Soils have slowly emerged from their hibernation in society’s cultural imagination and in research. A growing body of research has brought soils onto the climate crisis agenda suggesting the urgency of transforming society-soil relations and manage soils for health and biodiversity. This in turn demands a shift in how soils are perceived and integrated in sustainability work and society at large, where nature is not separated from culture, or social life from ecology. The relational approach we seek to cultivate in the research initiative ‘Humus economicus’ is sensitive to place-based practices, cultures of care, and multispecies conviviality. Explore the fascinating naturecultures of soils with us, across art, science and the humanities!

A research project at Swedish National Historical Museums, 2021-2025. Funded by Formas, a Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development (DNR 2020-01062).