IISD RS @ Second GSW 2013, 30 October 2013, Berlin, Germany

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2 November

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Second Global Soil Week (GSW 2013) - “Losing Ground?”

27-31 October 2013 | Berlin, Germany

Daily web coverage (click on the following links to see our daily web pages)

Intro - 28 October - 29 October - 30 October

Summary Highlights of the Meeting

Wednesday, 30 October 2013

Discussions on the third day of Global Soil Week 2013 focused on pathways to societal change. In the morning, eight dialogue sessions took place, covering: how to reactivate soil functions in urban regions; transdisciplinary collaboration and strengthening science-policy-practice linkages; capacity building for reclamation and revaluation of degraded sites; developing effective soil communication; communicating the pivotal role of soil quality in sustainable agriculture and food security; a new instrument to address soil and land degradation under the UN Convention to Combat Desertification; mobilizing societal change to address land degradation and reduce poverty in the developing world; and partnerships for responsible land governance.

In the afternoon, following a panel discussion on outcomes from the dialogues sessions, a closing high-level plenary convened to consider the key messages of GSW 2013 and follow up actions. Participants were invited to continue to reflect on the dialogues fostered during the week and submit proposals for inclusion in the draft outcome document, Agenda for Action.

The plenary session concluded with a wrap-up performance by Theatersport Berlin, extracting messages from the discussions.

Summary of the meeting in English (in HTML and in PDF format)

Visit the full ENB coverage for Wednesday, 30 October 2013

Theatersport Berlin closed the session by performing an improvizational skit based on key words and suggestions from participants

DIALOGUE SESSIONS

Dialogue session on reactivating soil functions in urban regions, with Martin
Wattenbach, GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, presenting a case study
from Shanghai-Nanjing, China

Dialogue session on transdisciplinary collaboration and strengthening the science-policy-
practice linkages

Steven Banwart, SoilTrEC, presented on global
soils research for adapting to environmental and
social change

Stefan Weiers, European Commission, talked
about community-based approaches to
environmental management

Dialogue session on gaining ground

L-R: Anna Euler, Executive Director, Amapá State Forestry Institute, Brazil; Teofilus Nghitila, Commissioner, Department of
Environmental Affairs, Namibia; Franz Makeschin, Scientific Director, Dresden International University, Germany; Christian
Graefen, GIZ; Minister Aroldo Cedraz, Vice-President, Federal Court of Accounts, Brazil; and Deborah Bossio, Director of
Soil Research, International Centre for Tropical Agriculture

;

Dialogue session on developing effective soil communication

Dialogue session on soil as a factor for sustainable agriculture and food security in a changing climate

Hailu Araya Tedla, Institute for Sustainable Development, Ethiopia

Dialogue session on a new instrument to address soil and land degradation under the UNCCD

Uriel Safriel, Israel

Nathalie Van Haren, Both Ends, the
Netherlands

Emmanuel Seck, ENDA Tiers Monde,
Senegal

L-R: Harald Ginzky, German Federal Environment Agency; Sergio Zelaya, UNCCD; Patrick
Wegerdt, European Commission

Dialogue session on mobilizing societal change to address land degradation and reduce poverty in the
developing world

Dialogue session on partnerships for responsible governance

PLENARY: MANAGING THE NEXUS

Walter Erdelen, Former Assistant
Director-General, UN Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) and Thematic Ambassador,
International Soil Policy and Sustainable
Development Goals

Deborah Bossio, Director of Soil Research,
International Centre for Tropical
Agriculture (CIAT) and Thematic
Ambassador, Material Cycles

Pablo Pacheco, Principal Scientist,
Centre for International Forestry
Research (CIFOR) and Thematic
Ambassador, Sustainable Land
Management and Soil Engineering

Camilla Toulmin, Director, International
Institute for Environment and Development
(IIED), moderated the session

Iris Krebber, Food Security and Land
Adviser, Department for International
Development (DFID), UK, Thematic
Ambassador, Responsible Land
Governance

L-R: Camilla Toulmin, IIED; Moujahed Achouri, FAO; and Pablo Pacheco,
CIFOR

Teofilus Nghitila, Commissioner, Department of Environmental Affairs, Namibia, making an intervention

PLENARY: REVIEW AND WAYS FORWARD IN MANAGING THE NEXUS

L-R: Günther Bachmann, Secretary-General, Council for Sustainable Development, Germany; Jennifer Franco, Coordinator,
Agrarian Justice, Transnational Institute, US; Jae Yang, President, International Union of Soil Sciences; Ronald Vargas, Soils
and Land Management Officer, FAO; Luc Gnacadja, former Executive Secretary, UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD);
Yanira Ntupanyama, Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Climate Management, Malawi; Anneke Trux, Team Leader,
Human Capacity Building Academy for International Cooperation, GIZ; Helge Wendenburg, Director-General, Federal Ministry for
the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), Germany; and Md. Sirajul Islam, Head, Agriculture and
Food Security Program, BRAC University, Bangladesh

Monday, 28 October 2013

The Second Global Soil Week (GSW 2013), opened on Monday, 28 October, with a creative interpretation of the conference theme of “Losing Ground?” by Theatersport Berlin. Two plenary sessions then took place, exploring what losing ground means in relation to the nexus of water, food and energy security, and other natural resources, and how land degradation affects people’s livelihoods in different parts of the world.

In the afternoon, four interactive dialogue sessions took place, organized around four thematic threads: material cycles; sustainable land management and soil engineering; international soil policy and sustainable development goals; and responsible land governance.

In the evening plenary session, “thematic ambassadors” for each of the four conference threads highlighted key issues from the dialogue sessions for inclusion in the final outcome document of the conference, Agenda for Action. This was followed by a closing plenary session on “Understanding soils in the nexus.”

Throughout the day, an informal “action forum” also took place, encouraging participants to creatively use all five senses to reflect on losing ground.

Summary of the meeting in English (in HTML and in PDF format)

Visit the full ENB coverage for Monday, 28 October 2013

Tarja Halonen, Co-Chair, UN Secretaray-
General's High-Level Panel on Global
Sustainability

Klaus Töpfer, Executive Director,
Institute for Advanced Sustainabilty
Studies (IASS)

Tanja Gönner, Chair of the
Management Board, Deutsche
Gesellschaft für Internationale
Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Germany

Janez Potočnik, Commissioner for the Environment, European Commission, made a video address

Torgny Holmgren, Executive Director,
Stockholm International Water Institute

Vandana Shiva, Board Member,
International Forum on Globalization

Jes Weigelt, IASS

PLENARY: TOUCHING GROUND

L-R: Alexander Müller, Panel moderator, Senior Fellow, IASS, with Tewolde Gebre
Egziabher, Director-General, Environmental Protection Agency, Ethiopia