program celebrating soil! celebrating life! - save...

Celebrating Soil!Celebrating Life!

PROGRAM

June 26th & 27th 2015 ROyAl tROPicAl institute AMSTERDAM

In partnership with

Thank you for joining us at the Celebrating Soil! Celebrating Life! congress in the Royal Tropical Institute Amsterdam. Today and tomorrow business-, political-, civil society- and spiritual leaders will share their vision, passion and commitment with regards to Soil Challenges, ‘Soilutions’ and how to become ‘Soilmates’. The international event will be one of the highlights of the United Nations International Year of Soils.

The objective of the event is to raise public awareness of the central importance of a living soil. Soils are the foundation of our human existence, but they are under great threat. At the current rate of degradation, agriculture will not be possible 60 years from now. Every minute, 30 football fields of fertile soil are lost worldwide. We need healthy, living soils for present and future generations.

‘Only if we perceive the Earth as a living organism, sustainability will emerge in our global economy’ (DN Dunlop). Mankind is challenged not only to protect but also to cultivate our planet. From sustain-ability to ‘future-ability’. A living soil is key to biodiversity, responsible water management, carbon sequestration, the regulation of our climate, resilience, pest & disease resistance of crops and healthy food. Living soil may also be an inspiration for a new circular and transparent economy that includes People and Planet in its definition of Profit.

FRidAy 26th June | CONFERENCERoyal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam09.00-09.45 OPeninG ceReMOny & WelcOMe ROOM: AUDITORIUM

Music by Miha Pogačnik, violinist and cultural ambassador of Slovenia

- Volkert Engelsman, CEO Eosta / Nature & More - Sharon Dijksma, Minister of Agriculture - Maria Helena Semedo, Deputy Director General FAO

Presentation of The Living Soil book by Vandana Shiva to Sharon Dijksma

09.45-11.00 sessiOn i: THE SOIL IS THE LIMIT, NOT THE SkY ROOM: AUDITORIUM

Moderator: Patrick Holden - Andre Leu, President IFOAM - Claudia Olazábal, Directorate Environment, European Commission - Alexander Müller, Secretary General IASS, Germany - Anna Blythe Lappé, Small Planet Institute, USA - Rainer Horn, President of IUSS

Discussion with participants

11.00-11.30 cOFFee bReAk / PRess cOnFeRence i ROOM: MARBLE HALL / AUDITORIUM

DuringthecoffeebreaktherewillbeapressconferenceintheAUDITORIUMwithselectedspeakers.

In preparation of the conference a Soil Declaration and Action Plan has been composed with the help of many friends. This will be presented in a ceremonial event at the end of the conference. Celebrating Soil, Celebrating Life will be hosted and organised by Nature & More in partnership with IFOAM (International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements) and FAO (Food & Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations). The organisers are official partners in the Global Soil Partnership led by FAO and the European Commission.

The conference will be more than just an exchange of knowledge and commitments; it is intended to be a true celebration of life and its living foundation. Soil.., this wonderful thin layer embracing our planet, where trillions of micro-organisms meet in a magic encounter of cosmic and terrestrial powers.

Celebrating Soil = Celebrating Life!

Through the sunFrom the earthFor man

So manMay become sunFor the earth

Volkert Engelsman

Celebrating Soil!Celebrating Life!

PROGRAMCelebrating Soil! Celebrating Life!

Welcome dear Soilmate

11.30-13.00 sessiOn ii: WhaT mindshifT is required To undersTand, LoVe and DEVELOP THE EARTH AS A LIVING ORGANISM

ROOM: AUDITORIUM Moderator: Volkert Engelsman, Brigitte van Baren

Chant and Prayer by Angaangaq Angakkorsuaq, Shaman and Elder from Greenland

- Chief arvol Looking horse, faith keeper of the sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe, usa - Rev. Thabo C. Makgoba, Archbishop of South Africa - Ibrahim Abouleish, Founder Sekem Egypt, representing modern Islam, Egypt - Rabbi Awraham Soetendorp, Earth Charter Commissioner, Netherlands - Nikolai Fuchs, Director GLS Treuhand, Germany


Music by Miha Pogačnik

Cooking demo by Sarah Wiener,Foodactivist,TVChefGermany,12.45-13.00

13.00-15.00 LUNCH / SPEAkERS CORNER / PRESS MOMENT “SOILMATES”/FILM ROOM: MARBLE HALL / OUTSIDE/RAADZAAL

Speakers Corner 14.00-14.30 ROOM: MARBLE HALL Coordinator: Bernward Geier Opportunity for participants to enter in a dialogue with keynote speakers. Each keynote

speaker will have a separate table in the MARBLE HALL.



