As part of the definition of the national soil health monitoring strategy, public and private entities, and national experts, including GreenUPorto, will meet this February 20th, in Braga, to discuss the challenges facing the establishment and implementation of a national soil monitoring system.

Under the theme “National strategy for monitoring soil health – Contributions from the scientific community” the workshop takes place at the Gualtar Campus, at the University of Minho, organized by the Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo, the University of Minho and the Foundation for Science and Technology, and with the support of the Portuguese Partnership for Soil, the University of Coimbra and the General Directorate of Agriculture and Rural Development.

This event arises from the need for a debate focused on the challenges that will arise in the implementation of the future Directive on Soil Monitoring and Resilience, currently under discussion between the Commission, the Council and the European Parliament, and is expected to be approved and come into force in 2025.

Its adoption will imply the establishment of a national soil monitoring system aligned with the Directive’s requirements. Designing such a system will be a demanding process, with technical and scientific support, cooperation and knowledge sharing being crucial.

The workshop “National strategy for monitoring soil health – Contributions from the scientific community” also continues what was agreed on October 28, 2024, in an event held at the University of Évora, which brought together around 80 representatives of soil innovation projects. This event aimed to debate the topic of soil health, meeting the objective of the National Soil Observatory, in its start-up phase, of becoming the main provider of reference data on soil health in the national territory.

Consult the program here.