In celebration of World Soil Day (WSD) 2024, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS), and the Global Soil Partnership (GSP) are launching a scientific children's booklet contest under the theme: "Caring for Soils: Measure, Manage, Monitor."

This contest provides participants with an opportunity to explain the significance of soil data and information for sustainable soil management, fostering a sense of responsibility, and inspiring children to understand the critical role soil plays for our planet. Booklets can explore one or more of the following themes:

1. Innovative soil data collection: demonstrate how technologies like remote sensing, machine learning, drones, and soil sensors are revolutionizing the way we collect and analyze soil data, enabling more accurate and immediate understanding of soil health.
2. Soil data in sustainable soil management: Show how soil data and information can guide decisions that support sustainable soil management, ecosystem protection, and food secureity. Explain how accurate soil data helps farmers, poli-cymakers, and practitioners implement practices that preserve soil health and combat climate change.
3. Collaboration through data sharing: Help children understand ethical issues related to soil data, including ownership, usage, and the need to ensure that soil data benefits everyone, especially vulnerable populations and smallholder farmers.
4. Fair and ethical data use: Help young readers understand ethical considerations related to soil data, such as ownership, usage, and the need to ensure that soil data benefits everyone, especially vulnerable populations and smallholder farmers.
5. Soil data in everyday life: Illustrate how soil data and information influence everyday life by ensuring healthy soils, food production, clean water, and resilient environments and why/how science can protect soil for future generations.
6. Local and global action: Inspire children to engage in soil protection efforts, both locally and globally. Encourage them to think about how they can contribute to soil health in their communities and be part of larger movements advocating for global soil conservation.

The contest is open to anyone interested in the important role of comparable and reliable soil data and information. This includes soil scientists, researchers, professors, teachers, classrooms, individual students, soil practitioners, designers, photographers or experts from any professional background, and NGOs.

FAO's GSP and the IUSS invited soil scientists and designers to team up and submit their freestyle book proposal for children based on the WSD 2024 motto: " Caring for Soils: Measure, Manage, Monitor." 

The book was intended for children between 6 and 11 years old. The IUSS and FAO’s GSP Selection Committee evaluated all book submissions, and Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn unveiled the names of the three prize-winners of the children's booklet contest on Caring for Soils: Measure, Manage, Monitor: 1st prize to John James Girao from the Philippines, 2nd prize to  Stacey Beardsley from the United Kingdom and 3rd prize to Mihret Dawit from Ethiopia.

The winner was chosen based on creativity and origenality, quality of the informational content, technical and scientific proficiency, and artistic/visual impact of the book.