Thumbnail Image

Guidelines on how to establish a National Soil Laboratory Network

Year of publication 2021

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Pages 16 p.

Author FAO

Publisher FAO ;

Product type Brochure, flyer, fact-sheet

Edition 1

Synopsis (short abstract) The Global Soil Laboratory Network (GLOSOLAN) was established in 2017 to build and strengthen the capacity of laboratories in soil analysis and to respond to the need for harmonized soil analytical data. Harmonization of methods, units, data, and information is critical to: 1. Provide reliable and comparable information between countries and projects; 2. Allow the generation of new harmonized soil data sets; 3. Support evidence-based decision-making for sustainable soil management. The work of GLOSOLAN supports the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development, and the mandate of FAO on food security and nutrition. GLOSOLAN’s decisions are made using a bottom-up approach. Every year, laboratories from the same region have the opportunity to discuss their priorities and needs, as well as their position on the topics to be discussed at the annual GLOSOLAN meetings. In this regard, countries are organized into Regional Soil Laboratory Networks (RESOLANs), the skeleton of GLOSOLAN. Therefore, it is the responsibility of each RESOLAN Chair and vice-Chair to report on the position of their RESOLAN and to ensure that regional requests are included in the annual GLOSOLAN work plan. In addition to the regional networks, GLOSOLAN is promoting the establishment of National Soil Laboratory Networks (NASOLANs) to: 1. Allow all soil laboratories in the same country to interact with each other, to overcome common challenges and to help each other in building their capacity in soil analysis; 2. Promote harmonization processes of soil analysis at the national level; 3. Facilitate the transfer of knowledge acquired by the laboratories participating in GLOSOLAN activities at the national level. Indeed, laboratories benefiting from GLOSOLAN training should transfer the knowledge acquired to other laboratories in their country. This process is also critical to overcoming language and cultural barriers. It is the responsibility of each National Reference Laboratory to lead the establishment of its NASOLAN and to coordinate the implementation of GLOSOLAN activities at the country level. This document aims to provide guidelines on the establishment of National Soil Laboratory Networks to National Reference Laboratories and to all other soil laboratories that wish to join efforts, even when a National Reference Laboratory is not yet nominated or is inactive. The information contained in this document is based on the experience of countries that have already established NASOLANs.

Cite this content as:

​FAO. 2021. Guidelines on how to establish a National Soil Laboratory Network. Rome

Language English

Also available in:
No results found.

Related items

Showing items related by metadata.

  • Thumbnail Image
    Book (stand-alone)
    First Inter-laboratory comparison report of the Regional Soil Laboratory Network For Asia (SEALNET) 2019
    Also available in:
    No results found.
    The Global Soil Laboratory Network (GLOSOLAN) was formally established under the framework of the Global Soil Partnership (GSP) in November 2017, when its first meeting took place at FAO Headquarters in Rome, Italy. GLOSOLAN’s objectives are: (1) to strengthen the performance of laboratories through use of standardized methods and protocols, and (2) to harmonize soil analysis methods so that soil information is comparable and interpretable across laboratories, countries and regions. In this context, GLOSOLAN plans to develop open access Standard Operating Procedures and manuals on good laboratory practices, execute regional and global proficiency testing, and increase the overall performance of laboratories through the organization of training sessions. By April 2019, over 220 laboratories from all continents were registered in GLOSOLAN. The South-East Asian Laboratory Network (SEALNET) which corresponds to the Regional Soil Laboratory Networks for the South-East Asian region decided to conduct an independent assessment of the technical performance of SEALNET laboratories through an inter-laboratory comparison. This report presents the results of the analysis using different figures to help laboratory managers and other non-specialist readers to perceive the different aspects of (i) the laboratory performance evaluation, (ii) the way to identify the technical problems in case of poor performances and (iii) suggesting which solutions can be proposed to improve the analytical performances
  • Thumbnail Image
    Brochure, flyer, fact-sheet
    Good practices on recording training videos for the Global Soil Laboratory Network 2020
    Also available in:
    No results found.
    Established in 2017, in the framework of the Global Soil Partnership’s Pillar 5, the Global Soil Laboratory Network (GLOSOLAN) facilitates networking and capacity development through cooperation and information sharing between soil laboratories with different levels of expertise. GLOSOLAN main objectives are: • Make soil information across labs, countries and regions comparable, interpretable; • Build a set of agreed harmonization principles; • Improve quality assurance and control (QA/QC) of soil analyses; • Promote information and experience exchange. This short manual was prepared to support the production of training videos that will be recorded at GLOSOLAN member laboratories.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Brochure, flyer, fact-sheet
    Global Soil Laboratory Network: Basic guidelines on how to produce a soil sample for proficiency testing 2020
    Also available in:
    Evidence-based decisions are central to the achievement of sustainable soil management (SSM), which in turn is critical to the achievement food security and nutrition, and to the Agenda 2030 for sustainable development. While the quantity and quality of soil data are fundamental, soil information must also be harmonized and globally consistent to have impact. The Global Soil Laboratory Network (GLOSOLAN) was established within the framework of the Global Soil Partnership’s fifth pillar in 2017. GLOSOLAN aims to facilitate networking and capacity development through cooperation and information sharing between soil laboratories with different levels of expertise. Proficiency testing is a key component of the GLOSOLAN implementation programme as it determines the performance of individual laboratories for specific analysis and is used to monitor laboratories' continuing performance.
Show more

Users also downloaded

Showing related downloaded files

No results found.