Today, 60% of the world’s soil is degraded due to the combined effects of erosion, salinization, and pollution. Increasing land conversion also threatens this fragile resource, whose health is essential for ecosystems, biodiversity, climate stability, food production, and water regulation. More broadly, it determines the survival and well-being of humanity.

Protecting soils on a global scale has thus become more than a necessity; it is a fundamental societal choice and a responsibility toward future generations.

The “Soils, Biodiversity, and Future Generations” Chair, led by UniLaSalle in partnership with UNESCO, stems from this strong conviction that soils must be recognized and protected as central to climate, ecological, and social solutions.

This project was born out of a desire to bring together research and education around global challenges, within a dynamic of open scientific and educational cooperation. It is part of a multi-stakeholder approach based on the sharing of knowledge and practices.

This international chair therefore aims to contribute to:

• the development and sharing of knowledge through international partnerships,
• educating responsible younger generations who are aware of the importance of soils,
• and mobilizing farmers, agricultural advisors, and political and economic decision-makers around the need to preserve soils and their biodiversity.

With a firm focus on human development and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Chair is now part of the prestigious UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs Program.

A new UNESCO Chair in France, the first dedicated specifically to soils

A UNESCO Chair is an initiative led by a university or higher education institution, recognized by UNESCO, that aims to strengthen international inter-university cooperation. It brings together researchers, students, institutional partners, NGOs, businesses, and practitioners in the field to generate and share knowledge, develop projects, and disseminate best practices.

Initially supported by the French National Commission for UNESCO and subsequently approved by UNESCO’s Scientific Committee, the “Soils, Biodiversity, and Future Generations” Chair joins a network of over 1,100 Chairs across 130 countries and will benefit from:

• International recognition that strengthens the Chair’s scientific and institutional legitimacy among partners and funders.
• Access to a global network connecting hundreds of teams across many countries, to facilitate collaboration, joint projects, the dissemination of methods, and the sharing of expertise.
• An impact accelerator by mobilizing academic expertise to advance knowledge and practices on complex issues, and to strengthen capacities in terms of training, cooperation, and knowledge transfer.

This UNESCO Chair symbolizes the recognition of more than twenty years of research conducted at UniLaSalle on sustainable soil management practices, and commits us collectively to pursuing this ambition with rigor, responsibility, and determination.

International connections facilitated by the La Salle network

In response to the global challenges posed by soil degradation in the context of climate change, the UNESCO Chair draws on a network of academic and socio-economic partners spread across four continents: Africa (Senegal, Tunisia), Latin America (Brazil, Colombia, Mexico), Asia (the Philippines), and Europe (France).

This diversity of soil and climate contexts fosters the exchange of knowledge and practices between regions already highly exposed to major hazards—salinization, contamination, water stress—and those that will face these same threats in the future. The Chair thus aims to contribute to anticipating the effects of climate change and disseminating appropriate long-term solutions.

Through its efforts in awareness-raising, experimentation, comparison, and cooperation, the “Soils, Biodiversity, and Future Generations” Chair is at the heart of the Lasallian educational mission. Supported by the involvement of the La Salle network, the world’s leading international network dedicated to education, it embodies the motto “Together and through association,” particularly through the ILIASS network (International Lasallian Institute of Applied Sciences for Sustainability).

Learn more about the Chair in Soils, Biodiversity, and Future Generations