OEKB002326 Analysing microplastic pathways into soils - Designing solutions to tackle everyday microplastic pathways into soil

Type
course with continuous assessment
Semester hours
2
Lecturer (assistant)
Keiblinger, Katharina , Huber, Sabine
Organisation
Soil Research
Offered in
Wintersemester 2026/27
Languages of instruction
Englisch
Content

This online challenge course invites BSc, MSc, and PhD students from across Europe to explore the hidden pathways through which microplastics reach soils and affect the soil services that support ecosystems and everyday life. Working in international online teams, students will investigate a real-world source-to-soil pathway, draw on scientific evidence and stakeholder perspectives, and use the CURIOSOIL soil literacy approach to understand the problem from different angles. Guided by expert input through online webinars, students will identify impacts, uncertainties, responsibilities, and opportunities for action, and co-design a feasible, evidence-based solution. Along the way, students will develop skills in systems thinking, teamwork, evidence use, science communication, and solution design while contributing ideas that can support future educational resources and stakeholder discussions. BOKU students will work together with students from the University of Aveiro (Portugal) and other universities from the ECIU alliance.
Objective (expected results of study and acquired competences)

•Explain how everyday activities generate microplastics that enter soils.
•Analyse a source-to-soil pathway using evidence and stakeholder perspectives.
•Identify affected soil services, uncertainties, and intervention points.
•Explore prevention, mitigation, restoration, and awareness-raising approaches.
•Develop a feasible, stakeholder-informed solution to microplastic contamination.
•Communicate an evidence-based action proposal to diverse audiences.
You can find more details like the schedule or information about exams on the course-page in BOKUonline.