Dissemination Activities

The dissemination of state of the art and developments to potential users/decision makers is accompanying to the whole project through workshops at regional level, international conferences and publications in peer-reviewed scientific and end-user oriented journals.

  • Workshops for stakeholders, decision makers and end-users
  • Meetings with stakeholders

Workshop for Bulgarian Stakeholders and Decision-Makers (September 1-2, 2008 in Sofia)

The Workshop for Bulgarian Stakeholders and Decision-Makers on EU Regulations and Research on soil and water was held on September 1-2, 2008 in Sofia. 27 participants from different Bulgarian ministries (e.g. Ministry of Environment and Water, Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works, Ministry of Education and Science), institutes (e.g. Institute of Soil Science “N. Poushkarov”, Geophysical Institute of the Bulgarian Academy of Science), universities (University of Sofia) and agencies (e.g. Executive Environmental Agency, Soil Resources Agency, National Agricultural Advisory Service, Bulgarian National Science Fund) attended the workshop.

The workshop presented an overview of existing and upcoming regulations within the EU (Water Framework Directive, Soil Framework Directive), an overview of legislation in relation to water and its implementation in Bulgaria, an overview of soil protection in Bulgaria, an introduction into TASK (The Terra-,Aqua, Site Remediation Competence Center) and the project – iSOIL. It also gave an introduction into the principles of soil property mapping, applied geophysical methods as well as emerging techniques for mapping. It provided an excellent opportunity to experience the state of the art of monitoring techniques and to clarify special Bulgarian requirements. On the second day there was a field demonstration of different geophysical monitoring techniques including the geophysical platforms at a field site nearby. The participants gave a positive feedback and highlighted the informative character of this workshop.


Bulgaria Meeting

Workshop for Austrian stakeholders, decision-makers and experts on Erosion –Soil– Water (October 12, 2009 in Seggau near Graz)

The Workshop for Austrian stakeholders, decision-makers and experts on erosion –Soil– Water was held on October 12, 2009. The workshop presented an overview of the FP7 collaborative project – iSOIL and the situation of erosion in Austria, also in respect of the economic background. It also gave an introduction about the principles of soil property mapping, applied geophysical methods as well as GPS-techniques. This workshop provided an excellent opportunity to bring knowledge about the state of erosion in Austria and to clarify the need for effective monitoring techniques. 55 participants from different Austrian SMEs, organizations, institutes or agencies attended the workshop and gave a positive feedback. A field demonstration of the geophysical platforms, soil sampling equipment and an introduction of the lysimeter station at Wagna was carried out for all participants of the workshop at a field site nearby. On the questionnaire they highlighted the informative character of this workshop


Austria Workshop

Workshop for German Stakeholders,decision makers and experts (September 12, 2010 near Hannover)

Meeting with Stakeholders in the Fuhrberger Field (June 16, 2009 near Hannover)

Since field surveys and scientific evaluation activities (validation of methods) will be conducted in 2010, local stakeholders had to be informed at an early stage about the project. For this purpose and for dissemination purposes as well, a meeting with local experts was organized on June 16, 2009 near Hannover. 18 stakeholders and end-users participated in this meeting. The meeting presented an overview about the iSOIL project and its activities and showed how the "Fuhrberger Feld" can make use of the iSOIL-project.

Topics during the discussions were some basic methodological understandings and the possibilities and limitations of the geophysical methods to be developed. At this meeting there was also a demonstration of the technological equipment, especially the geophysical platforms. During this demonstration specific questions concerning some practical aspects of using the devices in the field were discussed, mainly focusing on problems in forested areas. During the workshop, most participants agreed, that precision farming might be of interest in some border areas of the Fuhrberger Feld. However, without restriction to the Fuhrberger Feld area, other potential applications in the field of agriculture were identified:

  • Precision irrigation,
  • Distinction of grassland types (permanent and facultative) according to the thickness of the humic layer
  • Potentials for land improvement by drainage as a function of existing soil compaction
  • Potentials for land improvement by drainage as a function of existing soil compaction
  • Groundwater protection

The discussions with local the stakeholders and practitioners and with the scientists involved in iSOIL revealed a typical conflict: scientists are interested to follow an accurate scientific procedure; practitioners are interested in solving problems (at affordable costs).However, practical measurements will be planned in a way that some added value for local stakeholders can be expected.


Germany

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