Urban Soil Management Strategy

Programme 2007 - 2013 Central Europe

Date of latest update: 2021-04-06

Description

Description (EN):

Central Europe is characterised by a relatively high population density. In some of the countries a quarter of the total national population lives in the capital agglomeration, in the other countries urban networks of larger towns exist. These urban areas have a high economic potential, but they are facing a concentration of environmental, social and economic problems often triggered by increasing suburbanisation. Suburbanisation causes significant land consumption and soil sealing. As a natural resource, soil fulfils important ecological functions as well as provides essential services like water filtering and storage, biomass and food production, source of raw material, living space for humans, plants and animals. Therefore the management of this resource has a strong influence on the preservation of nature, but also on the socio-economic development. In particular the flood plains in the area are under high pressure of urbanisation. Land use changes and loss of soil functions impairing environmental quality in urban areas are among environmental risks which are yet not adequately addressed. In most cities across Central Europe there is a considerable amount of data available on soil quality and its different functions. However, to date there is no common urban planning strategy addressing the need for the protection of soil habitat as a critical element controlling urban ecosystem functions. Massive scale consumption of valuable soils by urban fabric leads to the dramatic loss of biodiversity, retention and buffering functions and overall quality of life of urban population. There is an urgent need to develop an urban soil management system accompanied by decision support tools for scenario analysis and assessment of impacts of different planning options on soils. Today there is still very little public awareness of soil issues as a key element of urban ecosystem. Missing awareness due to a low degree of knowledge about the functional role of soils has been identified as main reason for the lacking consideration of soil related aspects in urban planning so far. Therefore raising public as well as political awareness and creating acceptance is a key issue throughout the whole duration of the project. This will be reached by visualisation of the consequences and future problems created by not considering soil related aspects in urban planning process. Overall the project is focusing on the optimisation of land use in urban areas by preserving the natural assets of the resource soil without hindering economic development.

Achievements (EN):

URBAN SMS strived to develop a comprehensive soil management strategy for municipalities to consider the value of soils and their different functions within the urban planning process. To reach this, the project was based on four key elements, each supported by one core output. First the Municipal soil manager acts as frame on which organizational level soil management should be included in urban planning procedure and gives options how goals, strategies and tools may interact. During project lifetime a range of contributing materials were produced, e.g.: Summary of needs and approaches for soil management within urban planning procedures, a guide on how to implement the issue of soil protection in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) as well in the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) was elaborated. The materials were produced by project partners with consultation of stakeholders to meet especially the needs of practitioners. Second key element of the project are technical tools for including soil aspects in urban planning. A software suite was developed consisting of a desktop and a web solution each containing 8 different soil evaluation tools. The software is free available and elaborative handbooks introduce the user to the content of the tools, explain data requirements and give technical support for installation and run. However the test in the partner pilot areas have shown that an adaption to the local conditions is needed in any case to gain authoritative results which are convincing and therefore accepted by decision makers. Third key element is the test and implementation of the tools developed. All tools were tested in at least one partners pilot area. The results were collected and some of the tools were improved according to the findings from practical application. A detailed description of test sites, test implementation and results is documented in the case study book. Last key element is raising the awareness of all stakeholders as well as to general public to the importance of soil in urban areas. Materials promoting this issue were produced and collected in an “Awareness raising package”. The materials can be categorized in (1) materials on soil role and soil management trends, including a movie which had his premiere during the final conference, (2) extended reports on consequences of soil sealing and (3) guides on available methods and approaches for better soil management. The working group laid special emphasis to directly get in contact with the stakeholders. This was realized by series of stakeholder workshops which was carried out in a new format which is also documented in the awareness raising package. To give an overview of the work done and results reached within the project the consortium produced a brochure in all partner languages which guides the reader through the most important findings and give links where to find more detailed information. (brochure and other products available at project webpage)

Thematic information

Urban development Sustainable management of natural resources Soil and air quality

Partners (11)

Lead Partner: City of Stuttgart, Department for Environmental Protection

Address: Gaisburgstr. 4, 70182 Stuttgart, Germany

Legal status: n/a

City of Vienna, Environmental Department

Name: City of Vienna, Environmental Department

Address: 1090 Vienna, Austria

Legal status: n/a

City of Celje

Name: City of Celje

Address: 3000 Celje, Slovenia

Legal status: n/a

City of Milan, Executive Plans and Programs for Buildings Department- Office for Reclamation Plans

Name: City of Milan, Executive Plans and Programs for Buildings Department- Office for Reclamation Plans

Address: 20100 Milan, Italy

Legal status: n/a

University of Torino – Department of Valorization and Protection of Agroforestry Resources – Agricultural Chemistry

Name: University of Torino – Department of Valorization and Protection of Agroforestry Resources – Agricultural Chemistry

Address: 10124 turin, Italy

Legal status: n/a

Umweltbundesamt GmbH

Name: Umweltbundesamt GmbH

Address: 1090 Wien, Austria

Legal status: n/a

Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation – State Research Institute

Name: Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation – State Research Institute

Address: 24-100 Puławy, Poland

Legal status: n/a

AIS AGRICULTURAL INSTITUTE OF SLOVENIA, Central Laboratory, Agrochemistry, Centre for Soil and Environment Research

Name: AIS AGRICULTURAL INSTITUTE OF SLOVENIA, Central Laboratory, Agrochemistry, Centre for Soil and Environment Research

Address: 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia

Legal status: n/a

District Authority Stuttgart

Name: District Authority Stuttgart

Address: 70173 stuttgart, Germany

Legal status: n/a

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Name: Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Department: Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences

Address: Kamycka, 16521 Prague, Czech Republic

Legal status: public

Website: www.czu.cz

Soil Science and Conservation Research Institute

Name: Soil Science and Conservation Research Institute

Address: 85713 Bratislava, Slovakia

Legal status: n/a

Partners map

Lead partner

Project partner

Summary

Project name (EN): Urban Soil Management Strategy

Project acronym: URBAN-SMS

Project start date: 2008-10-01

Project end date: 2013-03-31

Project status: closed

Total budget/expenditure: EUR 2 200 018.00

Total EU funding (amount): EUR 1 741 390.30

Co-financing sources:

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

Financing programme

2007 - 2013 Central Europe

Last month that data in keep.eu was retrieved from the Programme's website or received from the Programme

2014-10-01

No. of projects in keep.eu / Total no. of projects (% of projects in keep.eu)

124 / 124 (100%)

No. of project partnerships in keep.eu / Total no. of project partnerships (% of project partnerships in keep.eu)

1 331 / 1 331 (100%)

Notes on the data

Information provided by the Programme

Languages

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Urban Soil Management Strategy

Description

Thematic information

Partners (11)

Partners map

Summary

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

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