© Maria Kazarez
A PHISHES member recently participated in the SoilSparks Summer School, delivered as part of the Horizon project SOILSCAPES project.
Led by EUROPARC Federation and Bantani Education, with contributions from EIT Food, the University of Hohenheim, and the EchoSoil Project, SoilSparks is an ambitious European initiative empowering more than 1,000 young people (aged 14-30) to improve soil literacy amongst young people. The project combines co-creation and real-world actions to build soil literacy and inspire youth-led solutions that support the EU Mission: A Soil Deal for Europe.
Key objectives include:
- Engaging over 1,000 young people through a youth-led European soil literacy campaign.
- Empowering more than 250 SoilSparks Champions through challenges and interactive learning aligned with all eight EU Soil Mission objectives.
- Mobilising concrete soil protection actions designed by young people.
- Building long-term capacity through educational toolkits and a train-the-trainer programme for rangers and educators.
Summer School highlights:
The programme brought together 31 young participants from 14 countries. It began with an online learning journey covering topics including:
- Co-creative design
- Soil basics
- Soil carbon storage
- Soil biodiversity
- Soil erosion, desertification, and soil sealing
- Soil pollution and the global soil footprint
- Soil conservation and innovation
- Science communication
Participants also joined weekly discussions with expert guest speakers before meeting in Reims, France, for a four-day, hands-on summer school at the end of July. Through activities ranging from soil sampling using the EchoSoil testing kit to creative soil art workshops, participants explored innovative ways to engage young people with soil science and co-designed youth-led soil micro-challenges. Following the summer school, participants have joined the SoilSparks Youth Panel, where they will help shape and review the project’s educational resources, ensuring they are engaging, inclusive, and accessible for young people across Europe.
Initiatives like SoilSparks demonstrate the power of youth engagement in advancing soil literacy and supporting the transition towards healthier, more resilient soils across Europe. As PHISHES aims to engage with the wider public this project perfectly showcases what lived co-design looks like to interest young people in soil health!
©Eeva Seppä
©Alberto Madrassi