European Soil Experts meet in St. Poelten

“Our soil is a limited resource and cannot be increased arbitrarily. It is a matter of sensibly using and carefully protecting soil. An international exchange and creation of awareness are the basis for long-term useful actions”, states Dr. Stephan Pernkopf, Regional Minister of the Environment.

Soil for Grasping

This year, the Annual Meeting of the European Land and Soil Alliance of European Cities and Towns, Districts and Municipalities (ELSA) takes place within the framework of the SONDAR SK-AT Meeting in Lower Austria and Slovakia, subsidized by the European Union. More than 300 persons participate in the broad choice of events in the two days' period of the meeting in St. Poelten, Angern / Morava River and Zahorska Ves (SK). The program of the meeting comprises the fields of nature, culture and planning with the heading of "Soil for Grasping". Experts from nine European countries emphasize the value of soil and its significance for sustainability: "The crucial issue of ‘grasping' is creation of awareness through learning and understanding. Its aims are to make visible cross-border partnerships as well as an exchange of experience between municipalities and regions for the strengthening of soil awareness in the Danube region", states the "Declaration of St. Poelten and Zahorska Ves", issued by ELSA for this meeting.

The significance of these lines is also shown, among others, by persons active from the SONDAR soil protection network (Soil Strategy Network in the Danube Region) at information stands of an international fair of ideas and products of "Soil for Grasping" at the Governmental Building in St. Poelten, where soil colours extracted directly from soils and contributions on the interaction between soils and flooding are shown.

The strategic leadership of the SONDAR project is performed by the Department of Rural Development of the Lower Austrian Government. The network comprises approx. 15 partner organizations, and will be implemented in more than one projects of territorial cooperation in the Danube region, subsidized by the EU.

Sustainable Soil-Colour Painting Competition

93 schools in Lower Austria, Hungary, and Slovakia have submitted a total of 237 pieces of art for the competition of "Painting with the Colours of the Earth"! More than 600,000 website calls for online voting were counted under the homepage of the competition, www.sonder.eu, in the month of May only. The winners of online voting were the Musical Secondary School of Blindenmarkt and the Agricultural Vocational School of Edelhof. An expert jury voted for a total of 24 pieces of art from Lower Austria, which are now shown in common with the best paintings from the neighbouring countries in a few international expositions. In addition, among all submissions, meeting prizes are drawn. Pupils from Slovakia, Hungary, and Lower Austria can spend an interesting day together.

In the European Land and Soil Alliance, 82 members are located in Lower Austria: 68 member municipalities of the Soil and Land Alliance
2 Environmental Associations as model regions (Lilienfeld and Tulln)
6 NGOs (mainly educational institutions)
5 enterprises
... and the Province of Lower Austria itself.

Further municipalities and organizations from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova and Uganda have enterd the Soil and Land Alliance upon Lower Austrian initiative.

Soil Field Day

On the second day of events, at Záhorská Ves and Angern / Morava River, a "Soil Field Day" takes place for experts and the population. After awarding of prizes to the Slovak winner of the soil colour painting competition and the opening of the exposition, among others, a guided "Soil Walk" takes places along the Morava River as well as "painting with soil colours for the public" and a sustainable football match in the football cage.

Soil Alliance with focus on Lower Austria

The European Land and Soil Alliance (ELSA e.V.) with its headquarters in Osnabrueck (DE) expands towards the East, supported by Lower Austria. Since the Province of Lower Austria has entered this international alliance in 2003, more than half of its members are located in Lower Austria, currently 82 (see fact box). They cooperate on a partnership level and use the synergies of this network through an exchange of information and experience.

For downloading speeches, click here.