Philip Barton
English soil microbiologist, specialised Soil Food Web consultant, regenerative agriculture specialist, founder of Minds Of Soil

Nina Brtníčková
member of the Zachovejme Poolší association from Dolní Lutyně

Edith Jeřábková
curator at PLATO and author of the conference concept

Jan Lenart
geologist and geoecologist at the Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava

Alena Malíková
member of the Nadace pro půdu foundation and the Pilgrim association, based in Příbor

Elisabeth von Samsonow
Austrian artist, philosopher, and professor of philosophical and historical anthropology at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna

Denisa Tomášková
permaculture designer and lecturer, flower grower from Sadská, and author of the PLATO garden planting

Tomáš Uhnák
artist and researcher based in Prague, involved in the development of CSA and agroecology, focusing on farming and food systems, member of AMPI

Jaroslav Záhora
researcher specialising in plant ecophysiology, soil microbial activity, and interactions between soil organisms at Mendel University in Brno

Thursday 14/5

9.00–10.30 h
Jan Lenart: Toxic Dust – Industrial Stories along the Frýdlant Railway, walk (route from the main station along the railway to PLATO, limited capacity, currently only 10 spots available)

9.00–10.00 h
Edith Jeřábková: curatorial tour of the exhibition Soil and Friends

10.30–11.00 h
Edith Jeřábková: introduction to the conference and the exhibition Soil and Friends

11.00–12.00 h
Denisa Tomášková: Soil Is a Living Organism

12.00–13.30 h
lunch

13.30–15.30 h
Elisabeth von Samsonow: Matriarchal Soil Communities

16.00–17.30 h
Nina Brtníčková: Let’s Preserve Poolší

17.30–18.30 h
dinner

18.30–19.30 h
Philip Barton: Agroecological Farming and the Soil Food Web: natural ways to restore soil health

20.00–22.00 h
campfire in the gallery garden (bring your own food)

Friday 15/5

10.00–12.00 h
What is soil, how food self-sufficient are we, and how to protect soil – panel discussion
With: Alena Malíková, Tomáš Uhnák, Jaroslav Záhora; moderated by Edith Jeřábková. The discussion will follow short presentations by the speakers

12.00–13.30 h
lunch

13.30–15.00 h
Jan Lenart: Toxic Dust – Industrial Stories along the Frýdlant Railway, walk (route from PLATO along the tracks to the main station)

13.30–15.00 h
Edith Jeřábková: curatorial tour of the exhibition Soil and Friends

Philip Barton: Agroecological Farming and the Soil Food Web: Natural Ways to Restore Soil Health (lecture)

Annotation:
Agriculture is often perceived as a threat to nature. However, it can also become one of our most effective tools for redefining our role within the ecosystem. This lecture will present both theoretical research and practical examples, showing how agroecology—syntropic farming systems and Soil Food Web management—can restore the health of soil, the planet, and crops.

Bio:
Philip Barton is an English soil microbiologist, a specialist in regenerative agriculture, founder of Minds Of Soil, and a specialised consultant for Soil Food Web. He focuses on soil revitalisation. His work centres on creating holistic, regenerative agricultural systems with closed-loop cycles. He specialises in producing high-quality compost, compost extracts, and teas to restore the complex balance of microbial life. By improving living soils and supporting robust microbial communities, he helps clients worldwide build resilient and productive ecosystems. He is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Climate Change, Food Security and Agriculture at the University of Galway, Ireland.

Nina Brtníčková: Let’s Preserve Poolší (presentation/dialogue)

Annotation:
The association Zachovejme Poolší brings together residents of Dolní Lutyně, a village located about 20 km from Ostrava. Its aim is to protect the Poolší landscape and prevent the construction of a massive gigafactory in the middle of the municipality. Very little is known about the planned investment, and the investor remains undisclosed. Its realisation would violate the so-called Declaration of Understanding, signed nearly twenty years ago by the state, the region, and environmental organisations, which was meant to guarantee that no industrial zone would ever be built in Dolní Lutyně. The state, together with some environmental organisations, is now prepared to revoke this agreement in exchange for a promised investment of 200 billion CZK. The gigafactory is thus beginning to take shape—at least on paper. It is not just a single hall: the planned complex would cover 280 hectares, roughly the size of 380 football fields. Its construction would mean the loss of fertile agricultural land and 23 hectares of forest, located only about 200 metres from a protected bird area, in a flood zone, and requiring the relocation of the only road leading into the village.

Bio:
Nina Brtníčková is a member of the Zachovejme Poolší association. She is originally from Prague but has been living with her family in Dolní Lutyně for the past 10 years.

Edith Jeřábková

Bio:
Edith Jeřábková has been a curator at PLATO since 2020. In her practice, she emphasizes the role of intuition and non-hierarchical collaboration. She explores intersections between permaculture and art, as well as the interconnectedness of ethical, ecological, and aesthetic relationships within soil and landscape systems and interspecies communities. She is a member of the associations LES – Community for Cultivation, Theory and Art, and Are. Between 2011 and 2020, she was a lecturer at UMPRUM in Prague. She has worked with the following institutions: Galerie Klatovy/Klenová, the Research Centre of the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, the Olomouc Museum of Art, Fotograf Gallery, Kurzor, the Centre for Contemporary Art Prague, and the Institute of Anxiety.

