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A review on trial erosion shows that soil erosion rates are one to three orders of magnitude higher than the ones recommended as sustainable. This is threatening the sustainable managements of mountain terrains, mainly in the popular hiking paths. The warm temperatures characterize Eastern Spain in winter, which results in visitors from northern Europe to walk in the coastal land mountainous terrain. This increases the pressure to the currently highly visited most popular paths. We selected representative transects of the trails of Serra de Bérnia, Puigcampana, Penyagolosa, Montcabré, Serra del Sit, Aitana, Les Tres Creus, Caroig, Cupurutxo and Circ de la Safor. All the selected study sites have Limestone parent material, and a scrubland as vegetation cover and the selected slope angle ranged in average between 5 and 10%. The surveys showed that soil erosion rates measured with a topographical method range from 13 till 450 Mg ha−1 y−1. There is a clear relation between the number of users and the damage done on the trails; and we found that short cuts are the areas that contribute with fresh sediment. Rock outcrops are found in 34% of the measured trail sections and this is a good example how the complete soil can be lost as a consequence of recreational activities.

Nowadays, the scientific community is aware of the negative environmental impacts of soil erosion on ecosystem services. Soil erosion is one of the most important causes of land degradation because of its immediate influence of the most fertile topsoil parts. It is well-known that questions related to who, what, why, where and when soil erosion causes negative impacts must be considered by stakeholders and policymakers. However, why do the Sustainable Development Goals tell anything about soil erosion? In this keynote, we will try to show the importance to develop tools which can be used to assess soil erosion to obtain convincing results for stakeholders and policymakers. According to this fact, we present some studies related to in situ soil erosion measures and assessments of human perception and economical approaches. We fully agree that these kinds of studies will greatly benefit the visibility, trust and diffusion of our results. What do you think about this question? Let me know your opinion.

Light pollution is a well-known problem because of its negative impacts on human health, flora, and fauna. From an ecological and engineering point of view, the literature states to consider the following aspects: (1) the light intensity; (2) the composition of the spectrum; (3) the time and duration of lighting to optimize the time of illumination with the available technologies; (4) the periods of lighting and the control cone; (5) the height and spacing between the light sources to optimize the space between the light sources, to reduce the flow of light and unnecessary energy consumption; (6) the environmental impact studies on-site; and (7) the analysis of real needs and less standardized approaches, examining the evolution of use and habits of light consumption. Accordingly, we want to present the SMART LIGHT-HUB (INTERREG) project, which pretends, during the next 3 years (2019–2021), to deliver smart lighting systems to reach the widest possible public, such as companies active in the relevant subject areas. We are setting up an R&D network in the Grande Region (Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, and France) to facilitate the emergence of new collective solutions to needs that are not addressed in the private and public sectors, in terms of lighting. We are planning exchange workshops, which serve to complete the project, concerning the interested parties on the ground (public authorities, chambers of commerce and industry, local authorities, public–private sector, private companies, etc.) and external participants representing the final consumers. We also want to work on restoring a protected nighttime environment (i.e., continuous areas of “nocturnal/black corridors” for animals that cannot tolerate artificial light).

Humans are the driving factor of soil erosion and degradation. Therefore, sustainable land management practices should be developed and applied. The aim of this study was to determine land management impacts on soil properties, soil loss and nutrient loss in 3 different treatments; grass-covered vineyard (GCV), tilled vineyard (TV), and tilled hazelnut orchard (HO). The study area is located in Orahovica, Croatia (45°31′ N, 17°51′ E; elevation 230 m) on ~7° slope. The soil under the study area was classified as a Stagnosol. 8 rainfall simulations (58 mm h−1, during 30 min, over 0.785 m2 plots) were performed at each treatment where the next data were noted: ponding time, runoff time, and collection of overland flow. Soil samples were taken for determination of mean weight diameter (MWD), water stable aggregates (WSA), P2O5 content, and organic matter content. Analyses of sediment revealed concentrations of P2O5 and N. All three treatments had significantly different values of MWD (GCV 3.30 mm; TV 2.94 mm; HO 2.16 mm), while WSA and organic matter significantly differs between GCV and HO. The infiltration rate showed no significant difference between treatments. Sediment yield was significantly the highest at the TV (21.01 g kg−1 runoff), while no significant difference was noted between GCV (2.91) and HO (6.59). Sediments of GCV treatment showed higher concentrations of P2O5 and N, compared to TV and HO. Nutrients loss was highest in the TV (450.3 g P2O5 ha−1; 1891.7 g N ha−1) as a result of highest sediment yield, despite the fact GCV had the highest nutrients concentrations. Results indicate that land management (and/or tillage) affects soil properties and their stability. Even tough HO was tilled and had the lowest values of organic matter, WSA, and MWD, measurements were performed immediately after tillage where the plant residues reduced potential erodibility of the soil. Such results reveal that tillage should be avoided in vineyard and hazelnut production in order to prevent soil and nutrient losses.