1 - COURSE OBJECTIVES
The aim of the course is to present the soil as a proper ecosystem, and to make students capable of understanding and predicting: i) the behaviour and fate of natural and xenobiotic compounds (pollutants) in soils after addition; ii) the possible effects of these compounds on soil ecosystems; iii) the possible resilience of soils upon pollution. Information will be provided on soil abiotic and biotic components, the relative physical, chemical and biochemical properties, and the mutual interactions and relationships (minerals-microbes-plants) to achieve the targets mentioned. Information will also be supplied on the nature and features of main soil pollutants. Various approaches in monitoring natural and polluted soil ecosystems will also be illustrated together with some remediation technologies.


2 - LEARNING OUTCOMES

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
Students should demonstrate:
- The knowledge of the various components of natural soils and the interactions between these components. 
- The knowledge of the physical, chemical and physicochemical principles affecting the interactions between natural and anthropic compounds (e.g. contaminants) with the diverse soil components. 
- The knowledge of the natural and polluted soil monitoring approaches and systems (traditional vs innovative) and soil remediation technologies.

ABILITY TO USE KNOWLEDGE AND COMPREHENSION
Students should demonstrate integration and application of the information assimilated in the course in specific contexts such as:
- Identification of natural vs polluted soil ecosystems.
- Analysis of perturbed soil ecosystems to understand the dynamics and fate of pollutants and the effects on biota.
- Identification of suitable monitoring systems to assess the presence of pollutants in soil ecosystems.
- Identification of appropriate remediation technologies to recover distinctly polluted soils.

MAKING JUDGEMENT
Students should demonstrate the capacity of evaluating information resulting from observations and measurements (monitoring) to assess the extent of soil perturbation and possible actions to make.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS
Students should show:
- Active listening during the course.
- Situation analysis of different contexts, catching the main features characterising natural vs perturbed soils.
- Synthetic but persuasive argumentation of concepts, dynamics and processes in soil ecosystems as described in the course, demonstrating technological competency.
- Public speaking with respect.

LEARNING SKILLS
- Analytical-thinking and text interpretation of the various materials provided in the course to achieve suitable knowledge of natural and polluted soil ecosystems
- Curiosity in understanding the causes of events occurring in perturbed soils, relative to the natural ones
- Open-mindedness towards other opinions, with critical thinking and without prejudices.