The Second Global Soil Week (GSW 2013), opened on Monday, 28 October, with a creative interpretation of the conference theme of “Losing Ground?” by Theatersport Berlin. Two plenary sessions then took place, exploring what losing ground means in relation to the nexus of water, food and energy security, and other natural resources, and how land degradation affects people’s livelihoods in different parts of the world.

In the afternoon, four interactive dialogue sessions took place, organized around four thematic threads: material cycles; sustainable land management and soil engineering; international soil policy and sustainable development goals; and responsible land governance.

In the evening plenary session, “thematic ambassadors” for each of the four conference threads highlighted key issues from the dialogue sessions for inclusion in the final outcome document of the conference, Agenda for Action. This was followed by a closing plenary session on “Understanding soils in the nexus.”

Throughout the day, an informal “action forum” also took place, encouraging participants to creatively use all five senses to reflect on losing ground.