Forum on sustainability, soil and land

Soil is the basis of food production for the world’s population, and is an important factor for biodiversity and the Earth’s carbon cycle. Soil has a huge impact on the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The state of the Earth’s ecosystems is in many places very poor, with a constant decrease in biodiversity. The situation especially bad in Iceland, where land use in many places is far from being sustainable. Sustainable land use is necessary to prevent the degradation of ecosystems and improves the possibility of their recovery – which also contributes to the sequestration of carbon from the atmosphere.

This seminar will discuss the importance of soil as well as the need for new thinking regarding sustainable land use in Iceland, but also obstacles and the development of regulations intended to bring land use management up to date. The seminar will include short presentations by Ólafur Arnalds, Soil Scientist, Þorgerður M. Þorbjarnardóttir, Chair of Landvernd, Eyþór Eðvaldsson, activist and consultant, Fífa Jónsdóttir, Board member of Ungir umhverfissinnar, and Björn Barkarson, office manager on sustainable land use at the Ministry of Food,  followed by a panel discussions. The forum is held on the occasion of Hagþenki’s recognition of the book “Mold ert þú” and the challenges involved in ensuring sustainable land use.

Accessibility to Elissa (auditorium) is good. Accessible and gender neutral restrooms are on the same floor.