World Soil Day

Cities are expanding fast; already home to around 55% of the world's population, a figure expected to rise to 68% by 2050. As urban areas grow, so does the pressure to provide fresh, safe, nutritious food and to build spaces that can withstand a changing climate. The key to meeting these challenges lies right beneath our feet—soils, the often-overlooked foundation on which they are built. Soils in cities do far more than simply support buildings, roads and other infrastructure; they sustain resilient and green cities. Understanding this connection can enable us to design and build better homes and communities in the future. It also reinforces the One Health approach, which recognises that healthy soils support the health of people, animals, plants and the environment. Soils play an essential role in growing our food nutritious and keeping our environment healthy. They are also the basis for making cities sustainable and resilient. On this year’s World Soil Day , the Food and Agric...

The workshops are organized as part of the “EU partnership to protect agricultural land in the face of climate and environmental challenges. Caring for future generations” (ProLand) project , Program Erasmus+, project KA220-HED - Cooperation partnerships in higher education (2024-1-PL01-KA220-HED-000252809). It aims to increase awareness, knowledge, competence and develop management skills about soil management in agriculture . Celebrate World Soil Day with us! Join the celebrations organized by the ProLand  andErasmus+ project. Let's do something for the soil! See what our partners are doing! WORKSHOPS - PULS -1  - SUA -1  - UAL-1  - KNU-1  - ROMA -3 . Attachment Size proland-erasmus.pdf WORLD SOIL DAY at PULS #ProLand#Erasmus+ Poznań (Polska), 08/12/2025 - 08/12/2025

  Caribbean leadership in advancing soil health through the 25 x 25 + 5 Soil Initiative will be at the forefront, connecting policy, science, and community action. Join us for this important regional conversation and be part of the global World Soil Day campaign in a way that reflects our Caribbean realities. You are warmly invited to join us for “ The Caribbean Connection ”, a special World Soil Day 2025 webinar exploring the regional relevance of this year’s global theme. This interactive session will bring together Caribbean experts, youth leaders, and community voices to discuss how soil health underpins urban resilience, food security, and sustainable development across Small Island Developing States . The Caribbean Connection- FAO's World Soil Day Regional Webinar . Bowling Alley Hill (Barbados), 09/12/2025 - 09/12/2025. Register!

  Projectant futurs possibles en un món urbanitzat . Bellaterra (Espanya), 09/12/2025 - 09/12/2025 Cinefòrum Film: The Martian Round-Table: Mariona Ferrandiz (CREAF-UAB), Maria Sisternas (Hàbitat3-Ajuntament de Girona), Vicenç Carabassa (CREAF-UAB). Chair: Andrea Vidal (ICGC-UAB)

Over 80% of the food consumed in cities comes from family farmers who rely on healthy soils in rural areas. Investing in more sustainable agricultural practices and soil health in rural areas helps meet the rising food needs of expanding urban populations, while also protecting farmers’ livelihoods and strengthening global food security.  Healthy urban soils currently supply about 10% of global vegetables, legumes, and tubers for cities. They can help feed urban and peri-urban populations by ensuring that safe, fresh food grown in plots, gardens, or even on rooftop farms, remains available and accessible to urban markets. Urban agriculture remains an important part of urban socio-economic systems and provides new job opportunities for urban residents.   Through integrated land use planning , compact urban growth , and agrifood system integration , we can safeguard soils , secure food and build more sustainable cities. The City Region Food System (CRFS) planning offers one...

Cities are centres of traffic and sources of industrial pollution, waste and wastewater. As a result, urban soils can become easily polluted, posing serious health risks for residents. Actions are needed to identify, manage and restore such polluted urban soils .  Integrating green spaces, tree pits and green corridors can help filter pollutants . Healthy soils in turn enable greater green coverage, which absorbs less heat than concrete and asphalt, lowers surface temperatures, absorbs rainwater and reduces landslides and floods. As we build more roads and buildings, more urban soils are sealed.   Preventing and reversing soil sealing through city greening, on the other hand, can keep cities cool and mitigate extreme weather by sequestering carbon, retaining water and fostering biodiversity.

Green spaces  provide opportunities for recreation and encourage physical activity, supporting human health and well-being. Healthy soils are the foundation for urban and peri-urban forests, parks, gardens and urban trees. Living in cities surrounded by trees and parks provides recreation, supports well-being and human health. Green spaces are proven to improve mental health by reducing stress, anxiety and depression, and the simple act of spending time around trees can strengthen positive emotions. And because parks and gardens also encourage physical activity for all, when soils thrive and cities green, communities thrive too.

Cities generate about 70% of global waste. Improving how cities manage waste can directly benefit urban soils. When organic materials are safely separated and processed into compost, biochar , or biowaste through black soldier fly , and then applied to perennials or urban farms, they return nutrients back to the soils and support urban farming and healthier urban soils. FAO’s Green Cities Initiative (GCI), which aims to build vibrant, inclusive and resilient places that are good for people and nature. Redesigning cities to be truly sustainable requires reimagining how we manage our spaces, produce our food and use our resources. This transformation can start with one fundamental element: healthy soils.

