Soil Sciences & Arts at the EU Soil Observatory Stakeholder Forum x LASER event | 23/10/2024

We are delighted to invite you to attend “Soil Literacy and Soil Sciences & Arts”. Five artists and one poet, formerly in residence at the Joint Research Centre (JRC) will present their practice and research related to soils and discuss the potential of the arts for soil literacy at the 4th EU Soil Observatory Stakeholder Forum. Examples will range from soil erosion and formation to building with local materials, interweaving stories of chemicals and agriculture through speculative law and policy, on post wildfires ecologies, and land and landscapes between the natural and industrial.

The session will take place fully online on Wednesday 23rd October 2024 from 14:00 to 16:00 pm CET. 

Register to receive the link to connect. Via this link you can also sign up to the other sessions of the Forum – download the agenda here. 

The 4th EUSO Stakeholders Forum will be an opportunity for anyone interested in soils to update and exchange on various themes including latest developments in soil policy and the state of soils in Europe and beyond. 

This event is organised by JRC SciArt in conjunction with EUSO and the Leonardo LASER Network. Details also on the Leonardo LASER website. 

WHAT: Soil Literacy and Soil Sciences & Arts @ 4th EUSO Stakeholders Forum
WHERE: Online  - register to receive the link.  
WHEN: 23/10/2024, 14:00-16:00 PM CET 

Watch a recording of the talk, here. 

Resources:

• FULL PRESENTATION SLIDES
• Compos[t]ing | Ingrid Ogenstedt
• Compos[t]ing | Ingrid Mayrhofer-Hufnagl
• Compos[t]ing interview with iMAL
• These Relations Are Forever | Jemma Woolmore
• These Relations Are Forever Ritual 1 Teaser as shown in presentation
• These Relations Are Forever interview with iMAL
• From scars to collective resilience: post-fire restoration in Santa Comba Dão
• Fighting Megafires in Portugal | ARTE.tv Documentary
• Lament website & performance recording | Margherita Pevere 
• Lament interview with iMAL
• Why museums should repatriate fossils | Nature article
• Athena Latocha | Works

Abstract: 

Healthy soils are essential for achieving climate neutrality, halting the loss of biodiversity and providing healthy food. However, more than 60% of the EU’s soils are subject to one or more soil degradation processes. The recently updated Soil Health Dashboard, shows the location and estimates the extent of soil degradation processes in the European Union (EU). The proposed EU Soil Monitoring Law aims to make soil health monitoring obligatory, provides guiding principles for sustainable soil management and addresses situations where soil contamination poses unacceptable health and environment risks. 

The 4th EUSO Stakeholder Forum is an annual event organised by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) whose purpose is to actively engage and exchange with the soil community, from policy makers and scientists to local actors, artists, civil society representatives and citizens. As part of this Forum, this art & science session will be an opportunity to learn about various artistic practices engaging with soil research – from soil formation, to contamination and regeneration. With one final provocative question: what can artistic inquiry bring to soil research and policies? We look forward to discussing and opening up further opportunities for the arts in Mission Soil. 

Agenda:

Moderators:  

• Panos Panagos -  senior scientist at JRC (Joint Research Centre, European Commission). He has more than 23 years' experience in environmental modelling and policy developments in the European Commission. Panos Panagos has been the project leader of EU Soil Observatory. Panos supports a wide range of policies in the EU, including the EU Soil Strategy 2030, the proposal for a Soil Monitoring Law, the Common Agricultural Policy, and the Zero Pollution Action Plan.
• Caterina Benincasa -  curator of the JRC SciArt project, where she supports artists across the world to discover and engage with the research developed at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC). Particularly interested in entangling the arts and science/science-for-policy systems, and questions relating scientific rationality, artistic inquiry and societal engagement.

Speakers:   

• Athena LaTocha - visual artist from Alaska and based in New York. From an early age, she has been fascinated by the shaping of the earth, both by natural events as well as humankind’s impact upon it LaTocha’s process begins with deep observation of and research into the land in which she is working, which informs her artistic approach on all levels.
• Ingrid Mayrhofer-Hufnagl Austrian interdisciplinary artist and researcher whose practice blends architecture, art, and science. By drawing on the wisdom of nature and integrating cutting-edge technology, she invites exploration of more-than-human perspectives, provoking reflection on ecological relationships and co-creation. While fusing the artificial with the natural, she creates architectural installations, film, generative art, and sculpture.
• Ingrid E.M. Ogenstedt  - Swedish born artist working mainly on large sculptural projects and drawing. Fascinated by the natural world and materials, she tirelessly experiments with and develops large site-specific sculptures made of local materials, pushing the boundaries of what can and cannot be achieved by adapting and morphing volumes and the natural at large scale.
• Margherita Pevere  - Italian artist and researcher based in Berlin, whose practice glides across biological arts and performance with a distinctive visceral signature. Her inquiry hybridizes bio-technology, ecology, environmental politics, gender and death studies to create arresting installations and performances that trail today’s ecological complexity.
• Jemma Woolmore - media artist, originally from New Zealand and based in Berlin. Her practice explores the spatial and emotional possibilities of light, sound and image in immersive and performative environments. Currently investigating how immersive experiences and game environments can tell meaningful stories from other-than-human perspectives and build better relationships with ecologies.

About the EU Soil Observatory (EUSO):

EUSO is a dynamic and inclusive platform that provides the relevant Commission Services, together with the broader soil user community, with the knowledge and data flows needed to safeguard and restore soils. EUSO aims to be the principal provider of reference data and knowledge at EU-level for all matters relating to soil. https://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/euso 

About Leonardo LASER: Leonardo/ISAST LASER Talks is a program of international gatherings that bring artists, scientists, humanists and technologists together for informal presentations, performances and conversations with the wider public. The mission of LASER is to encourage contribution to the cultural environment of a region by fostering interdisciplinary dialogue and opportunities for community building to over 50 cities and 5 continents worldwide.

What: Soil Literacy and Soil Sciences & Arts @ 4th EUSO Stakeholders Forum

Where: Online - register to receive the link on the EUSO website.  

When: 23/10/2024, 14:00-16:00 PM CET