Impact4Soil: A science-based platform integrating knowledge, data and networks for the soil carbon community

This decade, soil has been prominently at the heart of global challenges, from food security and climate change mitigation (e.g. 4 per 1000 Initiative), to biodiversity conservation and desertification control. Soil organic carbon (SOC) plays a major role in addressing these challenges through its contribution to a number of ecosystem services. This renewed interest has generated a growing demand for robust data and actionable knowledge on SOC, urging scientists to deliver clear answers to complex issues like SOC management. Sustainable management of SOC stocks is contingent on multiple interacting factors. Consequently, determining the effectiveness of specific agronomic or forestry practices for increasing SOC stocks in a variety of soil and climate contexts remains a challenge. Science-based online platforms are powerful tools to mobilize scientific data and knowledge to inform decisions. Indeed, among the most common barriers to environmental evidence use in decision-making are the accessibility of the evidence and the time required to find and read evidence. Besides, scientific evidence (i.e. data and knowledge) might help decision-makers to manage risks, due to uncertainty or biased information, for complex environmental challenges like SOC management. However, while online platforms offer a promising avenue for disseminating SOC knowledge, the current landscape is characterized by a proliferation of independent initiatives and research projects, often with overlapping objectives and target audiences. To address this fragmentation of knowledge on SOC, improve the implementation of research into policy and practice, and share knowledge among researchers, policymakers, funding agencies, companies and NGOs, we designed the science-based online platform Impact4Soil ( www.impact4soil.com ). In this paper, our aim is twofold: 1) to describe the methodology implemented to design Impact4Soil 2) to raise awareness among the soil scientific community on the importance of the continuum between evidence production and science-based decision. Additionally, this is also an invitation for soil scientists to use and contribute to the improvement of Impact4Soil.