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peer-reviewed ; Functional Land Management (FLM) is proposed as an integrator for sustainability policies and assesses the functional capacity of the soil and land to deliver primary productivity, water purification and regulation, carbon cycling and storage, habitat for biodiversity and recycling of nutrients. This paper presents the catchment challenge as a method to bridge the gap between science, stakeholders and policy for the effective management of soils to deliver these functions. Two challenges were completed by a wide range of stakeholders focused around a physical catchment model—(1) to design an optimised catchment based on soil function targets, (2) identify gaps to implementation of the proposed design. In challenge 1, a high level of consensus between different stakeholders emerged on soil and management measures to be implemented to achieve soil function targets. Key gaps including knowledge, a mix of market and voluntary incentives and mandatory measures were identified in challenge 2. ; This work was in part conducted under the Soil Quality Assessment Research (SQUARE) Project, Reference No: 13S468 funded by the Irish Government under the National Development Plan 2007–2013. This study was completed as part of the LANDMARK (LAND Management: Assessment, Research, Knowledge Base) project. LANDMARK has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No. 635201. This work has also received funding as part of the SoilCare project from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under Grant Agreement No. 677407.

peer-reviewed ; This work was in part conducted under the Soil Quality Assessment Research (SQUARE) Project, Reference No: 13S468 funded by the Irish Government under the National Development Plan 2007–2013. This study was completed as part of the LANDMARK (LAND Management: Assessment, Research, Knowledge Base) project. LANDMARK has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No. 635201. This work has also received funding as part of the SoilCare project from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under Grant Agreement No. 677407. ; Functional Land Management (FLM) is proposed as an integrator for sustainability policies and assesses the functional capacity of the soil and land to deliver primary productivity, water purification and regulation, carbon cycling and storage, habitat for biodiversity and recycling of nutrients. This paper presents the catchment challenge as a method to bridge the gap between science, stakeholders and policy for the effective management of soils to deliver these functions. Two challenges were completed by a wide range of stakeholders focused around a physical catchment model—(1) to design an optimised catchment based on soil function targets, (2) identify gaps to implementation of the proposed design. In challenge 1, a high level of consensus between different stakeholders emerged on soil and management measures to be implemented to achieve soil function targets. Key gaps including knowledge, a mix of market and voluntary incentives and mandatory measures were identified in challenge 2.

peer-reviewed ; Agricultural ecosystems provide a range of benefits that are vital to human well-being. These benefits are dependent on several soil functions that are affected in different ways by legislation from the European Union, national, and regional levels. We evaluated current European Union soil-related legislation and examples of regional legislation with regard to direct and indirect impacts on five soil functions: the production of food, fiber, and fuel; water purification and regulation; carbon sequestration and climate regulation; habitat for biodiversity provisioning; and the recycling of nutrients/agro-chemicals. Our results illustrate the diversity of existing policies and the complex interactions present between different spatial and temporal scales. The impact of most policies, positive or negative, on a soil function is usually not established, but depends on how the policy is implemented by local authorities and the farmers. This makes it difficult to estimate the overall state and trends of the different soil functions in agricultural ecosystems. To implement functional management and sustainable use of the different soil functions in agricultural ecosystems, more knowledge is needed on the policy interactions as well as on the impact of management options on the different soil functions.

The challenges of achieving both food security and environmental sustainability have resulted in a confluence of demands on land within the European Union (EU): we expect our land to provide food, fiber and fuel, to purify water, to sequester carbon, and provide a home to biodiversity as well as external nutrients in the form of waste from humans and intensive livestock enterprises. All soils can perform all of these five functions, but some soils are better at supplying selective functions. Functional Land Management is a framework for policy-making aimed at meeting these demands by incentivizing land use and soil management practices that selectively augment specific soil functions, where required. Here, we explore how the demands for contrasting soil functions, as framed by EU policies, may apply to very different spatial scales, from local to continental scales. At the same time, using Ireland as a national case study, we show that the supply of each soil function is largely determined by local soil and land use conditions, with large variations at both local and regional scales. These discrepancies between the scales at which the demands and supply of soil functions are manifested, have implications for soil and land management: while some soil functions must be managed at local (e.g., farm or field) scale, others may be offset between regions with a view to solely meeting national or continental demands. In order to facilitate the optimization of the delivery of soil functions at national level, to meet the demands that are framed at continental scale, we identify and categorize 14 policy and market instruments that are available in the EU. The results from this inventory imply that there may be no need for the introduction of new specific instruments to aid the governance of Functional Land Management. We conclude that there may be more merit in adapting existing governance instruments by facilitating differentiation between soils and landscapes.

