French Association for Soil Studies

The French Association for Soil Studies (Association Française pour l'Étude du Sol, AFES) is a French scientific association founded in 1934 and declared under the French law of 1901. It brings together researchers, teachers, students, technicians, farmers and civil society actors interested in the study of soils. Its activities are organized around three axes: promoting documentary resources, recognizing skills in soil science, and federating and animating networks of actors. AFES holds the rank of French National Committee of Soil Science within COFUSI, a structure attached to the French Academy of Sciences. It is governed by a board of 20 members and a bureau including a president, vice-presidents, a secretary-general and a treasurer. It has about 500 members and about 1,500 people affiliated to its mailing lists. Its main actions include publishing the quarterly scientific and technical journal Étude et Gestion des Sols (EGS), maintaining a website, organizing specialized days, national and international congresses, soil excursions (up to 8 or 9 per year), thematic schools, distributing Demolon grants to support young people's participation in congresses, supporting scientific publishing in French, and liaising with scientists, users, French ministries and the international community, particularly the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS). The association addresses major soil issues in France such as excessive land consumption for construction, soil pollution, and soil erosion, and aims to be a relay between the research world and the general public.

The French Association for Soil Studies (AFES) was created in 1934. Its statutes were revised in 2007. It is declared at the prefecture of Loiret. The association holds the rank of French National Committee of Soil Science within COFUSI, a structure attached to the French Academy of Sciences whose purpose is to support the country's scientific associations. It is directed by a board of 20 people and a bureau comprising mainly a president, vice-presidents, a secretary-general and a treasurer. It has about 500 members and about 1,500 people affiliated to its mailing lists, on which registration is free (discussion forum, thesis announcements, job announcements in the sector, various news, etc.). Its main actions include publishing the quarterly scientific and technical journal Étude et Gestion des Sols (EGS), maintaining a website, organizing specialized days, national and international congresses on themes touching soils, their functions, their protection and their use, organizing soil excursions in the regions (up to 8 or 9 per year), organizing thematic schools in the laboratory or in the field, distributing Demolon grants intended to subsidize the participation of young people in congresses, providing various kinds of support for scientific publishing in French in the discipline (subsidies, editorial groups, free advertising, etc.), and connecting scientists and users of the discipline, relations with French ministries, and relations with the international community, in particular the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS). The association is concerned with major soil problems in France, including excessive land consumption for construction (housing, communication routes, various infrastructures), soil pollution by various products (pesticide residues, excess phosphate fertilizers, petroleum and chemical residues, heavy metals), and soil erosion. It aims to be a relay at the interface between the research world and the general public.

• 2007

  Statutes revised

• 1934

  Association founded

A French scientific association serving as a resource center and interface between soil science research and the general public.

• Étude et Gestion des Sols (EGS)

  Quarterly scientific and technical journal

1. 1AFES - Association Française pour l'Étude du Solafes.fr
2. 2Association française pour l'étude du solfr.wikipedia.org
3. 3French Association for Soil Studieswikidata.org