Celebration of World Soil Day 2025 in the Russian Federation
“Healthy Soils for Healthy Cities”
Hybrid Event, 04/12/2025
World Soil Day 2025 is a call to action. It urges policymakers, scientists, urban leaders, civil society, and citizens worldwide to rethink urban spaces through the lens of soil, so that people and nature can thrive together in healthy, green cities.
An overarching theme for all Soil Day events is the conservation and improvement of soil health, and the sequestration of atmospheric carbon, which simultaneously leads to the accumulation of soil organic matter and enhanced soil fertility. Therefore, an important topic of the meeting will be a discussion of the RECSOIL program project, which is being implemented in the Russian Federation by PhosAgro with the scientific and methodological support of Lomonosov Moscow State University.
FAO Liaison Office with the Russian Federation, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow Timiryazev Agricultural Academy, PhosAgro, the V.V. Dokuchaev Society of Soil Science together with other partner organizations, are celebrating World Soil Day 2025 at the Soil Science Faculty of Moscow State University in a hybrid format.
The event is held to share experience and knowledge and to strengthen cooperation among scientists, government representatives, the agricultural business, and non-profit organizations to advance soil research and address practical challenges.
You are invited to participate in the World Soil Day celebration on Thursday, 4 December 2025, from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM (Moscow time).
The working languages of the conference are English and Russian, with simultaneous interpretation provided.
As of 2 December 2025
PROGRAM
Moderator – Dr Pavel Krasilinikov, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Dean, Faculty of Soil Science, Lomonosov Moscow State University
10.00–10.10 - Greeting from FAO Director-General Dr Qu Dongyu (recorded)
Ceremony of FAO Technical Recognition Award to PhosAgro JSC (presented by Oleg Kobiakov, Director of the FAO Liaison Office with the Russian Federation, received by Alexander Gilgenberg, General Director of PhosAgro). Brief speeches.
10.00–10.40 – Opening speeches
- Representative of the Rectorate of Moscow State University
- Dr Lifeng Li, Director, Land and Water Division (FAO) (online)
- Elena A. Sharoykina, Chairman of the Commission on Ecology and the Environment of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation (online)
- Ratchanok SANGPENCHAN, Minister Counsellor (Agriculture) of Thailand
Part 1. Healthy Soils for Healthy Cities
10.40–12.40
Ivan Serebritsky, Deputy Chairman of the Committee for Nature Management, Environmental Protection, and Ecological Safety of St. Petersburg (online)
Dr Elvira Dovletyarova, Director, Institute of Agrarian Technologies, Patrice Lumumba University of Peoples' Friendship; Professor, Doctor of Biological Sciences
Dr Ming Hung WONG, Professor, Research Chair Professor of Environmental Science, Education University of Hong Kong (online)
Dr Tatiana Prokofieva, Associate Professor, Department of Soil Geography, Faculty of Soil Science, Lomonosov Moscow State University
Vyacheslav Vasenev, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor, Department of Landscape Design and Sustainable Ecosystems, Agrarian-Technological Institute, RUDN University (online)
Aminat Umarova, Head, Department of Soil Physics and Land Reclamation, Faculty of Soil Science, Lomonosov Moscow State University; Professor
11.30 – 11.40 – Dr Ganlin Zhang, Director, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology (China) (online)
Dr Ivan Vasenev, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor, Department of Ecology, Russian State Agrarian University – Moscow Timiryazev Agricultural Academy
Dr Natalia Kosheleva, Department of Geography, Lomonosov Moscow State University; Professor
Dr Olga Semeniuk, Senior Research Fellow, Department of General Soil Science, Lomonosov Moscow State University
Dr Jovica Vasin, President, Serbian Society of Soil Science (online)
12.40 – 13.00 Coffee-break
Part 2. RECSOIL – Agricultural soils decarbonization
Moderator – Professor Ivan Vasenev
(Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor, Department of Ecology, Russian State Agrarian University
Moscow Timiryazev Agricultural Academy)
13.00–14.30
Dr Natalia Rodríguez Eugenio, Land and Water Lead Officer (FAO)
Eugeny Vaulin, Head, Department for Climate Project Development, Russian Agrochemical Service
Vladimir Romanenkov, Head, Department of Agrochemistry and Plant Biochemistry, Faculty of Soil Science, Lomonosov Moscow State University; Professor
Oxana Gogunskaya, Director, Kontur
Sergey Samosyuk, Corporate Secretary, PhosAgro
Vladimir Nosov, Head Plant Production Officer, PhosAgro
Daria Goryachkina, Deputy Director, Sustainable Development Operational Risk Group, Kept
Lyudmila Orlova, President of the Non-Profit Partnership "National Conservation Agriculture Movement," Candidate of Economic Sciences, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Healthy soils are the foundation of life on Earth. Every year on December 5th, World Soil Day (WSD) celebrates soils and raises awareness of their vital importance for sustainable agri-food systems, combating climate change, maintaining biodiversity, and supporting human well-being.
The 2025 theme, "Healthy Soils for Healthy Cities," focuses on the role of soils in urban areas and the challenges posed by soil sealing and urbanization. With two-thirds of the world's population expected to live in cities by 2050, soils are the bedrock for sustainable urban development and resilience.
Urban soils perform critical ecosystem functions: they enable food production, filter water, store carbon, regulate temperature, and support biodiversity. However, soil sealing, pollution, and urban sprawl are jeopardizing these benefits, increasing the risk of floods, intensifying heat islands, and threatening food production in peri-urban areas.
Solutions exist. Unsealing paved soils, creating green roofs, implementing ecological landscaping and urban agriculture projects, composting, and sustainable urban planning can turn soil into a powerful tool for enhancing climate action, improving the quality of life and public health, reducing disaster risks, and fostering inclusive, greener cities.