The Andrew Morris interview: sustainability, innovation, place and technology

To achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, society needs radical new models, mindsets and practices. This requires us to make careful economic, social, environmental and political decisions for people and the planet – at speed.

With this in mind, I have been speaking with leading figures who work at the intersection of people, place and sustainability, to share their ideas about what can be done to achieve sustainable urban futures.

Andrew Morris is the executive director of the British Society of Soil Science (BSSS), an international membership organisation advocating for one of nature’s most valuable but finite resources: soil. Since 1947, the BSSS has brought together academics and professionals committed to the study of soil science and its essential role in safeguarding the future of our planet.

Andrew is responsible for implementing the mission of the Society, which includes promoting the discovery of new knowledge of soils and their role in global sustainability. Prior to joining the BSSS, he was commercial director at the Landscape Institute for five years. Andrew is also currently the Western Europe representative on the UN’s Civil Society Organizations (CSO) Panel of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.

In this interview, Andrew discusses how the BSSS is addressing sustainable urban development – from increasing awareness and engagement of soil science to enabling better cross-sector collaboration and nurturing skills. Plus, how data-driven solutions can accelerate progress.

Could you share a little about your background and the mission that drives your work?

I’m the Executive Director of the British Society of Soil Science, an international charity that serves as both a membership organisation and professional body, based in Bedfordshire. 

I have the privilege of leading a growing team. The Society is going from strength to strength, helped by the rising recognition of soil science and soil health across the built, rural and natural environment sectors. The government is also beginning to acknowledge just how vital soils are, which is a really positive step forward.

Fundamentally, our mission is to facilitate new knowledge in soils, which is through research and development with scientists, academics and professionals in multi-disciplinary practices. Currently, we are roughly a 50/50 split between scientists at research institutes or in academia, and professionals working in environmental or engineering consultancies, government or industry.  We also have a growing number of people who have joined due their interest in soils, including farmers, teachers, and even some artists.

Although we’ve had a strong agricultural focus for many years, we’re increasingly  exploring the urban realm, which is important and connects nicely with my experience from the Landscape Institute.

As towns and cities grow rapidly, with nearly 70% of people expected to live in urban spaces by 2050, soils will play a vital role in sustainability and resilience. What soil-related skills do you think will be most critical for sustainable urban development over the next decade?

When we talk about the transition to net zero and tackling climate change, it’s clear we need to adapt quickly. With government housebuilding targets and a renewed focus on how we use land, the UK is facing some significant skills gaps. Three areas stand out straight away, and one of the biggest is land remediation and decontamination; in other words, knowing how to make old sites safe so they can be transformed into places where new homes and healthy communities can thrive. At its heart, it’s about giving land a new lease of life.

Think of a brownfield site in Bolton being converted into housing. Professionals need to identify legacy contaminants (like heavy metals or hydrocarbons), design a safe remediation plan, communicate risks with residents, and ensure that the final site is both safe and ecologically resilient. The industry needs far more people with the technical, scientific and professional skills to deliver projects of this kind.

Secondly, alongside remediation expertise, there’s a major shortage of integrated design skills. We need far greater interdisciplinary literacy – the ability to understand how ecology fits into planning and design so we can genuinely build climate resilience into the built environment. The Landscape Institute has made progress on this by embedding soil science into its competency framework, but what’s really needed are professionals who can bridge ecology, engineering and planning when it comes to soils and soil function.

Crucially, they also need to consider health and social care within urban communities, which play a vital role in underpinning green infrastructure. Professionals across sectors require a clearer understanding of how these systems function and connect.

Lastly, there is a big gap around simple things like agricultural land classification surveys. There’s been a huge brain drain from the mid-2000s, where lots of professionals with a soil science degree background have retired and fundamental knowledge across sectors has been lost.

There’s already important research completed and more underway – to do with aspects of soil physics, chemistry and biology, soil resource evaluation, sustainable soil management, soil conservation and land restoration – but the real challenge is how we share those findings and turn them into practical action for the sector. Right now, that’s another gap – multi-disciplinary translation and communication.

To move forward, better monitoring and smarter data interpretation is needed. Used well, AI can play a powerful role in accelerating this work. The challenge is having enough people with the right skills available to turn insight into action.

What steps are being taken in the short- and medium-term to address soil-related skills gaps?

