1. COST Action 634 On- and Off-site Environmental Impacts of Runoff and Erosion prepared by A.-V. Auzet, J. Boardman, K. Helming, M. Kirkby, J. Poesen, J. Rejman, P. Withers and others build on expertise of COST 623 « Soil Erosion & Global Change » and COST 832 « Quantifying the Agricultural Contribution to Eutrophication »

2. COST 623 & COST832: what did we learn ? wide range of situations in the 20 participating countries  similarities in group of regions (same trends in climate/geomorphology and land use)  high variability of patterns of surface characteristics due to interactions between climate, land use, land management, socio-economic factors and policy  need for land use & climate change scenarios from representative areas / landscapes  agricultural contribution to eutrophication  scale issues in processes (surface degradation, roughness and connectivity…) and scale issues in socio-economic drivers…  need for appropriate and cost-effective control measures

3. knowledge on processes of runoff and erosion: application to soil protection ? The translation of scientific achievements into innovation and optimisation of soil protection and land management remains very limited Large gaps exist between knowledge and application at different scales from farm to small regions Main drivers include socio-economy and policies soil protection strategies suitable for implementation in practice requires mutual co-operation of scientific expertise, political interest, and practical experience

4. Main objectives coordinate and synthesise European soil erosion research in the contexts of land management and policy formulation that encourage soil protection and reduction of on- and off-site impacts of runoff and erosion identify and analyse the barriers at all levels, (scientific, political, administrative and management) develop tools and methods to support decision making in the sustainable management of erosion-sensitive areas at the farm level including the implementation of soil protection measures. develop an integrated understanding of on- and off-site impacts at the catchment scale

5. Planned Working Groups WG1: Policy issues in the implementation of sustainable land use WG2: Sustainable Farm-Scale Management WG3: Catchment integration of On- and Off-site effects

6. Policy issues in the implementation of sustainable land use co-ordinate European research efforts on policies that encourage soil conservation and reduction of off- site impacts of runoff and erosion (incl. impacts of phosphates and herbicides assoc. with soil) policies that lead to best practice methods include the collation and analysis of existing data, and the analysis and evaluation of successes and failures

7. Sustainable Farm-Scale Management research on tools and methods to support decision making in the sustainable management of erosion-sensitive areas at the farm level identify suitable indicators for assessing the sustainability of different management practices with special emphasis on runoff, soil erosion, loss of organic matter and phosphorus transport, catalogue of regionally adapted best management and soil conservation practices, develop adequate management techniques, tools to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of agricultural management and soil conservation practices, delivering data like gross margin and potential water erosion risk, integrated analysis of available data to check interrelated effects with other economic and environmental targets at farm level.

8. Catchment integration of On- and Off-site effects Runoff generation and accumulation for catchment areas Soil erosion, transport and deposition on hillsides and downstream / off- site Transport of non-point source nutrients and pollutants associated with sediment Transport of Soil Organic Matter and associated nutrients Modelling, including particular attention to up-scaling and to the representation of field to farm-scale heterogeneity at the catchment scale; adaptation of existing Models in a format usable by all range of potential users Monitoring, including collation and analysis of existing data Field experiments to evaluate water, sediment and nutrient/ pollutant transfers

9. Key cross-cutting issues

10.  Submitted in January 2003 Revised version in May 03, after comments from TCE March 03,  TCE June 03: transmission for approval to the CSO, approved 3 October 2003 (COST 634)  Proposal available on http://www.soilerosion.net/COST634/ since January 2004http://www.soilerosion.net/COST634/  First MC Meeting : 19th April  14 countries already signed up, 5 started the procedure Belgium, Czech Rep., Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain Portugal, Slovakia, Swiss, Turkey, UK

11. Organizational structure Steering Committee Chair & vice-chair person WGs coordinators (2 for each) end-user representative MC Committee (representatives appointed by the signatories of the MoU) WG1 Policy issues in the implementation of sustainable land use WG1 Catchment integration of On- and Off-site effects WG2 Sustainable Farm-scale Management

12. Working plans & methods To achieve the objectives 1st common meeting for the 3 WGs, contribution of EU Soil Protection group Meetings of WGs (interactions between WGs) STSM (short term scientific missions, 5 days to 1 month) Regular Informations through the web site MC work Active contribution to WGs Information in the different countries Discuss the proposals for meetings Select the STSM (delegate to an assessment panel)

13. Timetable COST 634

14. Proposed pannel Chair & vice chair: A.-Véronique Auzet & Katharina Helming WGs co-chairs: WG1 (Policy issues): John Boardman (UK) & WG2 (Catchment integration): Victor Jetten (NL) & Mike Kirkby WG3 (Farm scale): Katharina Helming (D) & Preben Olsen (DK)

15. meetings Introductory meeting (autumn 2004) Quantifying the delivery of sediment and sediment bound P to surface and groundwaters (Lancaster, UK, J. Quinton) Modelling & monitoring (jan 2005, Belfast, D.Favis Mortlock & V. Jetten) Soil protection strategy for farm & catchment scale, policies to support best practices (N-W. France, A. Matthieu & al.) Environmental impacts of runoff and erosion in ….. (Poland, J. Rejman) Counting & cutting the cost of erosion: challenges for research, management and policy (Exeter, UK, June 2006, N. Kuhn)

16. meetings Introductory meeting Quantifying the delivery of sediment and sediment bound P to surface and groundwaters Counting & cutting the cost of erosion: challenges for research, management and policy