The European Environment Agency (EEA) is organising an open competition with a view to recruiting a contract agent to work as Project Manager in the area of soil assessments and related land analysis and further with a view to establishing a reserve list.

JOB DESCRIPTION: 

Soil is as essential to human well-being as air and water, yet it has not received nearly as much attention; soil resilience has led to it being overlooked. Soil has a role as a habitat and gene pool, serves as a land platform for human activities, landscape and heritage and acts as a provider of raw materials; these functions are worthy of protection because of their socio-economic as well as environmental importance. Sustainable use of soil therefore means protecting its value, i.e. protecting soil as part of natural capital thru responsible land management. Notwithstanding these considerations, soil is not subject to a comprehensive and coherent set of policies in the European Union; only a few EU Member States have specific legislation on soil protection. While existing EU policies in areas such as agriculture, water, waste, chemicals, and prevention of industrial pollution do indirectly contribute to the protection of soils, there is a lack of attention to soil degradation overall which is illustrated not only in the limited soil protection targets across the EU but also in the scarcity of data and information. The role of the EEA is to help close the knowledge gaps, mainly in producing further integrated analysis of main drivers of soil degradation in connection with land use change and, and their effects of on e.g. carbon sequestration, multiple ecosystems services, efficient use of resources.

MORE HERE http://www.eea.europa.eu/about-us/jobs/eeavacancy.2016-09-16.4726362079