National project · Soil
Vigilantes del Suelo
Citizen science to learn about the quality of Spain’s soils
About the project
Vigilantes del Suelo will encourage the public to take part in scientific activities to find out how healthy the soil beneath our feet is and to build a national map of soil health.
Vigilantes del Suelo (‘Soil Watchers’) is a national project that aims to get the public involved in scientific activities in the field of soil science (pedology), the study of soils.
Through citizen science campaigns, Vigilantes del Suelo participants will collect soil samples from their local area and analyse them to assess their health. The results from each area will be used to build a national map of the health of our soils.
Vigilantes del Suelo is aimed at the general public, with a particular focus on secondary school students and teachers. It will give them the tools to assess the health of the soils in their own area for themselves.
Vigilantes del Suelo will provide participants with a kit for collecting and analysing soil samples.
In addition, the results can be uploaded and geolocated through a mobile app, which will help to build the map of our soil quality.
Project objectives
The Vigilantes del Suelo project aims to build a national map of the health of our soils using the data collected through its citizen science campaigns.
The aims of Vigilantes del Suelo are aligned with those of the European ECHO project, an initiative in which Fundación Ibercivis also takes part.
The role of Ibercivis
We run it together with the Agrifood Research and Technology Centre of Aragon (CITA). CITA is responsible for the scientific side, and Ibercivis for everything related to citizen science.
It is a joint project (FCT-22-18723) funded by the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT) and the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, under its 2022 call.
Our activities
- Setting up the team of researchers and coordinators who will manage the scientific, design and citizen science aspects. This team will also include the project’s ambassadors: Spanish organisations that will help distribute the kits to the public in each participating province.
- Helping to choose the methods to be used with participants and the items that will make up the soil analysis kit.
- Producing the project’s graphic materials and teaching guide.
- Building the citizen science app that will hold the data and results provided by Vigilantes del Suelo participants.
- Administrative management of purchasing the kit items and distributing them to the ambassadors.
- Running workshops and webinars with participating schools and individuals to answer questions and share experiences.
- Monitoring the whole process: how samples are taken, how data are submitted, what conclusions can be drawn from them, and so on.
- Analysing the project’s reach and impact, and writing the final reports.
Gallery
Project details
Type of project
National
Funding
Funded by the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT) and the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, under its 2022 call (FCT-22-18723).
Duration
2023–2024 school year
Area
Soil