In the short-term, it’s about bringing short, sharp accredited courses to address skills gaps that speak to the multi-disciplinary professionals in our sector. It’s a challenging time for the higher education sector, which is facing a reduction in funding and redundancies, so we are trying to support the way they are approaching the market and the business models into these interventions. This is what leads to accredited skills that can be a pathway into Master’s and PhDs.

In the medium-term, we’re working to embed soil literacy right across the education system and into the workplace. At school level, that means creating a suite of resources to support teachers, so soil science is brought to life in the classroom. With the launch of the new Natural History GCSE, there’s a real opportunity to put soil at the centre of learning, highlighting its role in everything from food and climate to health and biodiversity.

All the other allied disciplines should have a basic soil knowledge as well. Last June I attended a scientific conference titled Rhizosphere in Edinburgh. Although a niche topic exploring the interface between plant roots and soil, there were over 400 researchers in attendance.  What struck me was that many people I spoke to said soil science wasn’t their field… My reply? ‘Well, what do the roots grow in?’

What needs to be done to better prepare the next generation of professionals to understand the role of soil in urban sustainability?

From a policy and regulation point of view, understanding how to embed soil health into planning processes and environmental assessments is essential. It is quite a complicated system, but with the recently revised National Planning Policy Framework due to be revisited again next year, there is an opportunity to embed soil health impact assessments from inter-planning. We will advocate for that using our scientific research.

Really importantly, our role as a membership organisation is to bridge the gap between research and practice, and translate that research to practitioners on the ground. What does it mean for landscape designers, planners and ecologists, for instance? We have just launched a podcast, Soil Matters, to make science more accessible – particularly to those early-on in their career. Now, we need to find a way to translate the research through toolkits and standards as well.

Soil is often overlooked or even seen as a problem in construction and development. What needs to change in how we perceive soil, and how can policy, public engagement and new technologies, like AI, help reposition it as a vital resource for the future?

Perception remains a big issue, especially in construction, where soil is seen as a challenge rather than an asset. Soil is our most finite resource, taking thousands of years to form but we’re sending it to landfill. A teaspoon of soil contains more living organisms than there are people on Earth; it underpins plant growth, food and medicine.

People need to realise how valuable it is as a resource, and that goes all the way to community level. We’re developing a policy and public affairs plan, supported by our new patron, presenter Kate Humble, who’s passionate about engaging children from a young age. This involves engaging communities in hands-on experiments and what it means to be a soil scientist, showing they can be superheroes and help change the planet. These sorts of creative solutions challenge perceptions, promote green jobs and frame soil care as a vocation.

As touched upon, AI offers a huge opportunity to analyse vast datasets over time. Imagine a scheme that monitors the urban landscape and tracks soil performance on carbon sequestration over a 15-year period. This kind of long-term data could show, in real and tangible ways, how soil contributes to flood and water management, boosts biodiversity, reduces pollution and helps mitigate urban heat island effects.

But in our industry, we will still need that expert human nuance around the information being produced by AI.

What policy and investment changes are needed to accelerate progress in soil-sensitive urban planning?

Looking at policy leavers, it’s crazy that we don’t have soils currently protected in law. We’ve got water and air, but no soil protection – particularly in local developments. We need to look at this and introduce the idea of soil impact assessments within the Environmental Impact Assessment and urban planning applications.

Elsewhere, we have seen various incentives around green job formation in recent years, which led us to create a pathway for Level 7 apprenticeships (the equivalent of a Master’s degree). Unfortunately, the Government is looking to defund Level 7s, which is a real shame given the skills shortage of scientists. If the Government is going to realise its ambitions around building infrastructure to transition to net zero, it needs these core professionals. In particular, when we think about social mobility, this removes the opportunity for talent that wouldn’t necessarily consider a Master’s for financial reasons.

What is interesting is the finance sector, where we are seeing a lot of green investment portfolios come onto the market. It’s great to see these large blue chip companies looking to transition to net zero and display their ESG credentials to the world. However, what we lack is firm data which allows them to underwrite ESG reporting, leading to accusations of greenwashing.

Investments in technology that allows us to demonstrate the benefit of investments in soil health and the built natural environment is essential, and in turn could create a demand for new professional roles.

 

Thank you for sharing your experience and insight with us!