Successful 13th TAUW Soil Seminar in Groningen, The Netherlands

TSS and the Sustainable Development Goals

The main topic of TSS was the Sustainable Development goals (SDG's) of the United Nations, which directly and indirectly address soil; many of these SDG's can't be achieved without healthy soils and a sustainable soil and land use. Therefore, much of our work for clients directly contributes to several SDG's in various ways. Find out more about our opinion on the EU Soil Strategy in our position paper.

Download TAUW’s position paper

TSS Program

The first day of the seminar was opened by Martin Doeswijk (Director Soil&Groundwater TAUW Group) and Henrike Branderhorst (CEO TAUW Group). Subsequently, Dr. Saskia Keesstra of Wageningen University gave a presentation on soil in relation to the SDG's.

In the afternoon, two colleagues from TAUW Netherlands (Annette Haselhoff and Harm Hubbeling) gave a presentation on integrated consulting and site development at the northern ports in the province Groningen. Major developments are taking place in this province, especially Eemshaven and Delfzijl, in which TAUW is also closely involved (e.g. soil remediation, permitting, redevelopment of brownfields, etc.). The attendees were given an excursion to these two northern ports. In Eemshaven, the delegation was welcomed by Hendré Sijbring (member of the Board of Groningen Seaports) who gave a presentation on the future plans of the Port Authority. Also, with a 3D flight simulation the audience was given a nice overview over these areas.

Various presentations were given on both days. The SDG’s formed a common thread in all the presentations, addressing the importance of healthy soils and sustainable land management and ways to contribute to achieving these goals. The following topics were covered during the presentations:

• Sustainable earth: from processes to resources (Julia Bauer, TAUW Germany)
• Groundwater remediation by direct push injection of micrometric ZVI and colloidal activated carbon (Giacinto Carnevale and Andrea Gambarini - TAUW Italia)
• Widening the scope of pollution management plans to aim for a vital environment (Julie Estival - TAUW France)
• Sustainable techniques for remediation of sites impacted by dielectric oils (Ignacio Barco Luengo - TAUW Iberia)
• Installation of a Biobarrier in an urban environment to enhance natural degradation of chlorinated solvents (Dirk Paulus and Anne Fouarge - TAUW Belgium)
  
  

In addition, soil colleagues also presented projects during 5-minute pitches which were accompanied by posters. At the end of the seminar a final presentation was given about the soil, groundwater and archeology framework agreement we have with the municipality of Groningen followed by an inspiring presentation of archeological findings in the city centre of Groningen by Jasper Huis in ’t Veld working with RAAP. Finally, after a digital evaluation and recap, the seminar Martin Doeswijk closed another successful TSS.

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