This summer school focused on the specific study of anthropogenic soils. It included lectures on pedogenesis and soil functioning, with reminders of fundamental knowledge on the physical, chemical, and biological processes taking place in natural ecosystems, and then focused on the contexts of high anthropic pressures encountered in SUITMAs.
Theoretical courses were complemented by presentations on the various methodologies applicable in the laboratory and in the field. With tutorial sessions both in the field (geophysical measurements, infiltration, CO2 flux measurements, pXRF chemical characterization, meso- and macro-fauna inventory, etc…) and in the laboratories (soil hydric properties, molecular biology, chemical analyses).
This was organized by the International Working Group Urban Soils – Soils of Urban, Industrial, Traffic and Mining Areas (WG SU/SUITMA) of the ISSS, and particularly the Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences (IEES-Paris). It was held at the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD), a historical site for soil sciences located in Bondy, north of Paris (France).
Antonio Aguilar-Garrido 