Durham University has established a world first research group – the Living Soils team - bringing together expertise from Durham’s Engineering, Biosciences, and Sociology departments, along with an array of local and international government, industry and academic partners. This initiative is supporting our new team of key staff across the three departments.
The team's approach incorporates SMART Soils technologies. Using Soil and Microbiome Augmentation and Restoration Technologies (SMART) soils tools and techniques enables our environmental engineers and plant scientists are able to design soil and plant restoration technologies which can optimise the services that soil can provide for us all. Our sociology-framed approach means that the insights from social science will make possible the vital shift needed in how society thinks about soil, moving us towards an understanding of how soil is a living material, and helping Government and industry sustainably manage land in urban and rural environments.
Find out more about the SMART Soils team.
The Living Soils programme, funded by Durham University's Strategic Research Fund, seeks to restore degraded agricultural, urban and industrial soils, improving soil health, and adopting a soil-centric approach that benefits people, places and planet. Watch the video to find out more about soil restoration.
Our cross-faculty team combines practical engineering insights, sociological expertise and biological methods and technologies, in a co-developed programme with key external partners.
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