Activities of SUITMA: from origin to future

Abstract

The science of Soils of Urban, Industrial, Traffic, Mining and Military Areas (SUITMAs) is an interdisciplinary branch of investigation within the general topic of soil science. It has its origin in several fields such as soil survey, pollution and health impacts, green infrastructure, storm and sewage drainage, and urban planning (Burghardt et al., 2015). As soil science in comparison to other scientific disciplines is relatively young, and the acknowledgment of the science of SUITMAS is even younger. In the mid-1980s, more and more soil scientists started to work in urban areas worldwide. During the 16th World Congress of Soil Science(16 WCSS), the International WG Urban Soils – Soils of Urban, Industrial, Traffic and Mining Areas (WG SU/SUITMA) of the ISSS was founded at August 20th, 1998 in Montpellier France. WG SUITMA recently established website: https://sites.google.com/site/wgsuitma/. It will be a platform to share knowledge about technogenic and anthropogenic soils and to exchange important information about it. It also will be a place of intercommunication and establishment of cooperation and to promote knowledge about SUITMAs as well.