from transborder knowledge on Alpine soils, in order to integrate it into local and regional management and planning.

                                        • Short Videos on the Importance of Alpine Soils

                                          Strategy
                                          Four short videos produced by a professional focusing on the comprehensive explanation of complex soil - environment - climate relationship. Why talking about soil? What is a living soil? 100 % of soil potential Soil under a changing climate No soil: No food & No wood
                                        Links4Soils
                                        Borut Vrščaj