Soil management-related stakeholder database in German agricultural sector

In order to support sustainable soil management, an exchange between scientists and other soil-related stakeholders is crucial. Hence, an overview on soil-related stakeholders in Germany is required and was prepared in the form of dataset. The five listed-below stakeholder groups, which were assumed to have a direct or indirect influence on soil functions, were initially derived from the drivers of soil management (i.e. socio‐economic, biophysical, and technology). The groups were defined such as (1) state authorities, (2) civil societies, (3) land owners and land owner associations, (4) agricultural associations and (5) soil management-related enterprises. The stakeholders’ influence/power and interest were evaluated with the focus of organizations on the five main soil functions, i.e. production, water purification, carbon sequestration, biodiversity, recycling of nutrients and chemicals.
The level of the influence/power and interest was estimated in a relative matter among the stakeholders by taking into account such parameters as the number of members/partners/employees, the visibility of projects/products/policies/press/publications etc. as well as the hierarchy among the state organizations. While the size of the privatized land area and its use were of the utmost importance for the land owners. In addition, the level of awareness of stakeholders’ activities played a role in assessing the stakeholders’ influence.

Research domain: Soil Sciences

Research question: The aim was to create a stakeholder database, representing soil-related stakeholders across Germany at the national scale.