Achieving More Effective Soils Input Into Sustainability Studies: A New Frontier.

Sustainable development requires an interactive and interdisciplinary research effort including major inputs by soil scientists, preferably in the context of communities of scientific practice. This presents a challenging frontier for future soil research and communication. New developments in soil observation and monitoring and modelling soil processes offer unique opportunities to better characterize dynamic soil behaviour in space and time but input into interdisciplinary research teams and interaction with land users and policy makers requires innovative approaches to become more effective, including :(i)  A stronger focus on soil functions rather than on threats, defining a unique domain for soil research ; (ii) revitalizing our knowledge chains connecting tacit knowledge in e.g. soil survey with cutting edge research in the various subdisciplines. Hydropedology is an example of a cross cutting activity. ; (iii) more field work defining management effects on given types of soil, reflecting human effects on soil functions that are characteristically different in different soils. The soil mapping may be over but field work is needed more than ever; (iv) guarding our scientific quality and reliability by promoting basic, fundamental  soil research as non soil scientists  can easily use our well accessible databases and models without understanding what they are doing, and (v) taking a pro-active approach  towards policy makers and stakeholders including use of innovative communication techniques, where the ecological footprint and soil quality concepts are attractive.