Scientific program

Environmental issues we would like to highlight and discuss

This conference is framed around themes, each theme is kicked off by two plenary keynote speeches of 20 min, followed by a discussion. After the plenary session a range of different parallel sessions will be organised, potential topics are listed.
For each of these topics I would like to invite you to submit a session proposal. We also want to stress that the conference is not only for scientists, but also warmly would like to invite people from outside the scientific world.

Day 1

Early afternoon
Opening talk by Damia Barceló

Afternoon
Climate change: mitigation and adaptation

Keynotes
Pete Smith and Carolien Kroese
​
Sessions
  • Climate smart agriculture (Saskia Visser and others)
  • Adaptation to climate change (Pete Smith and others)
  • Soil organic matter (Heike Knicker and others)

Potential other session topics
  • Mitigation (carbon sequestration)
  • Science policy 

Day 2

​Morning
​WATER RESOURCES: QUALITY AND QUANTITY

Keynotes
To be confimed

Sessions
  • Water pollution (Damia Barcelo)

Potential other session topics
  • Groundwater pollution
  • Reservoir siltation/pollution
  • Groundwater depletion
  • River restoration
  • Sustainable water management
  • Flooding 
Afternoon
​LAND DEGRADATION AND RESTORATION

Keynotes
Artemi Cerdà and Saskia Visser

Sessions
  • Land degradation and restoration: the state of the art (Artemi Cerdà)
  • Grazing and environment (Manuel Pulido)
  • The landscapes of Vineyards (Jesús Camino Rodriguez)
  • The COMMONLAND approach (Simon Moolenaar)
  • Landscape based Urban Adaptation (Gerben Mol)

Potential other session topics
  • Sustainable agriculture
  • Organic farming
  • Deforestation
  • Soil Pollution
  • Mining, Mine restoration

Day 3

Morning
EROSION PROCESSES: NATURE BASED SOLUTIONS

Keynotes
Panos Panagos and Zahra Kalanthari

Sessions
  • Nature Based Solutions (Zahra Kalanthari)
  • Modelling erosion by water (Panos Panagos)
  • Water and sediment connectivity (Saskia Keesstra)

Potential other session topics
  • Erosion by water
  • Erosion by wind
  • Costs of erosion
  • Soil conservation
  • Science policy
  • Risk management of natural hazards such as erosion
Afternoon: ECOSYSTEM SERVICES AND NATURE CONSERVATION

Keynotes
Peter de Ruiter

Sessions
To be confirmed

Potential other session topics
  • Provision of food, wood and fibre, raw materials. 
  • Filtering of nutrients and contaminants 
  • Detoxification and the recycling of wastes 
  • Regulation of pests and disease populations 
  • Role of biota
  • Land abandonment
  • Rewilding
  • Biodiverse environments
  • Nutrient cycles
  • Role of organic matter
  • Water and soil pollution

Day 4

Morning: FIRE IN THE EARTH SYSTEM, EFFECTS AND PREVENTION

Keynotes
Stefan Doerr and Marc Castellnou (to be confirmed)

Sessions
  • Fire effects on soil (Antonio Jordán)
  • Post fire management (Lea Wittenberg)

Potential other session topics
  • Fire effect on water resources
  • Prescribed fire
  • Fire effect on water and sediment transport
  • Fire effect on biodiversity
Afternoon: SCIENCE INTERFACE: WITH POLICY AND PUBLIC 

Keynotes
Luca Montanarella (to be confirmed) and Lucrezia Caon

Sessions
  • Global soil partnership (Lucrezia Caon and Ronald Vargas)
  • Sustainable Development Goals and Soil policy in the Netherlands (Margot van Cleen and Co Molenaar)

Potential other session topics
  • Local policies 
  • Adoption of measures
  • EU policies
  • IPCC
  • UNFCCD
  • Sustainable Development Goals

Day 5

Morning: CLOSING KEYNOTE: CONNECTING SCIENCE TO SOCIETY (to be confirmed)
Debate on way ahead for 2018 with facilitator