The Future of Soil Science in Italy

This chapter addresses the future of soil science from an Italian perspective. It complements a previously published work, “Future Soil Issues”, in the Springer monograph Soils of Italy (Terribile et al., 2013), where we analysed Italian society's request for soil research. Here, we aimed to develop a more focused contribution towards the research trends of soil science research in Italy to indicate future soil research. We place this analysis in the framework of the new soil policy scenario (e.g. SDG’s) in the EU and Italy. We identified hot topics in Italian soil science research evaluated by mapping co-citation as indicators of research trends with the method…the following co-citation clusters: humus, soil biology, soil hydrology, soil mapping, soil erosion, soil science and climate change, soil and land degradation in the Mediterranean, soil remediation, agroecology, and soil awareness. An Italian scientist expert in that specific research domain has treated each topic analytically. Each research topic is described in distinct paragraphs written by Italian experts, each one addressing why the topic is essential for the future, the technological perspective in view of the future, and what are the next evelopments to highlight future trends for each specific topic. Overall, the chapter enables an understanding of the potential and limitations of the Italian system of soil research, also considering the international context. Globally, the chapter highlights the considerable evolution of soil science research in Italy but also presents criticisms in the following aspects: (i) high fragmentation of soil research and the poor interaction between the various soil science topics, (ii) gaps between research products and practical application into soil solutions especially considering soil stakeholders, and (iii) relatively low research impacts on soil policy and low levels of soil literacy. This chapter will fuel closer interaction between Italian soil scientists, and it will also highlight opportunities for increasing collaboration of the global soil science community with Italian scientists and will provide better opportunities to make knowledge-based soil policy updates.