Press Moment “Soilmates”, 14.30-15.00 LOCATION: IN FRONT OF BUILDING GuerrillaplantingactionbyVIPsandkeynotespeakers,pressphotoopportunity. Film “The Living Soil”, 13.00 - 15.00 ROOM: RAADZAAL Shortfilm(17minutes)whichaccompaniesVandanaShiva’snewbook.Itwillbeshowninaloop.

15.00-16.30 sessiOn iii: SOILUTIONS & SOILMATES ROOM: AUDITORIUM


Living Earth, fundament for a sustainable economy Moderator: Renate Künast, Chair Green Party Germany, former Minister for Agriculture Germany

- Doug Tompkins, Conservationist, Founder The North Face, Esprit, USA - Pema Gyamtsho, Opposition Leader, former Minister of Agriculture and Forests,

Bhutan - sarah Wiener, food activist, author, TV Chef, Germany - Götz Rehn, CEO Alnatura, Germany - Vandana Shiva, Author, Environmental Activist, India - Hans Herren, CEO Millennium Institute, USA - Joszi Smeets - Youth Food Movement, Netherlands


16.30-17.00 TEA BREAk

17.00-18.00 CLOSING CEREMONY ROOM: AUDITORIUM


Presentation of the “AMSTERDAM DECLARATION” to the future generation

18.00 RecePtiOn & snAck ROOM: MARBLE HALL



FRidAy 26th June | CONCERTRoyal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam

19.00-20.00 CONCERT Johan Sebastian Bach, Solo Sonatas ROOM: AUDITORIUM

Miha Pogačnik, Violin MihaPogačnikwillperformBachSoloSonatasonhis“Parzival”Guarneriviolin,ashehasdoneinover100cathedralsandsacredsitesaroundtheworld(Chartres,Cheopspyramid,PotalaPalace,Borl-Ankenstein,Externsteine,Uluru,MonteGargano,Karlštejn,etc…).

sAtuRdAy 27th June | MASTERCLASSESRoyal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam

08.00-09.00 REGISTRATION

09.00-09.30 WeLCome and inTroduCTions ROOM: MARBLE HALL

09.30-12.00 MASTERCLASSES & INSPIRATION SESSIONS ROOM: CONFERENCE ROOMS

1 | THE EARTH’S FATE; EVOLUTION & (SELF)LEADERSHIP Moderators: Brigitte van Baren, Volkert Engelsman

With - Chief arvol Looking horse, faith keeper of the sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe, usa - Ibrahim Abouleish – Founding President Sekem, Egypt - Nikolai Fuchs – Managing Director GLS Treuhand, Germany - Rev. Thabo C. Makgoba, Arch Bishop of South Africa - Rabbi Awraham Soetendorp – Earth Charter Commissioner, Netherlands - Angaangaq Angakkorsuaq, Shaman and Elder, Greenland

2 | feedinG The WorLd; The 9 BiLLion PeoPLe quesTion Healthy soils, healthy plants, healthy food

Moderator: Edith Lammerts van Bueren – Louis Bolk Institute Netherlands

With - Vandana Shiva - Author, Environmental Activist, India - Machteld Huber – Louis Bolk Institute, Netherlands - Patrick Holden – Managing Director Sustainable Food Trust, Uk - Piet van IJzendoorn - Biodynamic Farmer, Netherlands - Eve Annecke, Director Sustainability Institute, Stellenbosch RSA - Angus McIntosh, Biodynamic farmer, South Africa

3 | soiL as The earTh’s LarGesT CarBon sink; reGuLaTor of WaTer, BIODIVERSITY & CLIMATE CHANGE

Moderator: Tobias Bandel – Managing Director Soil & More Germany

With - Andre Leu – President IFOAM - Aurel Lübke - Director Compost Systems Austria/Germany - Jan Willem erisman – director Louis Bolk institute netherlands - Eddie Redelinghuys – General Manager Reliance South Africa



4 | LIVING EARTH, FUNDAMENT FOR A SUSTAINABLE ECONOMY Moderator:MichaëlWilde-Nature&More/Eosta

With - Renate künast - Chair Green Party Germany, former Minister for Agriculture Germany - Thomas Rau – Rau Architects, Netherlands - Doug Tompkins - Conservationist, Founder The North Face, Esprit, USA - Pema Gyamtsho- Opposition Leader, former Minister of Agriculture and Forests, Bhutan - hans herren - Ceo millennium institute Washington, alternative nobel prize winner 5 | BIODIVERSITY & ECO-SYSTEMS RESTORATION – REDEFINING PROFIT

AND ‘RETURNS’ Moderator: Willem Ferwerda – Founding Director Commonland, Netherlands

With - John Liu – Commonland Netherlands - Anne Blyth Lappé – Small Planet Institute, USA - Sonne Copijn, Director Bee Agenda, Netherlands - HRH Princess Irene of The Netherlands 6 | BUILDING THE BUSINESS CASE FOR SOIL FERTILITY – ENTREPRENEURIAL

