Overview

In 2020, the Belmont Forum announced a collaborative research action (CRA) on the theme: Towards Sustainability of Soils and Groundwater for Society. The goal of this CRA is to produce the necessary knowledge and propose solutions to maintain well-functioning soils and groundwater systems in the Critical Zone, or rehabilitate them where degraded, through:
 
  1. Better understanding of the long- and shorter-time dynamics and functions of soils and groundwater, impacts from societal (including economics) decisions, integrative management practices, public policies, and how these systems have been transformed; and,
  2. Providing avenues, pathways, and narratives toward transformation of management practices of the whole soil and groundwater systems through a fundamental shift of socio-economic actors’ practices and related-decisions making processes.

Through this CRA, six projects were awarded:

Acronym: Title:
ABRESO Abandonment and rebound: Societal views on landscape- and land-use change and their impacts on water and soils
BLUEGEM Biosphere and Land Use Exchanges with Groundwater and soils in Earth system Models
INCLUSIVE Stakeholder-supported decision making for sustainable conjunctive management of soil and groundwater
INTERACTION Integrated Assessment of Climate Impacts on Ecosystem Functions and Productivity of Critical-Zone Eco-Hydrology
PRISMARCTYC Permafrost degradation impacts on soils, human societies, water resources and carbon cycle

VULCAR-FATE

Global change impact on vulnerable carbon reservoirs: carbon sequestration and emissions in soils and waters From the Arctic To the Equator