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  • SoilCities Conference

    Theoretical Insights and Action Pathways to Soil-Sensitive Urban Planning and Architecture

    International Conference, Bremen, November 20th/21st, 2025.

    Venue: Altes Fundamt, Auf der Kuhlen 1a, 28203 Bremen
    Main language: English (with some contributions in German)

    Soil degradation is an underestimated environmental crisis with far-reaching consequences for food security, water supply and climate stability. In cities, it leads to problems such as flooding, loss of biodiversity, restricted groundwater recharge and health hazards, particularly through sealing and contamination (EEA 2020, Setälä 2014). However, city administrations, planners, architects and civil society often lack the necessary awareness, knowledge, and tools to assess the quality, restore and protect multifunctional, healthy urban soils. 

    Bringing together specialists from anthropology, architecture, art, landscape architecture, soil science and urban planning across Bremen, Europe, and Latin America, the conference addresses soil as a decisive force for urban development and explores how restoring soil health can reactivate vital ecosystem services for cities. The conference fosters integrated research and the application of soil health measures in urban and peri-urban contexts, structured around three thematic strands: i) Soil-Sensitive Urbanism: A Comprehensive Vision of Soil for Cities; (ii) Urban Design & Architecture: Soil-Sensitive Cities, Public Spaces and Buildings; (iii) Hands-On: Concrete Measures for Soil-Sensitive Cities and Soil Literacy.

    Organized by the School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering at City University of Applied Sciences Bremen (HSB), funded by the Federal Ministry for Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) as part of the HAW-Europa Networks programme.

    Participation is free of charge. 

  • Conference Programme

    Thursday, November 20
    Language: English

    09:00 – 09:30
    Registration and Coffee

    09:30 – 10:00
    Welcome Address
    Christian von Wissel (Urban Theory, School of Architecture, City University of Applied Sciences Bremen HSB): SoilCities

    Session 1 — A Comprehensive Vision of Soil for Cities

    10:00 – 11:45
    Ignacio Farías (Urban Anthropology, Institute for European Ethnology, Humboldt University of Berlin): Elemental Urbanism: Engaging the Terrestrial in City Making

    10:45 – 11:00
    Break

    11:00 – 11:30
    Alan Vergnes (Centre d’Écologie Fonctionnelle et Évolutive, University of Montpellier Paul-Valéry): Urban Soil Biodiversity, insights from the BISE project and the Importance of Changing Perceptions

    11:30 – 12:00
    Silke Cram (University Program for Interdisciplinary Soil Studies, PUEIS, National Autonomous University of Mexico): Ecosystem Services of Urban Soils: The Example of the Ecological Reserve of the Pedregal

    12:15 – 13:00
    Panel Discussion
    Conceptualizing Soil as Multifunctional Natural Body and Urban Agent
    Ignacio Farías, Alan Vergnes and Silke Cram in conversation with Daniel Orellana (LlactaLAB – Sustainable Cities, University of Cuenca, Ecuador). Moderator: Christian von Wissel.

    13:00 – 14:00
    Lunch

    Session 2 — Soil-Sensitive Cities, Public Spaces and Buildings

    14:00 – 14:30
    Jasper Meya (Nature Conservation and Landscape Management, Senator for Environment, Climate and Science of Bremen):
    Urban Soil Strategies: Bremen’s Soil Sealing Cadastre and Biodiversity Strategy

    14:30 – 14:45
    Break

    14:45 – 15:15
    Boris Rewald     (Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University Brno): Rooted Realities: A Soil-Centric Agenda for Urban Arboriculture

    15:15 – 15:45
    Hannes Schwertfeger (Partner at bureau baubotanik, Stuttgart):
    Minimal Invasive Architecture

    15:45 – 16:00
    Break

    16:00 – 17:00
    Panel Discussion
    Introducing Living Soils in Architecture, Urban Design and Planning
    Jasper Meya, Boris Rewald and Hannes Schwertfeger in conversation with Daniela Konrad     (Sustainable Construction in Urban Contexts, HSB) and Cyrus Zahiri (Open and Public Space Design, HSB),Moderator: Christian v. Wissel

    17:00 – 17:30
    Break

    17:30 – 19:00
    Keynote Lecture
    Jana Crepon     (Landscape Architect, Partner at Inside Outside, Amsterdam): Living Soils – Translating Ecological Thinking into Design Practices

    19:30
    Conference Dinner

    Friday, November 21
    Language: German

    Session 3 — Concrete Measures for Soil-Sensitive Cities and Soil Literacy

    10:00 – 10:45
    Ingo Vetter (Fine Art, Sculpture, University of the Arts Bremen, HfK) and Michelle Howard (Socio-ecological Architecture, Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna): FERALcatalyst. Ecological renewal along the central railway corridor through Düsseldorf 

    10:45– 11:15
    Facundo Lucas     (Campus-Centre for Biodiversity and Sustainable Land-use, Georg-August University of Göttingen): SoilScape. Raising Awareness on the Importance of Soils through innovative Communication Strategies.

    11:15 – 11:45
    Daniela Gottschlich (Sustainability and Societal Design, University of Applied Sciences for Societal Design, Koblenz): Abflastern. A Competition for Unsealing and Reimagining Urban Surfaces

    11:45 – 12:00

    Brake

    12:00 – 13:00

    Panel Discussion
    Unearthing Awareness: Making Soil Visible in the Urban Mindscape
    Ingo Vetter, Facundo Lucas and Daniela Gottschlich in conversation with Verone Stillger (Landscape Architecture, Hochschule Osnabrück). Moderator: Valentina Rojas Loa (HSB)

    13:00 – 14:00
    Lunch

    14:30 – 16:00
    Visit to the urban gardening project “Ab Geht die Lucie!” on a partly desealed square within the city of Bremen with Katharina Müller (KulturPflanzen e.V., Project Coordinator from “Ab geht die kleine Lucie!”).

    Lucie-Flechtmann-Platz, 28199 Neustadt-Bremen

  • Soil Cities

    Welcome to Soil Cities, a network of cities, institutions and initiatives dedicated to sustainable soil-sensitive building and urbanization.