Headline: Stop the impervious coverage of the soil! Restore the fertility of our urban soil! Photo opportunity with statements

IASS Director Prof. Klaus Töpfer and Volkert Engelsman of the campaign “Save Our Soils” will break open the impervious coverage of the soil at Potsdamer Platz, and plant vegetables

Urbanization is forging ahead at a rate that will cause the worldwide expanse of urban area to double in twenty years. According to a study by the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies (2012), this increase will cover an area the size of South Africa. Currently, in Europe 200 sqm of soil per inhabitant are already under impervious coverage. In Germany alone, 27 ha of impervious coverage are added every day. The alarming results are that our soil is disappearing – soil that is vital for the production of our food, for storing and filtering our groundwater, binding the carbon that threatens our climate, and – particularly important for our cities – filtering pollutants from the air.

Through their symbolic action at Potsdamer Platz, IASS Director Prof. Klaus Töpfer and Volkert Engelsman of the campaign “Save Our Soils” intend to draw attention to these facts.

Time: Monday, October 28, 2013, 1 - 1.30 p.m.

Place: Entrance, Scandic Hotel, Gabriele-Tergit-Promenade 19, (Potsdamer Platz), 10785 Berlin

To initiate the Second Global Soil Week in Berlin, they will break up the pavement in front of the entrance to the Scandic Hotel as a statement against the continuing increase in the impervious coverage of our soils. They will plant vegetables in the resulting hole. Vandana Shiva of the International Forum on Globalization will also be present.

Together with policy-makers and representatives of civil society, the IASS will hold the 2nd Global Soil Week in 2013 under the slogan “Losing Ground?”, building on the success of the First Global Soil Week in 2012. The goal of the IASS is that the Global Soil Week will serve as a platform for making protection of the soils a permanent part of our global sustainability goals. Our national and international partners include the European Commission, the FAO, that UNEP, the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, the German Federal Ministry for International Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and the German Federal Environmental Protection Agency (UBA). Some 400 participants from more than sixty countries are expected this year. www.globalsoilweek.org.

Contact

Corina Weber| Press & Communication | +49 331 28822-340
E-Mail: Corina [dot] weber [at] iass-potsdam [dot] de (Corina[dot]weber[at]iass-potsdam[dot]de)