Global Soil Partnership Plenary Assembly – Sixth Session 11 – 13 June 2018 FAO HQ

2. Isabelle Verbeke,
Global Soil Partnership, FAO
Making World Soil Day
a success

3. Soilcom
Isabelle Verbeke
Communication Coordinator
Matteo Sala
Art Director & Graphic Designer
Giulia Stankovic
Digital Specialist
Giusy Emiliano
Art curator (part-time)
Communication team
 Communication materials throughout the year
(infographics, videos, press releases, key messages,
highlights for GSP website…)
 Support to GSP secretariat meetings (ITPS, Reg.
workshops, Symposia, trainings, workshops, side events
to high level events…etc)
 Newsletter, special announcements
 Tight collaboration with the FAO corporate communication
unit
 Update of three major websites (GSP, WSD, FAO soils
portal) + Symposia websites
 Glinka World Soil prize (nominations, preparation of the
dossier and candidatures, survey etc.)

4. 5thDecember
World Soil Day
 Focus attention on the importance of healthy soils
 Advocating for the sustainable management of soils
resources
 Raise awareness on soils
-> WSD18 will be the 5th celebration

5. WSD17 Outreach & Digital
 Develop key messages, content, web stories, official
press release… etc. for various audiences
 Launch contest, competitions, soil labs,
 Encourage WSD events, propose activities, ideas and
exchange continuously with them
 Support FAO country offices and GSP partners
 Strive to work and engage with new partners (media,
private sector, schools, etc. …)
 Liaise with corporate
communication unit who itself
disseminates through its network and
audiences
 Preparation of digital (and printed)
communications products in various
languages

6. Website New multilingual website launched for WSD2017
 About: Past WSDs and background information on the year’s
theme and key facts about why Caring for the Soil
should start from the Ground…
 Campaign material: Translated
in more than 6 languages
/ WSD logo translation campaign
(44 translation of the logos)
 Events: WSD celebrations around
the world through a dynamic
module where WSD organizers
can insert their
WSD event themselves
 Activities / Contests
 Key messages
http://www.fao.org/world-soil-day/en/

7. Theme2017

8. WSD2017
Soils are essential to
improve nutrition
Good health starts with
nutrition…If we feed the soil,
it will feed us
Soils are essential to
achieve food security and
eradicate hunger
Soils are the foundation of
agriculture, it is where food
begins
Soils are essential to
provide clean water
The water we drink is purified
by soils. Let’s minimize
contamination and give our
soils only what they need
Soils are essential to
preserve biodiversity
Soils provide one of the
largest reservoirs of
biodiversity on earth, hosting
a quarter of our planet’s
biodiversity
Soils are essential to
mitigate and adapt to
climate change
Healthy soils are our silent
allies to combat climate
change
Soils are essential to
reduce forced migration
Without healthy soils people
can’t produce their food and
are forced to migrate to feed
themselves and their families

9. Keyproducts

10. Media
More than 700 articles between 7-15 December
Including 120 specifically focusing on the GSOC map
which was launched on WSD17

11. Media

12. Partnership

13. Target
 Social media/ web
 SOIL LAB Experiment book
 Partnership with Disney
 Videocontest: Soil Painting
tutorial
 Semina Diretta drawings
 HeART and Soil art exhibition
 WSD events around the world
FAO member countries,
governments, UN Agencies
 Targeted newsletter, highlights
 LA Projects, GROW Project
 Publication on Plant Protection
Products
 Capacity building on Digital
Soil Mapping
 Release of the web service
 Photocontest on Black Soils
 WSD technical events
 Website, other FAO website
 Glinka
 Social Media
 Media & press releases
 Official events, UNEA-3
Resolution
 New publication and products
Technical experts,
Researchers, farmers
Youth, NGOs and
Civil Society

14. Impressive FAO/GSP social media presence
Corporate social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram, etc.
GSP Facebook
Hashtags:
o Primary: #WorldSoilDay
o Secondary: #Soils
o #WSD17#ZeroHunger #FoodSecurity
#ClimateChange #SoilOrganicCarbon #GSOCmap
#GlobalSoilPartnership #Soils #ILoveSoils
Regular postings on Social channels through short
engaging content; Videos/animations; Visual
content/infographics)
Corporate digital team provided support with
programmed and agreed tweets and visuals in
Spanish/Arabic/French/Russian/Chinese
Socialmedia

16. WSD celebrations reached record high with 35%
increase
People gathered at over 200 events
This year 88 countries celebrated WSD
22 new countries touched by the WSD
campaign
Inaugurations of soil labs, soil painting
competitions, soil experiments
3 official events in New York, Rome, Nairobi a
KEY FIGURES:
Keyfigures

17. FAO HQ | Rome | Italy
Officialevents
UN HQ | New York | US
UNEA-3 | Nairobi | Kenya

18. Painting
SOIL PAINTING COMPETITION
Cornell
University
Winners:

19. Photocontest PHOTO CONTEST ON
BLACK SOILS

20. Soil Experiments for
children, Activity book
(NEW publication)!
Heart and Soil – ART
Exhibition!
Drawing exhibit
HeARTandSoil

21. Activity book
SoilLab

22. Stats
Statistics
In those last 9 months over 1.000.000
views

23. What’snext

24. Series of video
and posters on
soil pollution
Quiz on soil
pollution, contest
to engage public
to bring solutions
‘Cleaning soils’
campaign and
launch of the
Soil Doctors
toolbox Awareness raising
material on how to
bring solutions
Infographic,
tee-shirt,
web button,
updated
WSD18
website
WSD18

25. ActionsbyGSPPA6
• take note of the successful WSD celebration on 5th
December 2017 and the programme foreseen for WSD
2018;
• encourage member countries, other partners and new
stakeholders to organize WSD celebrations using the 2018
and 2019 themes;
• endorse the theme proposed for
WSD 2019; “Soils: Where
nutrition starts”

26. ActionsbyGSPPA6
Invite resource partners to
contribute to the implementation of the
sustained communication plan envisaged by
the Secretariat.

28. Thank You