Trainings
HuMUS training programmes are publicly available to increase awareness and understanding of the value of soils and soil health challenges and their bio-physical and socio-economic drivers across Europe. These resources provide regions and municipalities with intelligence to make informed decisions.
The syllabus for the Soil Steward training programme provides knowledge and support tools for civil servants working at the regional and municipal levels to facilitate soil health dialogues. The syllabus includes guidelines for funding applications, a practical toolbox for moderating dialogues, conflict management techniques, and soil assessment methods and regional/ local policies on Soil Health among others, all specific to soil health discourse. The trainings are delivered in multiple iterations based on the syllabus.
These training materials will also support the 14 pilot sites in 8 European countries under development by HuMUS partners as well as the pilot projects selected under the Open Call with targeted guidance drawn from the syllabus.
HuMUS Soil Steward Training Course
European Soils are facing many and different challenges that need an urgent reaction.
Can we act individually? The answer is NO.
We need to count on public and private stakeholders from all around Europe, who must be informed and engaged around this important issue: Soil Health. Stakeholders who, after this course, can guide others in this path.
Main Objective
At its core, a “steward” is a person supervising or guarding something. The key objective of this training course is to provide knowledge and tools to civil servants and anyone contributing to soil health—at regional and/or municipal levels—and enable them to become a Soil Steward. A person that carefully, responsibly, and voluntarily contributes to spreading their knowledge and experience regarding soil health. Simultaneously, they serve as an advocate for raising awareness about soil health and care within the local or regional community.
With this course, we aim to deliver clear and concise information about the significance of soil, the concept of soil health, and relevant policies and practices, both at a general level and within the context of local/regional considerations. The course will also address the challenges stakeholders may encounter and explore potential means of support, encompassing financial aspects, stakeholder engagement, and the facilitation of interactions.
The Course builds on the expertise of the HuMUS project partners, who are setting up territorial good practices fostering local dialogues on soil health and management in 14 pilot sites in 8 European countries, while exploring their potentials for replication and transfer. Additional 20 pilots were identified via an Open Call for Proposals, reserved to the participation of public authorities, institutions and agencies, and the winners of which are also welcome as attendees.
Expected results
To create a next generation of Civil Servants that may act as Soil Stewards and facilitators of local dialogues on Soil Health Management and Health improvement, using a wide range of tools and methods that the Course will provide to help guide the process.
Training Material
The Course is divided into 4 Modules that address several relevant topics, such as:
- What do we mean by Soil Health in general, principles, benefits of healthy soils and related European Strategies;
- Where do we start from to assess the soil health, which assessment methods exist to perform directly on site (e.g. in the field, in the forest, urban garden, etc.) and how can we provide a demonstration of the relationship between soil health and other ecosystems;
- What is the state of the art of Participatory Soil Governance, including knowledge on tools to facilitate local dialogues, conflict management techniques and existing good practice examples, including evidence on local Living Labs and Lighthouses;
- What is the state of the art of regional and local policies on Soil Health, available funding opportunities, and guidelines to retrieve and apply for financial support.
Certificate
All participants finishing the Course will receive a personalised Certificate accrediting them as HuMUS Soil Stewards.
Welcome to Soil Steward Course and let’s get started. Enjoy the course!
The HuMUS tool
The HuMus-tool is a qualitative assessment framework that evaluates societal challenges related to climate, biodiversity, landscape, nature, and water. The HuMus-tool encompasses 12 key challenges:
- soil quality
- climate
- water quality
- water quantity
- biodiversiry and nature
- circular economy
- landscape quality
- food
- animal welfare
- economy
- air quality
- culture & community.
These challenges pertain to society as a whole, as well as to agriculture, rural areas, and urban areas themselves. It is also possible to add other challenges that play an important role in the region.
Purpose
The purpose of the HuMus-tool is to facilitate structured conversations among diverse stakeholders within a region or local area, enabling an integrated view of the area. A region-specific approach involving various stakeholders proves valuable for addressing challenges within an area. Diverse stakeholders (such as municipalities, water boards, farmers, nature organizations, etc.) within the area are invited to engage in a facilitated co-creation process to discuss challenges, bottlenecks, and potential solutions. In this process, it’s crucial that all stakeholders contribute, enabling different parties to understand each other’s perspectives. However, when diverse stakeholders convene for a specific challenge, the broader environmental or societal context can sometimes be overlooked. To counter this, the HuMus-tool,
developed by the Louis Bolk Institute, can be used during workshops to prevent tunnel vision and overlooking synergistic opportunities, by visualizing an intergrated assessment of the area. It helps to guide stakeholders to focus on various significant challenges within an area that are directly or indirectly related to soil health.