The FAO–IUSS Symposium on Soil Sealing and Urban Soils, co-organized by the FAO, its Global Soil Parntership, the FAO Green Cities Initiative and the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS) through its SUITMA Commission (Soils of Urban, Industrial, Traffic, Mining, and Military Areas), will take place in Pisa, Italy, from 6 to 7 October 2025. The symposium is embedded within the SUITMA Conference, which runs from 5 to 9 October 2025 with support from the Research Institute on Terrestrial Ecosystems (IRET) of the Italian National Research Council (CNR). It will serve as an international platform, addressing the science-policy interface on urban soils.
FAO will lead two dedicated hybrid sessions on 6 and 7 October from 14:00 to 16:00. In-person participation in those two sessions will be open to all, while access to the full SUITMA conference programme requires registration and payment of a conference fee. For more details, please visit: www.suitma13.it.
Main objectives of the symposium
The symposium will bring together experts, policymakers, and practitioners to:
- Identify and promote integrated strategies for sustainable urban soil management;
- Examine practices and policy frameworks for soil unsealing and restoration;
- Foster cross-sectoral collaboration for scaling urban soil solutions.
Symposium themes
The two FAO-led sessions will explore the following themes:
Theme 1: Urban soil management
Strategies for maintaining healthy soils in urban and peri-urban areas, including sustainable planning, multifunctional land use, mitigation of soil threats, and soil use optimization to support biodiversity, water regulation, climate mitigation and resilience, and food production.
Theme 2: Soil desealing and restoration
Best practices, methodologies, and case studies on soil unsealing, addressing challenges related to soil function recovery, and policy and infrastructure changes needed to facilitate unsealing in urban settings.
Agenda
6 October 2025 | Theme 1: Urban soil management Moderator: Thorunn Wolfram, GSP Secretary, FAO | |
14:00 – 14:10 | Opening remarks | Lifeng Li, Director, Land and Water Division, FAO |
14:10 – 14:25 | Wolfgang Burghardt, University of Duisburg-Essen | |
14:25 – 14:40 | Keynote presentation: The importance of soil health in urban and peri-urban settings | Anna Paltseva, Purdue University |
14:40 – 14:55 | Keynote presentation: Soil pollution impacts on ecosystem services in urban areas | Paulo Alexandre da Silva Pereira, Mykolas Romeris University, Lithuania |
Strengthening the contribution of urban soils to agriculture, ecosystem services, and well-being | ||
14:55 – 15:05 | The role of green cities on food security and human well-being | Guido Santini, Plant Production and Protection Division and Green Cities Initiative, FAO |
15:05 – 15:15 | Urban soils and nature-based solutions | Cinzia Davoli, Metropolitan City of Milan, Head of Sustainable Development and Decision Support Systems Service |
15:15 – 15:25 | Alejandra Becerra Ortiz, Head of the Urban Parks Team, Ministry of Housing and Urbanism | Government of Chile | |
15:25 – 15:35 | Varakiet Sujiwarodom, Arsa Chaonamahanakorn, Social Enterprises (Thailand) | |
15:35 – 15:55 | Interactive Q&A | |
15:55 – 16:00 | Wrap-up and closure of the session | Thorunn Wolfram, GSP Secretary, FAO |
7 October 2025 | Theme 2: Soil de-sealing and restoration Moderator: Thorunn Wolfram, GSP Secretary, FAO | |
14:00 – 14:10 | Kye-Hoon John Kim, Chair of SUITMA, University of Seoul | |
14:10 – 14:25 | Rainer Baritz, European Environmental Agency | |
14:25 – 14:40 | Marc-André Selosse, National Museum of Natural History (Paris) | |
14:40 – 15:40 | Round table - Integrating regulation, planning, and restoration to mitigate the impacts of soil sealing.
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15:40 – 15:55 | Interactive Q&A | |
15:55 – 16:00 | Wrap-up and closure of the session | Thorunn Wolfram, GSP Secretary, FAO |
Co-organizers
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