We always knew that hosting the World Congress in our 75th anniversary year would be a major achievement, but I don’t think any of us imagined quite how impactful 2022 would be.
It goes without saying that the delivery of the World Congress of Soil Science (WCSS) is the culmination of years’ worth of work from in excess of 50 staff and volunteers. We couldn’t be prouder of what we achieved: against a backdrop of Covid and Brexit, we were delighted to welcome 1,700 people to the Congress in person and online.
This was complemented by a wide range of public facing activities including a week-long residency at the Glasgow Science Centre, six-week exhibition We are Compost: Composting the We, at the Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow and workshops aimed at local vulnerable communities, delivered by Propagate.
We were lucky enough that two members of the royal family supported the event. His Royal Highness the Duke of Gloucester, our Patron, welcomed delegates to the event, and His Royal Highness King Charles III (then the Prince of Wales) closed the event with an address.
The support of influential figures is pivotal to raising awareness of the importance of soil to human existence, particularly when the wider world is beginning to understand soils’ vital role in sequestering carbon.
During the Congress we went to significant lengths to ensure the event was as sustainable as possible, with the least possible impact on the environment. The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) we have undertaken is in the process of peer review for a business journal and we hope will be published shortly. On the first day of COP 27, we published our recommendations for those planning international conferences and events in conjunction with the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA).
Combined with the publication of this document, I was delighted to present at the ICCA’s own congress in November and discuss sustainability and leaving a positive congress legacy. In addition, WCSS was shortlisted for the Sustainability Award at the Association of British Professional Conference Organisers’ (ABPCO) Annual Awards. We were up against some stiff competition in the category, with COP 26 which was the ultimate winner, our main rival.
The work we have done on sustainability provides a real opportunity to make a difference to the way other organisations, big and small, approach event planning. If our recommendations are followed, this could have a huge impact on the environmental impacts of the congress industry which was valued globally at $1,135.4 billion.
Our work on the sustainability of the congress demonstrates how over the last couple of years, we have made strides to become a trusted organisation both for those within and outside of the soil science community. Our approach continues to pay dividends with the Society now representing 900 members, compared to 700 just two years ago.
In addition to the Congress, the keynote and plenary sessions of which are available exclusively for members in your Members’ Area, business as usual didn’t stop. We delivered amongst other things:
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- eight Zoom into Soil sessions, which you can catch up on via YouTube
- Effective Global Policies to Protect our Most Valuable Resource that Supports Life on Earth, our recommendations following the policy session held during the World Congress
- Launching our Soil Explorer activities at the Glasgow Science Centre, with resources available on our website
- Four short videos highlighting soil’s importance in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals
- Published A Fragile Skin: Soil Landscapes of the UK, which is available to purchase
- Established an Employer Panel to develop a Level 7 Soil Science Apprenticeship in England
- Supported The Resolution for Soil Health, as a mechanism to build international cooperation for an enabling environment for supporting, financing, scaling and monitoring healthy soil ecosystems.
Look out for our Annual Report 2022 which will be published later in the spring and outline in full, the activities we delivered over the past year.
But we cannot stop there.
Late last year Council approved our 2023 strategy and look out for a future blog where I will set out our priorities for the upcoming year and how you can be involved.
There is increasing awareness of the importance of soils and our strategy focuses on the unique position which the Society is in post-Congress, to use its influence to work with policy-makers and the public, to highlight this.
2022 delivered real impact for the Society. With your help, we can deliver even more in 2023.