APPROACHES & BEST PRACTICES Moderator: Gerard Teuling – Sector manager Food & Agribusiness CSR Netherlands

(MVONederland) With Best practices from participants in the Dutch ‘SME Soil Initiative’: - Lennart Visser – Manager Sustainability & Marketing Total Produce BV - Henk Zoutewelle – Product Manager Eosta - Pius Floris – Director Plant Health Cure - Tomek de Ponti – Business Innovator Food Security & Productivity Alterra (Wageningen ur)

12.00-12.30 PlenARy clOsinG sessiOn ROOM: MARBLE HALL

cOnFeRence sPeAkeRs

Maria Helena SemedoDeputy Director General FAO

Soil is the top priority for the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations this year. Semedo is in charge of the International Year of Soils. In a recent interview, she stated: “The Year of Soils hopefully will be a turning point. We are optimistic that the Year of Soils will trigger increasing investment on sustainable soil management.”

Sharon DijksmaMinister of Agriculture

In January, Sharon Dijksma informed the Dutch parliament about the Year of Soils, stating that good soil management is crucial in order to secure our food supply in the future. On 1 April, Europe abandoned its milk quota. On 30 March, she sent a letter to the parliament, proposing that dairy farming in the Netherlands must remain land-based.

Volkert EngelsmanCEO Eosta / Nature & More

Volkert Engelsman was the initiator of the Save Our Soils campaign and the Celebrating Soils! Celebrating Life! conference. He founded Eosta - Where ecology meets economy, a world-leading distributor of organic produce, in 1990. As an entrepreneur with a focus on integral sustainability and transparency, he developed the Nature & More ‘trace & tell’ brand.

Vandana ShivaScientist, Author, Eco-feminist, Alternative Nobel Prize winner

Vandana Shiva is known worldwide for her fight against the GMO lobby in developing countries and for farmers’ and women’s rights. She is a patron of the Save Our Soils Conference. During the conference she will present her new book ‘The Living Soil’. She has previously stated: “We need to wake humanity to the soil emergency.”

Alexander MüllerDirector IASS, Germany

Sociologist and former policymaker Alexander Müller is the Secretary General ad interim of the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) in Potsdam, Germany. From 2006 until June 2013 he served as Assistant-Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and was responsible for the Department for Natural Resources and Environment. As member of the German Sustainability Council, he is shaping the Energiewende, an ambitious plan to shift from nuclear and fossil fuels to renewables.

Claudia OlazábalDirectorate Environment, European Commission

Claudia Olazábal is in charge of the topic of soil at the European Commission. She is the head of the unit Agriculture, Forests & Soil in the General Directorate of Environment. The European Commission has been aware of the importance of soil conservation for years. In 2011 the Directorate of Environment published the report ‘Soil, the hidden part of the climate cycle’ which explains and stresses the importance of soil for climate change mitigation.

Rainer HornScientist, President of IUSS

Rainer Horn is one of the worlds foremost soil physicists. He is professor of Soil Science at Christian Albrechts University in Kiel, Germany. In 2012 he was elected President of the International Union of Soil Sciences. As such, he leads the global community of soil scientists with approximately 55,000 members. At Global Soil Week in April 2015 he stated: “The future is 10 cm deep.”

Anna Blythe LappéDirector Real Food Media Project, co-founder Small Planet Institute and Fund, Author

“Every time you spend money, you are casting a vote for the kind of world you want”. This is just one of the catchphrases coined by Anna Lappé that has turned viral. She founded the Small Planet Institute, an international network for research and popular education about the root causes of hunger and poverty. Her newest project, Food MythBusters, aims to bust myths about industrial agriculture and share the positive story of sustainable farming.

Andre LeuPresident IFOAM Organic International

In September 2014, IFOAM-president Andre Leu published his book ‘The myths of safe pesticides’ in which he proved that the claims of chemical companies and pesticide regulators are not all they seem. In March, the World Health Organisation announced that Roundup was probably carcinogenic. Despite this, Roundup is still the most used herbicide in the Netherlands and the rest of the world.

sessiOn 1| THE SOIL IS THE LIMIT, NOT THE SkYOPENING CEREMONY

Angaangaq AngakkorsuaqShaman and Elder, Greenland

Angaangaq Angakkorsuaq, shaman, healer, storyteller and carrier of the Qilaut (winddrum), is an Eskimo-Kalaallit Elder whose family belongs to the traditional healers from Kalaallit Nunaat, Greenland. Being confronted with the melting icecaps in his home country, he became an advocate for environmental awareness worldwide. His teachings are deeply rooted in the wisdom of the oral healing traditions of his people. He invites everyone to shift perspective and connect with nature’s spirit.

