EUROPEAN COMPOST NETWORK
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Network for Organic Resources and Biological Treatment
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ECN E-BULLETIN No. 09_2020
24 september 2020
European Parliament/European Compost Network

Online debate 'Organics in Soil - Biological Cycle and Sustainable Agriculture'

The European Compost Network will organise an online debate on 'Save Organics in Soil - Biological Cycle and Sustainable Agriculture' co-hosted by Members of the European Parliament Franc Bogovic and Ensi Katainen on Tuesday 13th October 2020 from 9:00 am to 10:30 am.

Steadily and alarmingly, soil resources are depleting faster than the nutrients can be recycled. If this trajectory does not change, soil erosion, combined with the effects of climate change, will present a huge risk to global food security over next decades. Please help us to save organics in soil. The purpose of the event is discussing the supporting actions that farmers and other actors working in the rural areas need to save organics in soil. Full recovery of the soils may be achieved by adopting management and monitoring plans that aim to enhance their humus content and water retention capacity and that allow them to work as natural carbon sinks. Any integrated soil management plan should include regular application of organic matter on the soil.

We invited panellists from the EU institutions (European Parliament and European Commission), business associations and NGOs as well as practitioners from the agriculture and vineyard sector to discuss current status and outlook of the soils in Europe.
Registration and contact
This online seminar event is open and free.
Please register via this link: https://bit.ly/32MdVS2
For further queries, please contact Marco Giacomazzi: giacomazzi@compostnetwork.info

Programme
The programme is available for download here.
EP Invitation
European Research &Innovation Days 22-24 Sept. 2020
Soil Health and Food Mission Board handed over the report ‘Caring for soiI is caring for life’ to the Commission
Yesterday at the European Research and Innovation Days, high-level independent experts presented their proposals to the European Commission for possible EU missions on some of our most pressing societal challenges. “Caring for Soil is Caring for Life” is the title of one of the missions, proposed by the Soil Health and Food Mission Board. The mission’s goal is to “ensure that 75% of soils are healthy by 2030 and are able to provide essential ecosystem services”, such as the provision of food and other biomass, supporting biodiversity, storing and regulating the flow of water, or mitigating the effects of climate change. The target corresponds to a 100% increase of healthy soils against the current baseline.

The five mission proposals submitted by the Mission Boards, the independent experts advising the Commission, are:
Targets by 2030: at least 75% of soils in the EU are healthy for food, people, nature and climate. This interim report sets out the vision and the blueprint to reach this ambition through a combination of research and innovation, training and advice, as well as the demonstration of good practices for soil management using “Living labs” and “Lighthouses”. To be successful, the mission will also improve the monitoring of soil health and the pressures acting on them, mobilise investments, and encourage changes in policies. The mission will be a joint endeavour by stakeholders, researchers, policy-makers and citizens alike that will put Europe on a path towards sustainable land and soil management as part of a wider, green societal transition.
Targets by 2030: support, promote and showcase 100 European cities in their systemic transformation to climate neutrality by 2030 and turn these cities into innovation hubs for all cities, benefitting quality of life and sustainability in Europe.
Targets by 2030: prepare Europe to deal with climate disruptions, accelerate the transition to a healthy and prosperous future within safe planetary boundaries, and scale up solutions for resilience that will trigger transformations in society.
Targets by 2030: filling the knowledge and emotional gap, regenerating marine and freshwater ecosystems, zero pollution, decarbonising the blue economy, and revamping governance. These mutually supportive objectives will enable the regeneration of the water cycle as a whole.
Targets by 2030: more than 3 million lives saved, living longer and better: achieve a thorough understanding of cancer, prevent what is preventable, optimise diagnosis and treatment, support the quality of life of all people exposed to cancer, and ensure equitable access to the above across Europe.

The Commission will announce its final selected missions at the end of 2020.The missions will launch in 2021 as part of Horizon Europe, the next EU research and innovation programme. Europeans will continue to be engaged in all phases of their implementation.
WBA online debate 16/09/2020
Video recording published
The “Europe, build it back better” networking event hosted by the World Biogas Association took place on 16th of September 2020.

The Executive Director of ECN, Dr Stefanie Siebert, has contributed to the discussion to emphazise the need to support the use of high quality compost and digestate in sustainable agriculture. The Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) of the European Union foresees funding of sustainable agriculture policy as well as promoting environmental and biodiversity protections in reaching the overall goal to become climate-neutral in 2050.

The ECN presentation ‘The role of bio-waste in the EU Circular Economy’ can be downloaded here.

Materials from the event, the recording and slides, can be access here: www.worldbiogasassociation.org/ask-wba-europe-build-it-back-better/

EEA Briefing

Biodegradable and compostable plastics – challenges and opportunities

The European Environment Agency (EEA) has released a briefing on ‘Biodegradable, and compostable plastics’ at the beginning of September. Products like shopping bags, packaging or drinking cups are being increasingly promoted as greener solution than traditional plastic products for consumers. But how environmentally-friendly are they? The EEA briefing says clearer labelling and better public awareness will improve the correct disposal …

Read more
Ireland020

New Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy in Ireland published

The Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy fulfils our commitment in the Programme for Government to publish and start implementing a new National Waste Action Plan. This new national waste policy will inform and give direction to waste planning and management in Ireland over the coming years. It will be followed later this year by an All of Government …

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Announcements

Compost Council of Canada, 28 Sept. - 2 Oct. 2020

Online: Organics Recycling Conference

The power of organics recycling to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and sequester carbon is great. Add to this the enormous benefits of waste diversion, soil regeneration, water conservation, community-building, job creation and, at times, green energy, and the imperative for organics recycling is a natural for all those charged and wanting to move our world positively forward.

Get up-to-speed on the latest developments in organics recycling at the upcoming ORGANICS RECYCLING CONFERENCE, to be held throughout the week of September 28 – October 2, 2020, virtual style.

More information and registration is available on the conference website www.compost2020.org.

GrowingMedia2021

The 2nd International Symposium on Growing Media, Soilless Cultivation, and Compost Utilization in Horticulture (ISHS) will be held in the historic university city of Ghent, Belgium, 22 - 27 August, 2021.

The previous conference was held in 2019 in Milan (SUSGRO2019) and attracted 200 delegates from across Europe and other continents.
GrowingMedia2021 will be organized by ILVO, Ghent University, Hasselt University and several Flemish research stations and co-organised by the European Compost Network (ECN).

The conference focuses on sharing expertise on growing media, soilless cultivation and
compost utilization in horticulture. Sessions include:
  • Growing media and sustainable use of resources
  • Integrated disease and pest control via interaction with the growing medium
  • Soilless cultivation: added value of innovations for water and nutrient use efficiency
  • Compost utilization in horticulture and its potential for carbon storage
Speakers and selected poster presentations will cover the full spectrum of research, from
theory to implementation and adoption by stakeholders.

Further information can be assessed here.

European Compost Network ECN e.V.
Im Dohlenbruch 11, D-44795 Bochum
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Website: www.compostnetwork.info
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ECN-QAS Trade Mark No 011007168
Trade mark for certified quality assurance
organisations, compost and digestate products
according
to ECN-QAS
Website: www.ecn-qas.eu

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