The challenges of achieving both food security and environmental sustainability have resulted in a confluence of demands on land within the European Union (EU): we expect our land to provide food, fiber and fuel, to purify water, to sequester carbon, and provide a home to biodiversity as well as external nutrients in the form of waste from humans and intensive livestock enterprises. All soils can perform all of these five functions, but some soils are better at supplying selective functions. Functional Land Management is a framework for policy-making aimed at meeting these demands by incentivizing land use and soil management practices that selectively augment specific soil functions, where required. Here, we explore how the demands for contrasting soil functions, as framed by EU policies, may apply to very different spatial scales, from local to continental scales. At the same time, using Ireland as a national case study, we show that the supply of each soil function is largely determined by local soil and land use conditions, with large variations at both local and regional scales. These discrepancies between the scales at which the demands and supply of soil functions are manifested, have implications for soil and land management: while some soil functions must be managed at local (e.g., farm or field) scale, others may be offset between regions with a view to solely meeting national or continental demands. In order to facilitate the optimization of the delivery of soil functions at national level, to meet the demands that are framed at continental scale, we identify and categorize 14 policy and market instruments that are available in the EU. The results from this inventory imply that there may be no need for the introduction of new specific instruments to aid the governance of Functional Land Management. We conclude that there may be more merit in adapting existing governance instruments by facilitating differentiation between soils and landscapes.

Pillar Two of the GSP underpins many of the actions under the other Pillars by addressing the general lack of societal awareness of the importance of soil in people's lives and the well - being of the planet. In many cases, deficiency in education is the specific underlying cause of unsustainable land management practices, of the general lack of investment (both in education and physical measures to protect soil) and, as importantly, of the widespread political reluctance to adopt short - and long - term measures to preserve and enhance soil conditions. The Plan of Action (PoA) for Pillar 2 consists of six interlinked and interdependent components: policy, investment, education, extension, public awareness and technical cooperation. The development of the PoA was initiated at the European Network Soil Awareness (ENSA) workshop in Aberdeen in September 2013. This was followed by discussions at the 2013 Global Soil Week in Berlin which lead to the establishment of a Working Group to produce a draft plan of action , which was eventually endorsed by t he ITPS in April 2014. The PoA was presented, reviewed and adopted by the Plenary Assembly of the GSP in July 2014. Seven key recommendations are presented. Robust policy frameworks are one means of ensuring the sustainable management and protection of soils. Therefore, governments must be in vited to create or reinforce policies on soil and its protection. Whereas soil protection and management is a long - term aim, most political decisions are governed by short - term ambitions that reflect the lifetime of governments or politicians. Today's highly urbanised society means that the population is largely detached from food and fibre production issues and lack s a fundamental understanding of the role o f soil in enabling such life - critical services. It is disappointing to observe that society in many parts of the world attaches a greater value to developments in subjects such as particle physics and mobile communication than essential issues such as soil fertility. The PoA calls for a systematic awareness raising campaign in all countries on how soil relates to people's everyday lives. This can be done through brief and vivid messages, not only as part of the World Soil Day celebrations and during the forthcoming International Year of Soils, but also as a sustained long - term outreach and engagement programme. The PoA recommends a significant increase in investments to support such actions. Education in soil sciences is important and needs to be taken into account by other disciplines. The current soil science community should strive to show synergies with other domains to demonstrate its relevance. Pressure should be brought at all levels to halt the decline in soil science teaching at tertiary level, while boosting professional technical qualifications and support to educationalists, so that soils and agriculture can be more appealing for the younger generations. Soil extension services should interpret and present relevant research - based information to a broader range of stakeholders in an understandable and usable form, including farmer - to - farmer schemes or through initiatives such as the Soils Doctors Programme. The technical approach underlying the extension services should reflect mutually beneficial cooperation rather than from mere transfers from one partner to another. Finally, investments must go hand in hand with awareness o f the importance of soil resources. These investments should develop an effective skills base and entrepreneurship among soil users. The GSP should make full use of such tools as the Healthy Soils Facility to generate and facilitate the collection of financial contributions to the PoA.

Pillar Two of the GSP underpins many of the actions under the other Pillars by addressing the general lack of societal awareness of the importance of soil in people's lives and the well - being of the planet. In many cases, deficiency in education is the specific underlying cause of unsustainable land management practices, of the general lack of investment (both in education and physical measures to protect soil) and, as importantly, of the widespread political reluctance to adopt short - and long - term measures to preserve and enhance soil conditions. The Plan of Action (PoA) for Pillar 2 consists of six interlinked and interdependent components: policy, investment, education, extension, public awareness and technical cooperation. The development of the PoA was initiated at the European Network Soil Awareness (ENSA) workshop in Aberdeen in September 2013. This was followed by discussions at the 2013 Global Soil Week in Berlin which lead to the establishment of a Working Group to produce a draft plan of action , which was eventually endorsed by t he ITPS in April 2014. The PoA was presented, reviewed and adopted by the Plenary Assembly of the GSP in July 2014. Seven key recommendations are presented. Robust policy frameworks are one means of ensuring the sustainable management and protection of soils. Therefore, governments must be in vited to create or reinforce policies on soil and its protection. Whereas soil protection and management is a long - term aim, most political decisions are governed by short - term ambitions that reflect the lifetime of governments or politicians. Today's highly urbanised society means that the population is largely detached from food and fibre production issues and lack s a fundamental understanding of the role o f soil in enabling such life - critical services. It is disappointing to observe that society in many parts of the world attaches a greater value to developments in subjects such as particle physics and mobile communication than essential issues such as soil fertility. ...