SECTION 1 - INTRODUCTION TO THE COURSE
• Info about the course
- Operative information

• What do we know about the Earth?
- Earth organisation: the four “spheres” and their interactions in ecosystems and biomes
- Biodiversity

SECTION 2 - POLLUTION
• What do we know about pollutants?
- Pollution as ecosystem perturbation
- Different types of pollution classification
- Contamination vs pollution

• Which types of pollution?
- Natural vs anthropic pollution
- Point source vs non-point source pollution

• Which types of pollutants?
- Physical, chemical and biological pollution
- Nature, toxicity, features, sources and different classifications of pollutants

• How to manage non-soil pollution?
- Limitation, prevention and treatment of pollution: air and water resources

SECTION 3 - SOIL ECOSYSTEM COMPOSITION, FORMATION AND FEATURES
• What do we know about soil?
- Definitions, functions and importance

• What does soil come from?
- Factors and processes driving to soil formation

• What is soil composed of?
- Abiotic vs biotic components
- Inorganic fraction: description and properties of solid inorganic components - Minerals (silicates and non-silicates). Origin and formation of the inorganic fraction
- Water: chemistry, properties and importance of water. Soil-water relationship: forces involved in water dynamics in soil; water moments in soil. Soil water content: concepts, types and measurements
- Air: importance of air in soil; air dynamics in soil. Soil volatiles (VOCs)
- Organic fraction: description, composition and properties of soil organic matter. Origin and formation (humification) and decomposition of the soil organic fraction
- Biota: Soil ecosystems and components of soil biota, their classification, distribution, and functions. Soil-plant-microorganism relationships - The rhizosphere

• Which are the properties of soils?
- Physical: description
- Chemical: description
- Physicochemical: description
- Biological/biochemical: description.

SECTION 4 - SOIL POLLUTION
• Soil health, quality and resilience: definitions and differences

• Which are the causes of soil pollution?
- Land uses and anthropic activities - industrial, agricultural, and urban areas

• Which types of soil pollutants?
- Inorganic pollutants in soil: interactions, processes (adsorption/fixation, absorption, solubilisation, mobility, leaching) and persistence
- Organic pollutants in soil: interactions, processes (partitioning, adsorption/fixation, absorption, solubilisation, mobility, volatilisation, degradation, leaching) and persistence

• Which interactions between pollutants and soil components?
- Soil components and properties affecting the interactions with pollutants
- Fate of pollutants in soil (adsorption/fixation, absorption, volatilisation, degradation, leaching and persistence)

• Which effects of soil pollutants?
- Toxicity of pollutants in soil ecosystems: effects on soil organisms
- Effects on soil properties

• How to manage soil pollution?
- Limitation, prevention and treatment of soil pollution
- Treatments of soil pollution: remediation and bioremediation technologies

SECTION 5 - MONITORING SOIL POLLUTANTS & SOIL CLEANING
• How can we detect and monitor the presence of pollutants in soils?
- Monitoring soil quality (indicators, indices, etc.).
- Monitoring soil pollutants (metals, organics, nanomaterials, pharmaceuticals, etc.).
- Traditional approaches in soil monitoring (sampling and lab analyses).
- Smart approaches in soil monitoring (sensors, biosensors, nano(bio)sensors, probes and (hybrid) sensing systems).

• How can we remediate polluted soils?
- Traditional technologies approaches for soil remediation (physical and chemical).
- Bioremediation approaches for cleaning and recovery of contaminated soils.
- Smart approaches in soil bioremediation.

• R.R. Weil, N.C. Brady (2016). The nature and properties of soils (15th Edition). Pearson.
OR: R.R. Weil, N.C. Brady (2019). Elements of the nature and properties of soils (4th Edition). Pearson.

• E.A. Paul (2015). Soil microbiology, ecology, and biochemistry (4th Edition). Academic Press.
• M.L. Brusseau, I.L. Pepper, C.P. Gerba, (2019). Environmental and Pollution Science (3rd Edition). Academic Press.