AGENDA

During the Symposium hundred and twenty oral presentations will be given and above fifty scientific posters displayed under three main themes:
THEME 1: State of knowledge on soil biodiversity;
THEME 2:  Soil biodiversity in action;
THEME 3:  Soil biodiversity shaping the future of food systems. 

SIMULTANEOUS INTERPRETATION

On the first day, the plenary session of the Symposium will be interpreted into the six FAO languages, while the following days - organized through parallel sessions - will be held in English only. All sessions will be recorded and made available to participants together with the powerpoint presentations. 

OPENING REMARKS

• Mr QU Dongyu, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation
• H.E. Renato Alvarado Rivera, Minister for Agriculture and Livestock, Costa Rica
• H.E. Virginijus Sinkevicius, Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, European Union
• H.E. Tang Renjian, Minister for Agriculture and Rural Affairs, People’s Republic of China
• H.E. Ibrahim Thiaw, Executive Secretary, United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
• H.E. Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, Executive Secretary, Convention on Biological Diversity

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS 

On the first day, the Symposium keynote speeches will be delivered by Ms Rosa Poch (ITPS), Ms Diana Wall (GSBI), Mr Wim Van der Putten (Netherlands Institute of Ecology), Ms Daphne Miller (University of California), and Mr Felipe Pasini (Agenda Gotsch).

POSTER CONTEST 

From the first day of the symposium, you will be able to give your opinion and vote for your favorite scientific poster. Along with their posters, some authors also produced a short video explaining their work. GSOBI participants will select the winners of the poster contest by voting for their favourite on an ad-hoc module. The three best posters will be announced on the last day of the Symposium and will win GSOBI prizes consisting of a paper copy of the report "State of knowledge od Soil Biodiversity" and the soil biodiversity bag. 

Andy Murray, Christopher Marley and Suzette Bousema - passionate photographers, artists and naturalists - will show their interaction and work with soil biodiversity.

A short call to action video for social media will be released together with  an interactive webstory on the 19th of April. Share it on your private and institutional channels!

How much do you know about  soil biodiversity? Test your knowledge during the Symposium's virtual quiz and grab a first position and the GSOBI prizes!

PREVIOUS CONTEST 

The Organizing Committee would like to reiterate its congratulations to the winners and thank all participants involved in both the photo and video contest on soil biodiversity and the children's book contest on soil biodiversity. 

PUBLICATIONS

A collection of the ten best soil biodiversity stories from the World Soil Day 2020 contest will be launched on the first day. It challenged experts and fans to create short illustrated stories about soil animals, helping kids to learn about the hidden organisms.

A fundamental publication concisely presents the state of knowledge on soil biodiversity, the threats it faces, and the solutions that soil biodiversity can provide to today's global challenges in numerous fields. Check out also the Summary for policy makers.

The outcome document of the symposium will highlight the importance of soil biodiversity for food safety, environment and human health. It will include an agenda for action to strengthen monitoring, measurement, assessment, prevention of soil biodiversity loss.

LOGISTICS

All registered participants will receive a detailed email a few days before the event with all the related information on how to join and interact with panelists and participants. Please check the GSOBI website - available in the six FAO languages - for the latest updates. For further information, please contact us at [email protected].