Chief Arvol Looking HorseSpiritual leader of the Sioux

Chief Arvol Looking Horse is the spiritual leader of all three branches of the Sioux tribe. As a 19th generation keeper of sacred prophecies and instructions he has recently spoken out about ecological mishaps, pointing out that the Creator’s Natural Law must be the foundation for all decision making. He is the Faith Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe.

sessiOn 2| WhaT mindshifT is required To undersTand, LoVe and deVeLoP THE EARTH AS A LIVING ORGANISM

Rev. Thabo C. MakgobaArchbishop RSA Anglican Church

Thabo Makgoba was appointed the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town in 2007 and is a personal friend of former Archbishop Desmond Tutu. He founded the Archbishop Thabo Makgoba Development Trust which strives for social justice and equality through education. For the RIO+20 conference in 2012 he wrote a prayer about the human task of stewardship of the earth, so that mankind may sustain itself and live in dignity.

Rabbi Awraham SoetendorpEarth Charter Commissioner

Awraham Soetendorp is an international spokesman for the progressive Jewish community, spreading a message of peace and hope. He is deeply involved in issues of international development and sustainability. The Jacob Soetendorp Institute for Human Values was founded to support his work. The first sentence of its mission statement is: Protect the Earth.

Nikolai FuchsDirector GLS Treuhand, Germany

Nikolai Fuchs worked as managing director for the German Biodynamic Association and was director of the Agricultural Section at the Goetheanum Academy in Switzerland. Since 2010, he has been President of the Nexus Foundation in Switzerland. In 2014 he took over the directory of the GLS Treuhand, a charitable trust foundation, bringing together people and money for social, ecological and cultural purposes. Fuchs is author of several influential books.

Pema GyamtshoOpposition Leader, former Minister of Agriculture and Forests, Bhutan

Pema Gyamtsho was the First Minister of Agriculture and Forests of the kingdom of Bhutan from 2008 to 2013. During this time Bhutan became the first country in the world that adopted a 100% organic approach for its agricultural policy. Bhutan was also the first country in the world to adopt the revolutionary “Gross National Happiness” index to make policy decisions; it takes into consideration not only financial but also societal and spiritual values. Gyamtsho is an agronomist by training, who received his Ph.D. in Switzerland in 1996. Since 2013, he has been the Opposition Leader in the National Assembly of Bhutan.

Ibrahim AbouleishFounding President Sekem Egypt

Sekem in Egypt has been proving for years that deserts can be converted into fertile soils with the application of compost and biodynamic methods. Starting from scratch, Sekem has created a unique, sustainable and holistic society in the countryside of Egypt, promoting sustainability, equality and women’s rights in the true spirit of Islam.

Doug TompkinsConservationist, Founder of Esprit and The North Face

After successfully founding two major companies, Tompkins dedicated himself to land conservation and restoration and became the largest private conservationist in the world. He has restored huge areas of degraded soil, creating landscapes of astonishing beauty. In June he will receive the Kiel Institute Global Economy Prize.

Renate KünastChairwoman Green Party, Former Minister of Agriculture

Renate Künast was the main driving force behind the ‘Nuclear energy, no thanks’ campaign that swept through Europe in 1979 and since then has remained at the centre of the German political arena. Always taking a firm stand, she has put herself fully behind the Save Our Soils campaign. “Healthy soil is the key to global food security. Compost is the new gold.”

sessiOn 3| SOILUTIONS & SOILMATES

Sarah WienerChef, Author, Food Activist

As Germany’s most famous cook, Sarah Wiener has published many books and dvds and founded a multifaceted food enterprise, but she is also a strong advocate for ethical and ecological awareness in our dealings with food. Sarah Wiener has been the German patron of the Save Our Soils campaign since the beginning. ‘Sustainable pleasure’ is her credo. She recently acquired a large organic farm near Berlin.

Sarah WienerChef, Author, Food Activist

As Germany’s most famous cook, Sarah Wiener has published many books and dvds and founded a multifaceted food enterprise, but she is also a strong advocate for ethical and ecological awareness in our dealings with food. Sarah Wiener has been the German patron of the Save Our Soils campaign since the beginning. ‘Sustainable pleasure’ is her credo. She recently acquired a large organic farm near Berlin.

Götz RehnCEO Alnatura, Germany

Götz Rehn is one of Germany’s organic pioneers. Rehn started his company Alnatura in 1986, opening the country’s first organic supermarket in Mannheim the following year. Over the years more than 90 supermarkets followed, making Alnatura Germany’s market leader in the organic retail sector. The Alnatura chain continues to rapidly expand, opening approximately 10 new stores every year.

