Soil Protocols
The Feral Palace Multispecies Design Challenge
This project is a part of the Centre for Creativity Platform partnership network, co-financed
by the European Union from the European Regional Development Fund and by the Republic of Slovenia.This is an appeal to the developers and architects of the new Justice Palace. This letter challenges and argues for the more complex understanding of site development and importnace of soil ecology for healty and inclusive living environments.
A letter to the stakeholder
To whom it might concern,
This is an appeal to the developers and architects of the new Justice Palace. This letter challenges and argues for the more complex understanding of site development and importnace of soil ecology for healty and inclusive living and working environments. The location of Krater (Lubljana, Slovenia) is a vulnerable site of local ecological importance, which future is being jeopardized, by the human-centered approach towards new developments.
Last centuries on Krater were marked by the constant influence of human disruption and ecological renewal. Over the past 20 years, due to unsuccessful planning processes of new developments, Krater site had the opportunity for an ecological renewal of its multispecies community, in which soil plays one of the most important roles. However, this freshly renewed ecosystem is under pressure due to the future development of the Justice Palace building. Krater, just at the start of its soil formation processes, soon will encounter another deterioration of its soil biota.
Soil is an intricate and complex system, where even a slight change in microclimate, water balance or land use can influence the whole ecosystem connected to it. Healthy and fertile soils make healthy plants, which make healthy multispecies planet and people. Soil is a living ecosystem that is essential to life. Soils represent at least a quarter of global biodiversity, crucially, plant and animal life depend on primary nutrient recycling through soil processes. Healthy soils are the basis for healthy habitats for all living beings. They provide food, clean water, raw materials and various ecosystem services. Yet, we fail to take care of our soils. The soils are progressively affected by egocentric actions of people. Rapid urbanization degrades and seals-off the soil, cutting the interconnected living webs into pieces.
"Without soils we cannot sustain life on earth and where soil is lost it cannot be renewed on a human timeline. The current escalating rate of soil degradation threatens the capacity of future generations to meet their needs.” said Maria Helena Semedo, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Deputy Director-General.
It takes up to 1000 years for one centimeter of soil to be formed, but this one centimeter can be lost with one heavy rainfall if soil is not covered. In order to save our future we need to stop soil erosion and degradation. When soil degrades, the processes that take place within it are damaged. This causes a decline in soil health, biodiversity and productivity, leading to issues at all levels of ecosystems, and resulting in large environmental consequences. The current mode of development degrades the Earth‘ s finite capacity to sustain human well-being.
By focusing on living urban soil and its rights, the whole chain of other living beings can benefit from it. Since everything in nature is interconnected, human well-being is critically dependent on the Earth’s natural systems. Human beings are part of nature, and our human rights are intertwined with the environment in which we live. Environmental harm interferes with the enjoyment of human rights, and the exercise of human rights helps to protect the environment and to promote sustainable development.
As of 21st of July 2022, for the first time in the history, the United Nations has declared that everyone, everywhere, has the right to live in a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. Resolutions from the Human Rights Council in 2021 and the General Assembly in 2022 add this fundamental human right to the library of internationally recognized rights. That decision clearly recognizes environmental degradation and climate change as interconnected to human rights crises.
Slovenia, as a full member of the United Nations since 22 May 1992 agreed to take into account the interests, values and opinions of the Organization. Among other UN members, Slovenia agreed to maintain the support of the UN´s efforts to maintain the above law.
We pledge for the justice of soil life, which has just gained its rights as part of the new Human Right to a Healthy Environment UN directive. To ensure future human well-being, we need to improve the health of the world's limited soil resources. We need to limit where we build and how. New developments should minimize the environmental impact. Similarly as everything in nature is connected, we should build and design seeing sites such as Krater as interconnected to life on Earth entities. The Palace of Justice should become a life supporting development, that respects existing soil life, which directly influences the future of the Earth and a well-being of Human race.
When developing cities, we need to think not only about economical profit, but of the landscape systems and soil life, which has a crucial long-term influence on our planet and all the next generations. The Palace of Justice can serve as an example to other future developments in Slovenia and in the world, that establish new soil-human relationship, that call for specific ecological obligation of more than-human care. Recognition of the counter destructive, anthropocentric and colonial relations we have with soils can address the global issues we are facing today. To tackle health threats to animals, humans, plants and the environment we need to ensure that specialists in multiple sectors work together. We need to plan, design, build and maintain integrally, cooperating between diverse professions.
Sincerely yours,
Zuzana Jančovičová
Justyna Chmielewska
by the European Union from the European Regional Development Fund and by the Republic of Slovenia.This is an appeal to the developers and architects of the new Justice Palace. This letter challenges and argues for the more complex understanding of site development and importnace of soil ecology for healty and inclusive living environments.
