Soil health is now widely recognized as the cornerstone of the health of ecosystems, animals, plants, and humans. It is under this motto of «Soil: Pillar of One Health» that the Portuguese Society of Soil Sciences (SPCS), in partnership with the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto (FCUP) and GreenUPorto – Research Center for Agro-food Production Sustainable, will organize the National Soil Science Meeting (EACS2024).

The event, with an open invitation to students, researchers, members of public administration, associations, collaborative laboratories, companies and schools, will have the FCUP facilities as the stage for this edition and is scheduled for July 3 to 5, 2024.

Highlighting sub-themes under the heading “Soil: Pillar of One Health”, such as “Soil, food security and human health”, “Soil degradation processes”, “Soil and climate change”, among others, the initiative aims to highlight the functions and services that the soil performs through the interconnection of the soil microbiome with that of all living beings, substantiating the concept of “one health”.

Soil health is crucial in achieving the sustainable development goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda, supporting (and benefiting from) actions aimed at reducing poverty and hunger, increasing the health and well-being of populations , the existence of quality water for human consumption and more sustainable production and consumption, in combating climate change and supporting life on the earth’s surface (SDGs 1-3, 6, 12-13 and 15).

In this context, this Meeting aims to offer the scientific community, companies, associations, public bodies and society in general, a moment to share research and technological progress, made in Portugal, in the area of Soil Sciences, and to discuss the main issues to be addressed at national and international level.

At the event, national and international projects related to soil health and conservation will also be presented, in which several national researchers are involved.

In its organization, the event features excellent professionals and researchers from the U.Porto (GreenUPorto, FCUP, CIIMAR) and renowned institutions distributed throughout the country, such as INIAV (National Institute of Agricultural and Veterinary Research), Viticulture Commission of the Vinho Verde Region, University of Évora, University of Lisbon (ISA), University of Coimbra, University of Aveiro, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, University of Minho, University of the Azores, Polytechnic Institute of Castelo Branco, between others.

Registration for the event is open and accessible at https://eacs.pt/registo/ until May 15, 2024. It is also possible to submit Work Abstracts for presentation at the event, with submission until May 1, 2024.

Find out more on the official page: https://eacs.pt/.