Joszi SmeetsDirector Youth Food Movement, Netherlands

As director of the Dutch Youth Food Movement (YFM), Joszi Smeets is trying to change the way we look at food production by promoting healthy, honest food and conscious food consumption. The Youth Food Movement is a network of young farmers, cooks, artisans, activists and students that are actively changing the future of food and farming. YFM Projects include: the Food Film Festival, the Damn Food Waste campaign and the YFM Academy.

Hans HerrenAlternative Nobel Prize winner, CEO Millennium Institute Washington

Hans Rudolf Herren is a Swiss entomologist and development specialist. In 2013 he won the Right Livelihood Award (the ‘Alternative Nobel Prize’) for leading a major biological pest management campaign in Africa, successfully fighting the Cassava mealybug and averting a major food crisis that could have claimed an estimated 20 million lives. Herren is president and CEO of the Washington-based Millennium Institute. Based on his deep and long experience in biological pest control, Herren is an outspoken proponent of agro-ecology and other forms of sustainable agriculture.



Patrick HoldenFounding director, Sustainable Food Trust

Patrick Holden headed the British Soil Association for 15 years, during which time he led the development of organic standards and the market for organic foods. He is the founding director of the Sustainable Food Trust, working internationally to accelerate the transition towards more sustainable food systems. He is Patron of the UK Biodynamic Association and was awarded the CBE for services to organic farming in 2005.

Brigitte van BarenCoach, Author and Zen teacher

Brigitte van Baren is an author, Zen teacher and coach. In 1992 she founded Inner Sense, a consultancy firm that is focused on sustainable and socially conscious leadership. Brigitte van Baren has led projects for international organisations; coaching and training managers, teams and people in leadership positions. Her strength is in revealing the personal motivation of people allowing them to optimise their talents and capabilities.

Bernward GeierJournalist, Consultant, Activist

Bernward Geier is a journalist, political activist, consultant and member of the Future of Food Commission. From 1987 to 2005 he was the Director of IFOAM, the global umbrella organisation of the organic movement. He lives on a small organic farm and is the founding Director of consulting agency COLABORA - let’s work together.

CONFERENCE MODERATION



Miha PogačnikConcert violinist, Slovenian Cultural Ambassador

Coming from Slovenia, one of the countries with most preserved nature and the highest biodiversity in the world, Miha Pogačnik believes in the power of art and creation to mobilise human nature and find solutions to modern dilemmas. The visionary violinist, who serves as Slovenia’s Cultural Ambassador, has created more than 200 intercultural festivals in crisis-hit areas around the globe and appears regularly at the World Economic Forum as well as in different Agencies of the UN.

CONCERT COOkING DEMO

Angaangaq AngakkorsuaqShaman and Elder, Greenland

Angaangaq Angakkorsuaq, shaman, healer, storyteller and carrier of the Qilaut (winddrum), is an Eskimo-Kalaallit Elder whose family belongs to the traditional healers from Kalaallit Nunaat, Greenland. Being confronted with the melting icecaps in his home country, he became an advocate for environmental awareness worldwide. His teachings are deeply rooted in the wisdom of the oral healing traditions of his people. He invites everyone to shift perspective and connect with nature’s spirit.

Chief Arvol Looking HorseSpiritual leader of the Sioux

Chief Arvol Looking Horse is the spiritual leader of all three branches of the Sioux tribe. As a 19th generation keeper of sacred prophecies and instructions he has recently spoken out about ecological mishaps, pointing out that the Creator’s Natural Law must be the foundation for all decision making. He is the Faith Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe.

Brigitte van Baren (Moderator)Coach, Author and Zen teacher

Brigitte van Baren is an author, Zen teacher and coach. In 1992 she founded Inner Sense, a consultancy firm that is focused on sustainable and socially conscious leadership. Brigitte van Baren has led projects for international organisations; coaching and training managers, teams and people in leadership positions. Her strength is in revealing the personal motivation of people allowing them to optimise their talents and capabilities.

Volkert Engelsman (Moderator)CEO Eosta / Nature & More

Volkert Engelsman was the initiator of the Save Our Soils campaign and the Celebrating Soils! Celebrating Life! conference. He founded Eosta - Where ecology meets economy, a world-leading distributor of organic produce, in 1990. As an entrepreneur with a focus on integral sustainability and transparency, he developed the Nature & More ‘trace & tell’ brand.

MAsteR clAss sPeAkeRsMAsteR clAss 1| THE EARTH’S FATE

Rev. Thabo C. MakgobaArchbishop RSA Anglican Church

Thabo Makgoba was appointed the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town in 2007 and is a personal friend of former Archbishop Desmond Tutu. He founded the Archbishop Thabo Makgoba Development Trust which strives for social justice and equality through education. For the RIO+20 conference in 2012 he wrote a prayer about the human task of stewardship of the earth, so that mankind may sustain itself and live in dignity.

