Soil Culture Day Tour
The theme for the 22nd World Congress of Soil Science is Crossing Boundaries, Changing Society and this tour aimed to explore the ways in which soils have influenced communities, informed traditional practice, and continue to shape and influence society today.
The tour began by visiting Dumfries House, home to The Prince’s Foundation, where a guided walk demonstrated the integration of heritage and cultural priorities with education offering. Opportunities to view student build projects exploring traditional techniques including earth building, included alongside conversation with the Trust’s organic farmer and estate manager.
After departing Dumfries House, the tour headed for the Glasgow Centre for Contemporary Art where delegates had the opportunity to explore the exhibitions on show, including We are Compost – Composting the We. Afterwards, delegates participated in a dialogue event co-hosted by elected chair and co-chair of IUSS Division 4.5 History, Philosophy and Sociology of Soil Science, Dr. Alex Toland and Dr Anna Krzywoszynska.
About Dumfries House and The Prince’s Foundation
The Prince’s Foundation provides holistic solutions to challenges facing the world today. They champion a sustainable approach to how we live our lives and build our communities, run a diverse programme of education and training for all ages and backgrounds, and regenerate and care for places where communities thrive and that visitors enjoy.
They work nationally and internationally, but at the heart of the organisation is the heritage-led regeneration of the Dumfries House estate and its wider community, where their principles and philosophies are explored and put into practice.
The walking tour demonstrated the integration of heritage and cultural priorities with an education offering. Soil science underpins our work within the science, field to form and farm to fork curriculum content and demonstrations of practice were shown. Opportunities to view student build projects exploring traditional techniques including earth building were included alongside conversation with our organic farmer and estate manager who will explain how we maintain our formal and informal landscaped areas and links into partner organisations such as Soil Association.
About the Glasgow Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA) and Dialogue Event
CCA: Centre for Contemporary Arts is Glasgow’s hub for the arts. They host a year-round programme of exhibitions, events, films, music, literature, workshops, festivals and performances. At the heart of all activities is the desire to work with artists, commission new projects and present them to the widest possible audience.
On occasion of the 22nd World Congress of Soil Science – Crossing Boundaries, Changing Society, an exhibition and educational programme, We are Compost – Composting the We, held at the CCA from 29 July to 10 September 2022. The exhibition features Absorption, a large-scale room installation of recycled soil materials by the Berlin-based artist Asad Raza, Gaia Glossary a research installation of literature, audio-visual resources and objects by the Weimar-based guest-curator Alex Toland, and an interactive installation in collaboration with CCA’s own Seed Library.
The exhibition and wider programme feature examples of radical composting that explore issues including food sovereignty, meal cultures, waste streams, allotment politics, right to land movements, seed saving initiatives, and soils as relational, subjective bodies in multispecies communities that demand attention and time in all forms of land stewardship.
Soil scientists, attending the WCSS were warmly invited to a dialogue event on August 5 at 3pm hosted by the newly elected chair and co-chair of IUSS Division 4.5 History, Philosophy and Sociology of Soil Science Dr. Alex Toland and Dr Anna Krzywoszynska. The event kicks off with several ‘prompt talks’ and then transitions into “world cafe” style small groups to focus on soil futures-making, reflecting on our experiences of soil connection, and collectively imagining what societies built on soil connections may look like. After the event, the organisers produced a rich narrative on the basis of shared ideas, which was performatively “composted” into the exhibition’s research installation.
- Dialogue event led by the chair and co-chair of IUSS Division 4.5 History, Philosophy and Sociology of Soil Science; Dr. Alex Toland and Dr Anna Krzywoszynska
Dates: Friday 5 August 2022
Departure Location: Glasgow SEC
Finish Location: Glasgow SEC
Board Basis: Lunch, teas and coffees provided
PRICE: £80