 The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) today marked World Soil Day 2025 with a global celebration in Rome under the theme “ Healthy Soils for Healthy Cities. ” The Day underscores the crucial role that soil health plays not only in agriculture but also in shaping more resilient, greener and healthier urban environments . With two-thirds of the world’s population projected to live in cities by 2050, urban soils are under increasing pressure from sealing, pollution and unplanned expansion . These trends threaten the soil's ability to produce food, regulate temperature, filter water, store carbon and support biodiversity. Rapid urban growth is also consuming fertile peri-urban croplands—some nearly twice as productive as the global average—placing additional strain on agrifood systems. This year’s World Soil Day carries special significance as it coincides with FAO’s 80th anniversary —eight decades of partnership, innovation and action for better produc...

 Em comemoração ao Dia Mundial do Solo, o grupo GESolo organiza um Dia de Campo repleto de aprendizado e prática sobre a importância do solo na sustentabilidade urbana! Será realizada uma apresentação interativa com apresentação de amostras que caracterizam o solo da fazenda, demonstração de utilização dos aparelhos usados pelo GESolo na caracterização do solo e apresentação de resultados de Pesquisa. Dia Mundial do Solo Brazil (Brazil), 05/12/2025 - 05/12/2025

The event will consist on talks relating themes such as soil health, city health, urban soils , soil management and city water supplies, and green drainage systems for resilient cities, closing with a roundtable-like session. The event will be carried out in an one-morning meeting on December 5th , at Agronomic Institute (IAC), Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil. Technical Panel: Healthy Soils for Healthy Cities Campinas (Brasil), 05/12/2025 - 05/12/2025 Registration

World Soil Day 2025, Holding a painting competition for students entitled "Healthy Soils for Healthy Cities" in the city of Kharwana Varzeqan (Iran), 14/12/2025 - 14/12/2025 Holding a painting competition for students entitled "Healthy Soils for Healthy Cities" in the city of Kharwana with multiple prizes awarded. Register!

  World Soil Day 2025, Training course on the importance of observing crop rotation between cereals and legumes in soil fertility in the village of KohneLo . Varzeqan (Iran), 14/12/2025 - 14/12/2025. Training course on the importance of observing crop rotation between cereals and legumes in soil fertility in Kohne Lou village, Varzegan county. Register!

World Soil Day 2025 focuses on the vital role that soils play in shaping sustainable, productive, and climate-resilient urban environments. As cities grow and climate challenges intensify, healthy soils are increasingly recognised as a critical resource for securing food, protecting water, regulating temperatures, and supporting biodiversity. This year marks six years of Malaysia’s ongoing collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in advancing the World Soil Day movement — a commitment to raising national awareness on soil stewardship and empowering communities to safeguard this foundational ecosystem. To deepen this understanding, the 2025 celebration features a special dual-site farm immersion programme at Oasis Herbal Farm and Sky Ladder Pineapple Farm in Port Dickson. This hands-on experience allows participants to learn directly from soil scientists, regenerative agriculture practitioners, and farm leaders who are actively restoring soil ecosystems and streng...

  World Soil Day 2025, Educational and promotional course on conservation tillage machinery on the occasion of World Soil Day in the village of Dizaj Malek . Varzeqan (Iran), 15/12/2025 - 15/12/2025. Educational and promotional course on conservation tillage machinery on the occasion of World Soil Day in the village of Dizaj Malek Varzagan County. Register!

  World Soil Day 2025, Training course on observing crop rotation and its importance in soil fertility in Sorkheh Dizaj village, Varzegan county .  15/12/2025 - 15/12/2025 Training course on observing crop rotation and its importance in soil fertility in Sorkheh Dizaj village, Varzeghan county. Register!

  World Soil Day 2025, Meeting to prevent unauthorized construction on fertile lands in Varzagan County Varzeqan (Iran), 16/12/2025 - 16/12/2025. Meeting to prevent unauthorized construction on fertile lands in Varzagan County with the participation of department heads. Register!

  World Soil Day 2025, Holding a one-day conference on the importance of healthy soil in healthy cities by the village head of Negarestan village Varzeqan (Iran), 16/12/2025 - 16/12/2025. Holding a one-day conference on the importance of healthy soil in healthy cities by the village head of Negarestan village. Register!

  World Soil Day 2025, Holding a roundtable discussion on the importance of healthy soil in healthy cities by the village head of Rozi village in Varzagan County on the occasion of World Soil Day Varzeqan (Iran), 17/12/2025 - 17/12/2025 Holding a roundtable discussion on the importance of healthy soil in healthy cities by the village head of Rozi village in Varzagan County on the occasion of World Soil Day 2025. Register!

  World Soil Day 2025 conference . Tehran (Iran), 17/12/2025 - 17/12/2025. Holding a scientific conference on soil conservation with the participation of agricultural engineering and environmental protection experts with the slogan: Healthy soils for healthy cities. Register!