An ad hoc committee will organize a one-day workshop in December 2015 to increase awareness of the complexity of the roles and great importance of soils in national security, food and nutritional security, water quality and renewability, climate change mitigation and adaptation, human health, and biological diversity.

The workshop will encourage the incorporation of scientific soil concepts by decision makers, members of the public and private sectors, and the general public in decisions at very different scales, from national and state policy to the choices that people make in their daily lives. These workshop participants will have the opportunity to interact directly with experts in the various soil disciplines and allied fields. A rapporteur-authored workshop summary will be published.