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Soil discovered: Opportunities for agriculture and nature conservation in Cottbus!
On April 23, 2025, the BTU Cottbus invites you to an evening of lectures on land use and sustainability in Lower Lusatia.
Soil discovered: Opportunities for agriculture and nature conservation in Cottbus!
On Wednesday, April 23, 2025, an exciting evening of lectures will take place from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in Audimax 1 of the Brandenburg Technical University (BTU) in Cottbus. This is entitled “Using soil as a basis for life sensibly” and offers free entry for anyone interested. The event falls within the period of the “Open BTU” lecture series, which runs from April 9th to July 2nd, 2025 and deals with topics such as soils in Lusatia, biodiversity and biodiversity protection.
The evening will be moderated by Marie Majaura and will include three keynote speeches dealing with the use and protection of soils. Juliane Klemm, from the “Discover Soil” project at the BTU, will give the first lecture and examine the properties and quality of the soil in Lower Lusatia. It highlights both the opportunities and the challenges that arise from sustainable land use.
Interdisciplinary discourse on soil protection
The second lecture comes from Dr. Steffi Schillem, an expert from the German Association for Agroforestry (DeFAF) e.V. She will present agroforestry as the key to soil protection and sustainable agriculture. The combination of agricultural and forestry uses brings numerous advantages that not only promote the soil but also biodiversity.
In the third lecture, Thomas Domin will report on his family business in Peickwitz. He focuses on sustainable agriculture in practice and presents innovative solutions, such as combining direct marketing with agroforestry and photovoltaics. The lectures provide a forum for interesting insights and sharing experiences.
Soil biodiversity in focus
The relevance of soil biodiversity is also emphasized in current discussions. At the conference “Nature Conservation and Agriculture in Dialogue – The Soil in Focus”, which took place from November 13th to 16th, 2023, the loss of biological diversity, particularly in relation to the organisms that live in and on the soil, was discussed. Agriculture and nature conservation experts report negative trends in the number of species, which have also been found in the soil.
Awareness of the importance of soil life remains a challenge. Soil fertility is essential for yield security in agriculture, and it is evident that agriculture plays a key role in soil biodiversity. Measures that have a positive impact on soil life are therefore essential. A background paper from the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation lists key points for the protection and sustainable use of soil biodiversity. The need for clear framework conditions is also pointed out, particularly with regard to the planned amendment to the Federal Soil Protection Act and the European Commission's draft for a Soil Monitoring Act.
For further information about this event, those interested can contact Thomas Hasenauer. He can be reached on +49 (0) 355 69-3680 and by email at thomas.hasenauer(at)b-tu.de. Further information is also available on the BTU website.