European Society for Soil Conservation

The European Society for Soil Conservation (ESSC) is an interdisciplinary, non-political association with more than 500 members from 42 countries. Its members include researchers, teachers, students, farmers, planners and policymakers with interests in agriculture, soil science, geographical science, economics, forestry and ecology. According to its website it was set up to “Promote soundly based policies of soil conservation in its broadest sense throughout the countries of Europe.”

More specifically, its missions are:

• supporting research on soil degradation, soil erosion and soil conservation
• providing a network for the exchange of knowledge about soil degradation processes and soil conservation research and practices
• producing publications about major questions of soil conservation
• consulting administration and policy makers on soil conservation issues

The ESSC runs a number of awards every year. It grants two young researchers 500€ each to attend the ESSC annual congress. It also runs the Gerold Richter award for top scientific person in soil conservation, and the Young person award for young scientist in soil conservation. 

The ESSC and its members take part and co-organise many events related to soil conservation. They are currently involved in the EUSO Soil Erosion Working Group’s online Workshop on soil erosion for the EU (27-29 June 2022). There is currently a call for presentations open. The ESSC is co-organising the international event “Soil and water conservation under changing climate in Northern and high-altitude conditions” in Ås, Norway on 4-6 May 2022 - website. More information on events here and on their facebook page. 

The association promotes calls for research proposals, job opportunities, opportunities for research studentships and potential collaborators for research proposals. This is achieved through their website and facebook page. Several books and publications have been prepared by the ESSC members, find out more here.