The Agrarian and Technological Institute opened another summer school

The 3MUGIS summer school is an annual event, which addresses relevant contemporary environmental consequences and opportunities of urbanization with special emphasis on soil functions. The event is organized under the umbrella of the International Union of Soil Science (IUSS), RUDN University (Russia) and the Urban Soil Institute (USA) with strong cooperation from universities, institutions and research teams from around the world.

The inaugural summer school was organized to coincide with the SUITMA 9 international congress in Moscow in May 2017, and attracted students and young researchers from 8 countries. In 2018, 3MUGIS included two parts: an intensive week of lectures, followed by a week long field tour observing natural and anthropogenic soils and landscapes from the taiga to the steppes of Russia.

In 2019 the summer school aims to provide a solid background and practical skills training in addressing impacts of urbanization through the monitoring and assessment of urban soils, design and maintenance of urban green infrastructure, and projects of sustainable urban development.

3MUGIS-2019 will include two parts.

The first part will take place in Moscow and will include one week of intensive short-courses, practical trainings and master classes.

The keynote speakers are leading scientists in monitoring, evaluation and modeling of urban infrastructure from the USA, Germany, Italy, France and Russia:

·       Prof. Riccardo Valentini, Tuscia University (Italy), RUDN University (Russia), Peace Noble Prize Laureate as a member of IPCC;

·       Tatiana Morin, NYC Urban Soil Institute (USA);

·       Alexander Neaman, School of Agriculture, Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaiso,Chile;

·       Dr. Thomas Nehls, Head of the Soil Hydrology Lab, Head of Center for Innovation and Science on Building Greening (CIBG) Technische Universität Berlin FG Ecohydrology and Landscape Evaluation Institute of Ecology (Germany);

·       Prof. Zhongqi Cheng, Earth and Environmental Sciences Brooklyn College of The City University of New York (USA);

·       Prof. Jean Louis Morel, Laboratory of Soils and Environment Université de Lorraine (France);

·       Prof. Harold Van Es, School of Integrative Plant Science Soil and Crop Sciences Section College of Agriculture and Life Science Cornell University (USA);

·       Prof. Andrea Vannini, Department of Innovation of Biological Systems, Food and Forestry DIBAF Tuscia University (Italy).

The second part will be 2-weeks field tour observing natural and anthropogenic soils and landscapes of Russia (geography: Tver, Apatity, Kursk, Voronezh, Rostov-on-Don).

The tour will give students a unique overview of the natural and cultural diversity of European Russia. Five zones (forest-tundra, taiga, deciduous forest, forest-steppes and steppes) will be studied in regard to key issues of urban development, including industrial pollution, forest management, agricultural development, and urban-rural interactions. Urban soils and green infrastructure at each of the region will be studied in comparison to natural references.

Conventional field descriptions and classification will be amplified by advanced techniques of in-field analysis. Lecture and field parts will consistently follow the problem-oriented framework to be presented at the final team and individual projects, and a short quiz will occur after each field tour stop that covers topics most relevant to that stop.