A letter to the stakeholder
To whom it might concern,
This is an appeal to the developers and architects of the new Justice Palace. This letter challenges and argues for the more complex understanding of site development and importnace of soil ecology for healty and inclusive living and working environments. The location of Krater (Lubljana, Slovenia) is a vulnerable site of local ecological importance, which future is being jeopardized, by the human-centered approach towards new developments.
Last centuries on Krater were marked by the constant influence of human disruption and ecological renewal. Over the past 20 years, due to unsuccessful planning processes of new developments, Krater site had the opportunity for an ecological renewal of its multispecies community, in which soil plays one of the most important roles. However, this freshly renewed ecosystem is under pressure due to the future development of the Justice Palace building. Krater, just at the start of its soil formation processes, soon will encounter another deterioration of its soil biota.
Soil is an intricate and complex system, where even a slight change in microclimate, water balance or land use can influence the whole ecosystem connected to it. Healthy and fertile soils make healthy plants, which make healthy multispecies planet and people. Soil is a living ecosystem that is essential to life. Soils represent at least a quarter of global biodiversity, crucially, plant and animal life depend on primary nutrient recycling through soil processes. Healthy soils are the basis for healthy habitats for all living beings. They provide food, clean water, raw materials and various ecosystem services. Yet, we fail to take care of our soils. The soils are progressively affected by egocentric actions of people. Rapid urbanization degrades and seals-off the soil, cutting the interconnected living webs into pieces.
"Without soils we cannot sustain life on earth and where soil is lost it cannot be renewed on a human timeline. The current escalating rate of soil degradation threatens the capacity of future generations to meet their needs.” said Maria Helena Semedo, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Deputy Director-General.
It takes up to 1000 years for one centimeter of soil to be formed, but this one centimeter can be lost with one heavy rainfall if soil is not covered. In order to save our future we need to stop soil erosion and degradation. When soil degrades, the processes that take place within it are damaged. This causes a decline in soil health, biodiversity and productivity, leading to issues at all levels of ecosystems, and resulting in large environmental consequences. The current mode of development degrades the Earth‘ s finite capacity to sustain human well-being.
By focusing on living urban soil and its rights, the whole chain of other living beings can benefit from it. Since everything in nature is interconnected, human well-being is critically dependent on the Earth’s natural systems. Human beings are part of nature, and our human rights are intertwined with the environment in which we live. Environmental harm interferes with the enjoyment of human rights, and the exercise of human rights helps to protect the environment and to promote sustainable development.
As of 21st of July 2022, for the first time in the history, the United Nations has declared that everyone, everywhere, has the right to live in a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. Resolutions from the Human Rights Council in 2021 and the General Assembly in 2022 add this fundamental human right to the library of internationally recognized rights. That decision clearly recognizes environmental degradation and climate change as interconnected to human rights crises.
Slovenia, as a full member of the United Nations since 22 May 1992 agreed to take into account the interests, values and opinions of the Organization. Among other UN members, Slovenia agreed to maintain the support of the UN´s efforts to maintain the above law.
We pledge for the justice of soil life, which has just gained its rights as part of the new Human Right to a Healthy Environment UN directive. To ensure future human well-being, we need to improve the health of the world's limited soil resources. We need to limit where we build and how. New developments should minimize the environmental impact. Similarly as everything in nature is connected, we should build and design seeing sites such as Krater as interconnected to life on Earth entities. The Palace of Justice should become a life supporting development, that respects existing soil life, which directly influences the future of the Earth and a well-being of Human race.
When developing cities, we need to think not only about economical profit, but of the landscape systems and soil life, which has a crucial long-term influence on our planet and all the next generations. The Palace of Justice can serve as an example to other future developments in Slovenia and in the world, that establish new soil-human relationship, that call for specific ecological obligation of more than-human care. Recognition of the counter destructive, anthropocentric and colonial relations we have with soils can address the global issues we are facing today. To tackle health threats to animals, humans, plants and the environment we need to ensure that specialists in multiple sectors work together. We need to plan, design, build and maintain integrally, cooperating between diverse professions.
Sincerely yours,
Zuzana Jančovičová
Justyna Chmielewska
Client: Krater.si
Curated by Gaja Mežnarić Osole and Danica Sretenović
Collaborators: Zuzana Jancovicova
Type: Feral design challenge
Location: Lubljana, Slovenia
Year: 2021
Curated by Gaja Mežnarić Osole and Danica Sretenović
Collaborators: Zuzana Jancovicova
Type: Feral design challenge
Location: Lubljana, Slovenia
Year: 2021