Participatory approaches for soil research and management: A literature-based synthesis

Participatory approaches to data gathering and research which involve farmers, laypeople, amateur soil scientists, concerned community members or school students have attracted much attention recently, not only to enable scientific progress but also to achieve social and educational outcomes. Non-expert participation in soil research and management is diverse and applied variously, ranging from data collection to inform large-scale monitoring schemes in citizen science projects to projects in which the participants define the object of study and the questions to be answered. The growth of participatory projects to tackle complex environmental and soil-related issues has generated literature that describes both the way the projects are initiated, implemented and the outcomes they achieve. We review the existing literature on participatory soil research and management. Existing studies are classified into three categories based on the degree of participation in the different phases of research. The quality of participation is further evaluated systematically through the five elements that participatory projects usually include: inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes and impacts. We found that the majority of existing participatory projects were contributory in nature, where participants contribute to generating data. Co-created projects which involve a greater level of participation are less frequent. We also found large disparities in the context in which these types of participation occurred: contributory projects were mostly documented in more economically developed countries, whereas projects that suggest greater involvement of participants were mostly formulated in developing countries in relation to soil management and conservation issues. The long-term sustained outcomes of participatory projects on human well-being and socio-ecological systems are seldom reported. We conclude that participatory approaches are opportunities for education, communication and scientific progress and that participation is being facilitated by digital convergence. Participatory projects should, however, also be evaluated in terms of their long-term impact on the participants, to be sure that the expectations of the various parties align with the outcomes. All in all, such participation adds to the quantum of soil connectivity and in this sense makes the soil more secure globally.