Soils for a Sustainable Future
Get behind Glasgow!
Why and how the British Society of Soil Science can win the case for hosting the World Congress of Soil Science in Glasgow, Scotland
Why soils?
Soils underpin our basis for life and civilization on earth. Soils provide the food we eat and purify the pollutants that circulate around the planet. In short, soils provide the basis for the sustainable future of planet earth.
A great opportunity….
We are bidding to host the World Congress of Soil Science (ICSS) in Glasgow in 2022 and this is a great opportunity for us all; and we have never been in a better position to go for this. We can expect to bring over 2000 participants to our shores.
Why the British Society of Soil Science?
The BSSS already has close to 800 members and about a quarter of those are international members. In June 2014 we will present our case to the International Union of Soil Science in Korea – the analogy is rather like a soils version of bidding to host the Olympics. In order to prepare this bid we have formed a committee tasked with preparing the first case.
What are we doing?
At the moment we are going through a series of consultations in our BSSS meetings, through our publication ‘The Auger’ and our website (www.soils.org.uk), to collect inputs and ideas about what our members and wider national stakeholders would like to see in the proposal. This first ‘consultation phase’ will conclude at the AGM of the Society in the Autumn, after which we will merge into new phase of bid preparation, to be presented in Korea in June 2014. After we win the bid we will enter the next phase….delivery….
Some imperatives….
•The congress has not been held in the UK since 1936 in Oxford
•The diverse nature of UK landscape presents multiple challenges to soil science both in application and practice
•The UK has a world leading soils research community and long established research stations that
•Easily accessible location
•Strong global soil science presence and links
Get behind Glasgow
We are asking for your views and registration of support for the ‘Get Behind Glasgow’ campaign. We are preparing a website for the Congress and would like you to post the ‘Get Behind Glasgow to Host the 2022 World Congress of Soil Science’#Glasgow2022WCSS on your blogs, email footers and websites and create the hashtag ”#Glasgow2022WCSS on your twitter sites.
•What would you like to see in Glasgow 2022, what is our universal selling point?
•What would you like the conference look like?
•What are the exciting things about Scotland and Britain that you would like to see us making the most of, from both a soil but also a tourist point of view?
Follow developments on Phil Haygarth’s blog (http://landwaterblog.blogspot.co.uk) or Tweet @ProfPHaygarth #Glasgow2022WCSS.
BSSS Glasgow 2022 Committee (Phil Haygarth, Katherine Alton, Helaina Black, Bruce Lascelles, Jason Owen, Willie Towers)
