The Sixth Dimension of Soil Security: Ideas from Integral Ecology.

The soil security concept recognizes soil degradation as a global existential risk to humanity and a framework was proposed to help identify the current and optimal state of soils. Although this framework addresses five dimensions (condition, capability, capital, connectivity and codification), it is still lacking in regards to the understanding, beliefs, and motivations that underlie the perceptions and actions of stakeholders/people within and across the dimensions. To address these gaps we are applying ideas and strategies from integral ecology. Integral ecology suggests that environmental/ecosystem problems are analyzed from multiple perspectives and with contrasting methodologies to accurately assess the state of a problem and realize the intended goals. Thus, the objective in this paper is to (1) expand the soil security concept to better address the personal (individual), inter-personal (collective cultural), and socio-political aspects of soil/soil-ecosystems, and (2) utilize integral theory to evaluate the inter-connections between the various dimensions of  soil security .

Viewing the soil security concept under the integral lens is pluralistic and allows synthesizing across four perspectives: (1) direct awareness, perception and embodied experience I have in regard to soils/nature in its totality (first-person singular perspective), (2) how stakeholder groups, indigenous and modern communities communicate and interact with each other and what beliefs and values they hold about soil use, management and protection (first-person plural perspective), (3) observations, mapping, modeling, management, and actions on individual soils (site/pedon/pixel-basis) (third-person singular or “biophysical/empirical” perspective), and (4) how soil and soil-ecosystems are embedded within other systems such as political, economic and social systems (third-person plural perspective). The integral lens reveals that ‘cognizance’, situated individually and collectively in (1) and (2), is another important dimension of soil security.

We assert that the sixth dimension to soil security – cognizance –addresses individual and collective conscious awarenessof cultural knowledge and heritage, beliefs, values, and experiences regarding soil which is viewed from an ethnopedological vantage point, while connectivity is used to denote people’s proximity, utilization, access and stewardship of soil and associated rituals, practices capturing the social dimension of soils. Integral ecology facilitates us to discern and interconnect all relevant dimensions to secure soils, identify linkages and feedbacks between the dimensions, and determine where gaps exist between people, soils, and the actions that are taken.

Some of the questions that will be addressed include: why is there a disconnect between beliefs and motivations and the actions needed to secure soils, how can perceptions be codified, what governance structures and institutions are required to improve soil security, how can we improve the integration across the 6 dimensions of soil security, how can we go deeper than traditional extension to avoid pitfalls with developing regions and indigenous peoples, and how to engage with modern urban communities that are detached from soil and their intrinsic value in the natural world.