Sub-theme 1.1 aims to showcase the latest advancements, challenges and gaps in laboratory and field techniques for soil analysis, soil data quality, and handling. The sub-theme will focus on the development and implementation of standard operating procedures that ensure consistency, reliability, and accuracy in soil testing. Participants will explore a range of topics from traditional soil testing methods to innovative laboratory techniques, including the analysis of novel soil parameters.

Making data FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) is a major step towards more efficient data use and an increase in data informed decision making by allowing easier collation of existing and new data through annotation, standardization and harmonisation of soil data. This subtheme addresses innovations and good practices in all four of these subtopics: metadata annotation, soil data (model and definitions) standardization, soil data harmonization through the development of transfer functions (both between lab methods and pedotransfer functions).

Sub-theme 1.3 aims to highlight strategies for effectively quality assuring and quality checking (QA/QC) soil data, estimating its uncertainty, facilitating its interpretation, and communicating soil testing results and assocciated uncertainty to stakeholders.

This sub-theme aims to present efficient, innovative and accurate soil surveys, profile descriptions, sampling and monitoring strategies. By for instance integrating remotely sensed data, optimized soil survey designs for profile description and sampling ensure that the data collected is more representative of varied soil conditions. This accuracy is crucial for making informed decisions in agriculture, environmental management, and policy-making.

This sub-theme aims to showcase advances in digital soil mapping for creating detailed soil maps. Digital soil mapping provides detailed, high-resolution maps that are crucial for cost-effective soil resource management. These maps help in identifying soil types, properties, and variability across different landscapes, leading to better land-use planning and agricultural practices. Additionally, this sub-theme aims to inform about the intersection of soil mapping and AI, exploring the various aspects of AI and Machine Learning in Soil Science. It highlights their potential role in enhancing soil property predictions, supporting better land and agricultural management decisions.

This sub-theme aims to show-case potential uses of soil legacy data and its role in advancing contemporary soil mapping practices and data-driven decision making. Legacy data, collected through past surveys, studies, and historical records, often hold invaluable insights into soil characteristics and distribution patterns. By leveraging advanced data integration and modeling techniques, this subtheme seeks to present strategies for incorporating legacy data into soil mapping.

This sub-theme explores the important role soil data plays for achieving and reporting on the progress of international and national commitments and conventions. Often overlooked, misinterpreted and scarcely available data on the status of soils represents a bottle neck when tackling ambitious projects on climate adaptation and mitigation, as well as land degradation and restoration, and biodiversity conservation. During this session, potential pitfalls, opportunities, and successful examples linked to the use of soil data for achieving and measuring progress on global development agendas will be presented.

This sub-theme will explore how soil data can be integrated into decision support systems at various levels, from national policies to field-scale applications, benefiting a diverse range of stakeholders including governments, academia, extensionists and farmers. Its main objective is to demonstrate the effectiveness of soil data in enhancing food security and resource management.

This sub-theme focuses on addressing the complex ethical issues and ownership rights associated with the collection, usage, and sharing of soil data. The objective is to share insights on balancing the need for open scientific inquiry with the protection of individual and community rights, and addressing questions of privacy, consent, and equitable benefit sharing.

This sub-theme will focus on how open data initiatives and advanced technological systems can democratize access to soil data, thus facilitating global research, innovation, fostering international collaboration and defining priorities for effective resource mobilization.

This sub-theme aims to showcase strategies and programmes that enhance the skills and resources necessary for effective data sharing and collaboration in soil science. Through real-world examples and case studies, this sub-theme aims to illustrate the crucial role of capacity building in empowering researchers, policymakers, and practitioners with the tools and knowledge required for efficient data management and evidence-based decision-making.