Training needs for the next generation of soil surveyors

During the past two decades, soil survey as many other applied scientific disciplines has been dealing with a rapidly changing society and consequent shifts in public and private information needs for planning and management. Concurrently, soil survey has been faced with the advent of a whole range of new technologies, many of them highly relevant to the planning and execution of soils resource inventories (SRI). Concerted efforts have been made to meet these challenges, in order to maintain and further strengthen SRI quality, timeliness and resource efficiency. However, soil survey programmes and SRI training in many countries have come under increasing financial and institutional pressure. This paper explores key questions pertaining to (a) The general nature of changing SRI demand vis-à-vis the combination of new relevant technological advances and limited SRI resources and (b) Their implications for SRI educational and training in the new century.