Ibrahim AbouleishFounding President Sekem Egypt

Sekem in Egypt has been proving for years that deserts can be converted into fertile soils with the application of compost and biodynamic methods. Starting from scratch, Sekem has created a unique, sustainable and holistic society in the countryside of Egypt, promoting sustainability, equality and women’s rights in the true spirit of Islam.

Rabbi Awraham SoetendorpEarth Charter Commissioner

Awraham Soetendorp is an international spokesman for the progressive Jewish community, spreading a message of peace and hope. He is deeply involved in issues of international development and sustainability. The Jacob Soetendorp Institute for Human Values was founded to support his work. The first sentence of its mission statement is: Protect the Earth.

Nikolai FuchsDirector GLS Treuhand, Germany

Nikolai Fuchs worked as managing director for the German Biodynamic Association and was director of the Agricultural Section at the Goetheanum Academy in Switzerland. Since 2010, he has been President of the Nexus Foundation in Switzerland. In 2014 he took over the directory of the GLS Treuhand, a charitable trust foundation, bringing together people and money for social, ecological and cultural purposes. Fuchs is author of several influential books.

Patrick HoldenFounding director, Sustainable Food Trust

Patrick Holden headed the British Soil Association for 15 years, during which time he led the development of organic standards and the market for organic foods. He is the founding director of the Sustainable Food Trust, working internationally to accelerate the transition towards more sustainable food systems. He is Patron of the UK Biodynamic Association and was awarded the CBE for services to organic farming in 2005.

MAsteR clAss 2| feedinG The WorLd

Edith Lammerts van Bueren (Moderator)Professor Organic Plant Breeding, Louis Bolk Institute

Edith Lammerts van Bueren is a pioneer in plant breeding and genetic resources for organic agriculture, who has put this subject on the international agenda. She holds a chair at Wageningen University as professor in Organic Plant Breeding. She is also senior scientist Organic Plant Breeding at the Louis Bolk Institute. Her collaborative research programme Bioimpuls recently achieved a milestone by launching six new Phytophthora-resistant potato varieties suitable for organic production.

Piet van IJzendoornBiodynamic farmer at Zonnehoeve

Piet van IJzendoorn is one of the original Dutch organic pioneers. He founded Zonnehoeve farm in 1981 and has always seen it as his main task to take care of the living soil. Scientists have investigated the ‘phosphate miracle’ at Zonnehoeve farm, which continues to deliver high yields in a soil where phosphate levels are much too low according to conventional science.

Eve AnneckeDirector of the Sustainability Institute, Stellenbosch University

Eve Annecke is the founding Director of the Sustainability Institute at Stellenbosch, South Africa. Eve has taught leadership courses around the world, including at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and various South African Universities. Together with Professor Mark Swilling, she wrote the book ‘Just Transitions: Explorations of Sustainability in an Unfair World’.

Machteld HuberScientist, Louis Bolk Institute

Physician-researcher Machteld Huber has worked at the Louis Bolk Institute since 1987. Her research focuses on nutrition and health, including health effects of organic food. Together with the Dutch Health Council and the Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development she developed a new concept of health, based on resilience and self-management of well-being. Recently she founded the Institute for Positive Health.

Angus McIntoshBiodynamic farmer, South Africa

After being a Goldman Sachs stockbroker and builder, Angus McIntosh rebranded himself as Farmer Angus. He practices biodynamic agriculture on the Spier Wine Farm in Stellenbosch, where he grows grapes and takes care of pasture, cattle and laying hens and runs an on-farm winery and butchery. His single goal is to get the soils to 7% organic matter. Rotational grazing and biodynamic applications are his tools.

MAsteR clAss 3| SOILS AS THE EARTH’S CARBON SINk

Andre LeuPresident of IFOAM Organic International

In September 2014, IFOAM-president Andre Leu published his book ‘The myths of safe pesticides’ in which he proved that the claims of chemical companies and pesticide regulators are not all they seem. In March, the World Health Organisation announced that Roundup was probably carcinogenic. Despite this, Roundup is still the most used herbicide in the Netherlands and the rest of the world.

Aurel LübkeDirector Compost Systems Austia/Germany

Aurel Lübke came from parents who were pioneers of soil fertility in Austria, working with the scientific heritage of Dr. Ehrenfried Pfeiffer. Their solution is known as Controlled Microbial Composting & Humus Management and is based on fixing problems in the soil by repairing microbial life. Aurel Lübke started his career by creating mechanical solutions for the making of CMC compost. In 2002 Lübke started the enterprise known today as Compost Systems. It is now active worldwide and designs waste management facilities for agricultural and municipal organic waste streams from cities such as Mumbai.

