Soil - education and awareness
Due to the widespread low level of understanding/knowledge of soils among the public, teachers, and some of those working with soils (eg, the construction industry, land managers, planners) Action 10 of the First Soil Action Plan for England was concerned with:
“developing a programme of education and awareness of soil issues among the general public, those working with soils and the professionals that guide, advise or instruct soil managers”.
A number of activities have been progressed in this area, as outlined below:
Audit of education and awareness initiatives
An audit of soils-related education and awareness initiatives was completed in April 2005. This determined that there is a lot of soil-related information and education activities available, though these are often difficult to find and information is often difficult to interpret.
- Science and research projects: Audit of soils-related education and awareness initiatives
So, the following is our response:
Soil-Net
Soil-Net has been developed by Cranfield University as a free educational website to redress the poor representation of soil science and the functions of soil in the curriculum and in the classroom. The website provides teachers and students (Key Stage 1-4, ages 5-16) with an extensive package of curriculum-based information, including a range of downloadable resources, from quizzes and games, to factual information sheets, case studies and an extensive photo library. The site also includes a teachers area setting out how the resources provided can be used in the classroom to meet different curriculum requirements.
During 2006 Soil-Net was road-tested in Hampshire Schools - this was beneficial in developing / modifying the website so it was suitable for use by teachers and students.
Soil Works
The DfES Quality Improvement Agency has developed a range of soils teaching materials for those studying vocational courses (agriculture, horticulture etc) at the 16+ level.
The materials have been developed in attempt to raise the profile of this subject, which lecturers at land based colleges have found difficult to teach. The materials, generically known as “Soil Works” include card games, board games, DVDs and CD-ROMs and were distributed to institutes within the post compulsory education sector in October 2006.
Defra, alongside members of the Soil Action Plan Advisory Forum, input to the development of these materials.
Marketing the soils message
Following the publication of the First Soil Action Plan for England, the Soil Action Plan Advisory Forum suggested that Defra use marketing as a means to raise awareness of soils.
Defra undertook an initial exercise in spring 2005 to determine key messages on the importance of soils for specific stakeholder groups. This exercise was beneficial in understanding mechanisms for marketing and disseminating key messages, some of which have been used when targeting stakeholders.
Page last modified: 14 September 2007
Page published: 1 September
2005