As part of SOLO's international 'Soil Week' events, on 4 September 2024, Lund University held a seminar at the 'Ystad Summit' —an open venue that fosters social exchange among people from diverse backgrounds, encouraging discussions on regional social issues affecting southern Sweden and the Baltic Sea area. The SOLO seminar was part of a section on protecting the land’s values and ecosystem services for future food supply. 

The presentation “Constructions on arable land – a threat to future food supply?” (“Att bygga på åkermark – ett hot mot framtida livsmedelsförsörjning?”) was led by Mark Brady, a researcher at the Centre for Environmental and Climate Science, Lund University and AgriFood Economics Centre. A recording of the presentation, delivered in Swedish, is available online. 

The seminar, attended by 80 people, half in person and half online, focused primarily on the “No net soil sealing and increase reuse of urban soils” Mission Objective, and partly on the “Reduce the EU global footprint on soils” Mission Objective. 

The presentation was followed by a discussion of the subjects’ knowledge gaps and bottlenecks. All information generated by it was passed on to the respective Think Tanks. The event was attended by a diverse group of participants, including industry professionals, business partners, regional and local authorities, civil society members, and citizens.