Jan Willem ErismanDirector Louis Bolk Institute

Jan Willem Erisman is executive director of the Louis Bolk Institute and endowed professor of Integrated Nitrogen Studies at VU University in Amsterdam. His work has focused on optimising food production and energy use while minimising the environmental impacts from increased nitrogen cycling. Together with World Wildlife Fund and FrieslandCampina he recently developed a conceptual framework for integrating biodiversity and nature conservation into dairy farming practices to increase the resilience of dairy farming systems.

Eddie RedelinghuysGeneral Manager Reliance Compost, South Africa

Eddie Redelinghuys is an organic farmer and the founding director of Reliance Compost. His family has been growing grapes in South Africa for more than a century. In the early nineties he realised that even the best agrochemical spray program didn’t control the vineyard pests effectively and started searching for a solution. This led him on the road to organic farming. The Save Our Soils Song video by South African rapper Earl ‘Niz’ Mentor was filmed at his compost production plant.

Tobias Bandel (Moderator)Managing Partner Soil & More International

Tobias Bandel worked as cultivation and export manager at Sekem Group, Egypt, which is famous for bringing deserts to fertility using biodynamic methods. After a short employment as business development manager at Nature & More / Eosta, co-founded Soil & More International which works to improve soils all over the world. Bandel is also the Executive Director of the Soil & More Foundation, which manages the Save Our Soils Fund.



MAsteR clAss 4| LIVING EARTH, FUNDAMENT FOR A SUSTAINABLE ECONOMY

Hans HerrenAlternative Nobel Prize winner, CEO Millennium Institute Washington

Hans Rudolf Herren is a Swiss entomologist and development specialist. In 2013 he won the Right Livelihood Award (the ‘Alternative Nobel Prize’) for leading a major biological pest management campaign in Africa, successfully fighting the Cassava mealybug and averting a major food crisis that could have claimed an estimated 20 million lives. Hans Herren is the president and CEO of the Washington-based Millennium Institute. Based on his long experience in biological pest control, he is an outspoken proponent of agro-ecology and other forms of sustainable agriculture.

Thomas RauArchitect

Thomas Rau was elected architect of the year 2013 in the Netherlands for his revolutionary sustainable building style. In 2014, he constructed the first circular building in Europe for the electric network company Alliander in Duiven. Many of his buildings are energy-positive: they generate more energy than they use. He is in the race to design the new office of Nature & More / Eosta.

Doug TompkinsConservationist, Founder of Esprit and The North Face

After successfully founding two major companies, Tompkins dedicated himself to land conservation and restoration and became the largest private conservationist in the world. He has restored huge areas of degraded soil, creating landscapes of astonishing beauty. In June he will receive the Kiel Institute Global Economy Prize.



Pema GyamtshoOpposition Leader, former Minister of Agriculture and Forests, Bhutan

Pema Gyamtsho was the First Minister of Agriculture and Forests of the kingdom of Bhutan from 2008 to 2013. During this time Bhutan became the first country in the world that adopted a 100% organic approach for its agricultural policy. Bhutan was also the first country in the world to adopt the revolutionary “Gross National Happiness” index to make policy decisions; it takes into consideration not only financial but also societal and spiritual values. Gyamtsho is an agronomist by training, who received his Ph.D. in Switzerland in 1996. Since 2013, he has been the Opposition Leader in the National Assembly of Bhutan.

Michaël Wilde (Moderator)Communications & Sustainability Manager Nature & More / Eosta

For the past three years, Michaël and his team have been focusing on the Save Our Soils campaign where, together with more than 200 dedicated partners including the FAO, they are building awareness about the soil issue, sharing information about the ‘soilutions’ and inviting the general public to get involved and become Soilmates. Michaël has also been involved in developing the Nature & More trace & tell system. “Our organic growers have an amazing story to tell and we give them a stage,” he comments.

John LiuCommonland, Netherlands

Following 15 years as a television news producer and cameraman, John D. Liu decided to devote his energy to understanding and communicating about the Earth’s natural ecosystems. This decision has led John to produce many ecological, award-winning films including ‘Hope in a Changing Climate’, ‘Green Gold’ and ‘A Steppe Ahead’. He is ambassador of Commonland, an organisation working on landscape restoration worldwide.

MAsteR clAss 5| BIODIVERSITY AND ECOSYSTEMS RESTORATIONAnna Blythe LappéDirector Real Food Media Project, co-founder Small Planet Institute and Fund, Author

“Every time you spend money, you are casting a vote for the kind of world you want”. This is just one of the catchphrases coined by Anna Lappé that has turned viral. She founded the Small Planet Institute, an international network for research and popular education about the root causes of hunger and poverty. Her newest project, Food MythBusters, aims to bust myths about industrial agriculture and share the positive story of sustainable farming.

