Publications and Legacy

The discoveries, interpretations, and recommendations that international soil scientists and practitioners bring to the 24th WCSS should be shared broadly, to propel our science forward through the 21st century. We envisage a multi-tier approach to ensure that this knowledge and content be made available, in open access, internationally .

Scholarly Publications: In addition to other publishing forums, that the convenors of symposia and sessions may consider, we have received commitments (Appendix 1), from Canadian Science Publishing, and especially the Canadian Journal of Soil Science, to facilitate the publishing of Congress-related material, including through special issues or perspective papers.

Soil Researchers and Practitioners: To preserve and disseminate diverse digital information (e.g., data, text, still imagery, video, and audio) resulting from the 24th WCSS, we will work with established digital repositories in relevant Canadian universities. Material related to the Community Engagement activities will be served on a 24th WCSS Legacy Website, to be maintained for 1 year after the Congress. Statistics on the number of views/ reposts of media content will be collection to update information on forthcoming special issues and other activities initiated at the world congress. 

Post-Secondary Soil Science Education: As in other countries, Canada has also been actively developing web-based resources for soil science education, at the post-secondary levels, notably including the Soils of Canada and Virtual Soil Science Learning Resources websites, as well as our recently launched ‘Digging into Canadian Soils’ eBook. As feasible, we will draw upon output from the 24th WCSS to continue to enhance these open access resources. On-going efforts to evolve a new national framework for field training in soil science, will contribute to the preparation of Congress tours – ultimately these resources and our experience would be of utility to our colleagues and students internationally.

Youth and General Public: Following the Congress, content developed for Community Engagement will be transferred from the 24WCSS website to a 24WCSS Legacy website, for a period of one year, to permit follow-up access. At the same time, we will work with organizations such as the Ontario Science Centre and the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum, to enhance both their online content (e.g., OSC Teacher Resources), as well as their permanent and travelling exhibits (e.g., CAFM “Soil Superheros”).

Environmental Impact Offset: The WCSS, like other international events, exerts a real environmental (esp. carbon) footprint. A leader in sustainability, the MTCC has a well-established framework for minimizing the environmental impact of events, including proactively supporting local businesses and farms (Appendix 2). We will also work with appropriate organizations, such as ALUS (Appendix 1, Letter of Support), proportionate to attendance, which would involve land restoration, and associated carbon sequestration, the improvement of biodiversity and waters, as well as community and landowner participation.