On 7th December 2023, the Queen’s University Science Shop organised the kick-off meeting for the UK LOESS Community of Practice (CoP). Given that the UK comprises four devolved nations, the meeting was held online. The formal meeting built on a range of early stage CoP scoping activities aimed at contacting soil education initiatives in the UK, including a series of meetings with other Mission Soil UK partners. The CoP has been created under the EU Soil Mission LOESS project which focuses on soil literacy for soil health. The LOESS UK CoP aims to bring together actors from across different stakeholder groups and different disciplines to enable discussion and facilitate insights that will help to build educational resources and offerings that will support soil health education.  

WHO ARE WE? The UK LOESS CoP involves experts from different disciplines and sectors, including soil scientists, education experts, artists, CSO representatives, and other stakeholders:

• Claire Dewhirst, Head of the Centre for Educational Development, QUB
• Jim Bradley, Partnership Manager at Belfast Hills Project
• Johanne Brolly, Royal Society of Chemistry (missing from photo)
• Karen Kerr, PGCE Science Co-ordinator and lecturer, SSESW, QUB
• Karolina Trdlicova, James Hutton Institute and ECHO soils project
• Kate Harper and Sarah Rafferty, Community Projects Manager and Community Engaged Learning Manager, University of York
• Raichel Locke, Manchester Environmental Education Network
• Roy Nielson, James Hutton Institute and ECHO soils project
  
  

The UK CoP will continue to grow by including new members, thus offering further opportunities to enhance our collective knowledge and expertise and contribute to a broader perspective and new ideas.