Willem Ferwerda (Moderator)Founding Director Commonland

Willem Ferwerda was raised in Amsterdam and became passionate about nature when he was eight years old. He is executive director – initiator of Commonland, an international organisation founded in 2013 by experts, investors and entrepreneurs with the goal to scale up landscape restoration jointly with local stakeholders by developing existing landscape projects on the basis of healthy underlying business cases. In 2012 he developed a ‘four returns’ landscape restoration approach.

HRH Princess Irene van Lippe-BiesterfeldFoundation Lippe-Biesterfeld NatuurCollege

Princess Irene of the Netherlands wrote a book in 1995, ‘Dialogue with Nature’, outlining her philosophy that human beings are alienated from the natural world and should reconnect with it. In 2001, she founded the NatuurCollege institute, which strives to make people aware of the interconnectedness of all life, and points to the essence of sustainability.

Sonne CopijnDirector Bee Agenda

Sonne Copijn is a beekeeper and coach. She founded the Bee Agenda Foundation, which aims to improve the environment to benefit a robust population of pollinating insects. She is fascinated by the miracle of bees and has specialised in storytelling about this subject. She doesn’t sting.

Lennart VisserManager Sustainability & Marketing Total Produce

Lennart Visser is responsible for the development and implementation of the sustainability policy at Total Produce. His background and experience enables him to translate innovation into commercial trade. In March 2015 Lennart Visser headed off to Honduras to launch – in collaboration with Soil & More - a pilot project aimed to improve soil diversity by using compost.

MAsteR clAss 6| BUILDING THE BUSINESS CASE FOR SOIL FERTILITY

Pius FlorisDirector Plant Health Cure Pius Floris is the founder of Plant Health Cure in Oisterwijk, Netherlands, a company specialised in products for sustainable farming. By applying selected bacteria and fungi, Pius and his team manage to restore degraded soils to productivity in two years time. He does this all over the world, by focusing on root biology rather than soil biology. Plants start to grow and then improve the soil in turn, being the ultimate soil guardians.

Gerard Teuling (Moderator)Sector Manager Food & Agribusiness CSR Netherlands

CSR Netherlands (MVO Nederland) is the largest sustainable business network in Europe. Groups of pioneering small and medium enterprises co-operate with NGO’s and experts to create new business models, social innovation and technological improvements. Soil fertility is one of the key impact areas. Gerard Teuling is responsible for the Soil Initiative Fruit & Vegetables.

Tomek de PontiBusiness Innovator Food Security & Productivity for Alterra (WUR)

Tomek’s role as Business Innovator is to strengthen ties with companies and organisations active within the field of food security and the agri-food chain. His objective is to facilitate the flow of the latest research findings from scientists to end-users and to co-create the research agenda with end-users, in order to contribute to innovation, sustainable development, profitability, continuity and societal impact.

Henk ZoutewelleProduct Manager Nature & More / Eosta Where farmers start with soil management, a laboratory of change starts as well. Henk Zoutewelle sees this as a crucial development to keep farming profitable and to ensure food security. He is a fourth generation greengrocer and has been involved in international fruit trade and distribution since 1987. At Eosta, Henk is responsible for the purchase of organic produce and for projects to develop a sustainable supply from Africa and South America, with a focus on smallholder projects.

123456

Conference RoomsRegentenkamerBestuurskamerRaadzaalEmmazaalClauszaalMauritszaal

AddResskoninklijk Instituut voor de Tropen (kIT) - Royal Tropical Institutemauritskade 63, 1092 ad amsterdam - Tel: +31 (0)20 56 88 711

FlOOR PlAn

PRActicAl inFORMAtiOn Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam

Upstairs

Auditorium

A

A

b

b

A

A

Downstairs

Garden

Entrance

Entrance

Entrance

Marble Hall

1

4

5

6

2

3

MORe inFORMAtiOnBy the time you’ve read this sentence, another 8897 m2 of soil has been destroyed. But you can now save 500 m2 of soil with a single ‘like’. Please visit the ‘I like organic’ campaign at Save Our Soils!

WWW.SAVEOURSOILS.COM (English)WWW.RettetunseRebOeden.de (German)

For more information about Nature & More, Eosta’s transparency system, see: WWW.nAtuReAndMORe.cOM and FAcebOOk/nAtuReAndMORe

For more information about the worldwide organic movement, see:WWW.iFOAM.biO

Live on Social Media: #CelebratingSoil, INSTAGRAM/nAtuReAndMORe, tWitteR @nAtuReAndMORe, FACEBOOk/SAVEOURSOILS.NOW

thAnk yOuOn behalf of Nature & More, Eosta, FAO, IFOAM and 200 partners in Save Our Soils, we thank you for joining us at Celebrating Soil! Celebrating Life!

Please read the Amsterdam Declaration. And don’t forget your Goody Bag!

program celebrating soil! celebrating life! - save...

Documents