Jan Lenart: Toxic Dust – Industrial Stories along the Frýdlant Railway

Annotation:
This guided field walk will take us “behind the scenes” of the city. The unexpectedly diverse spaces along the historic Frýdlant railway line will reveal many industrial landmarks of Ostrava. We will pass by the Jiří Mine, a locomotive depot, the Báňská railway station, the Budoucnost production cooperative complex, a tram depot, and areas of emerging urban wilderness. You will learn how the famous Báňská railway connecting Ostrava’s mines was created, why air-raid shelters are located near industrial sites, and what ferroviatic flora is. The walk lasts approximately 1.5 hours. Please bring sturdy footwear (paths may be muddy).

Bio:
Jan Lenart works at the Department of Physical Geography and Geoecology at the Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava, where he researches industrial landscapes, their history, and their values. He is involved in their documentation, preservation, and public outreach. He collaborated with artist Rosario Talevi on the Ostrava guide Toxic Dust, published by PLATO.

Alena Malíková, guest of the panel discussion What is Soil, How Food Self-Sufficient Are We, and How to Protect Soil

Annotation:
We are losing the ground beneath our feet—both literally and metaphorically. In the Moravian-Silesian region, an average of 500 hectares of agricultural land (mostly arable) disappears each year, primarily due to the construction of warehouses, retail spaces, and industrial complexes. In the Czech Republic, more than 214,900 hectares of agricultural land were lost between 2000 and 2020 (an average of 7–10 hectares per day). Soil cannot be manufactured. Do we realise what we are losing? Together, we will reflect on what it means to lose the ground beneath our feet—and not only in terms of food production.

Bio:
Alena Malíková studied at the University of Agriculture (now Mendel University) in Brno. After a short period working in public administration (Poodří Protected Landscape Area Administration and the Agricultural Agency in Nový Jičín), she worked for non-profit organisations: the Moravian Gate Regional Centre of PRO-BIO Association of Organic Farmers and Bioinstitut, Olomouc. She has focused on organic and biodynamic farming, especially soil and the human relationship to landscape, including local food systems (CSA). She contributed to the establishment of several initiatives and currently, alongside her family life, is active in the Nadace Pro půdu foundation, the Potulná univerzita přírody of the PILGRIM association, the Viktorina Loca cooperative, and cultural life in Příbor, where she lives with her husband. They have four children and six grandchildren.

Elisabeth von Samsonow: Matriarchal Soil Communities (lecture)

Annotation:
We, from the land of goddesses in northern Lower Austria near Znojmo, want to “start with small things.” We understand this approach as the order of the mother, in contrast to the order of the father and its armed appropriation, seizure, and exploitation of the earth. “Small things” refer to the life of microorganisms in the soil—their intelligence and cooperation—on which we all depend. (Elisabeth von Samsonow)

Bio:
Elisabeth von Samsonow is an Austrian artist and philosopher based in Vienna and the Lower Austrian village of Hadres. She is a professor of philosophical and historical anthropology at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna and a member of GEDOK München and the Künstlerhaus Association. She founded the Dissident Goddesses’ Network, an association of researchers and artists working to raise awareness of Paleolithic and Neolithic female figurines from Lower Austria, to empower women in rural areas, and to support ecological sustainability and biodiversity in the region. Active as an artist since the late 1980s, her work includes paintings, drawings, installations, videos, performances, and sculptures. She curated the exhibition The Language of the Goddesses for the Lower Austrian State Archaeological Museum, which will travel to New York and Bucharest in 2027.

Denisa Tomášková: Soil Is a Living Organism (lecture)

Annotation:
Healthy soil produces healthy food. How does the soil microbiome influence our health? How do we influence it? What can soil do for us, and what can we do for it? This lecture will explore the latest knowledge about soil and its relationship to the human body, as well as techniques for working with soil in a healthy regenerative garden.

Bio:
Denisa Tomášková is a permaculture lecturer and designer and the owner of a flower farm in the Elbe region. She studied permaculture primarily with its founder Bill Mollison and his student Geoff Lawton. She is the director of the Czech Permaculture Institute, which brings together lecturers and designers working in permaculture, where she teaches permaculture design and various gardening and land-care techniques.
Her work focuses on the consistent application of permaculture principles, especially water management and related landscape shaping, as well as soil care, composting, and intensive food production. She helps people create productive, sustainable, and nature-friendly systems in gardens of any size. At her farm in Sadská, she grows vegetables for her large family and flowers for sale.

Tomáš Uhnák, guest of the panel discussion What is Soil, How Food Self-Sufficient Are We, and How to Protect Soil

Annotation:
From the 1960s to the present, food self-sufficiency has been an important goal of state policy. In recent years, the concept has increasingly been discussed in connection with globalisation, supply chain crises, the pandemic, and geopolitical tensions, often linked to questions of resilience, food security, and climate change. Alongside this often reductionist state and political framing, alternative approaches and civic practices are also emerging, viewing food self-sufficiency in broader and more complex contexts. What do official data tell us about food self-sufficiency, and what are its important yet often overlooked socio-environmental aspects? These are the questions we will explore together.

Bio:
Tomáš Uhnák studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague and Food Policy (political economy of food systems) at City, University of London. He is a PhD candidate and researcher at the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, focusing on the sociology of agriculture, particularly alternative food networks, organic farming, and climate change. He is a member of the Association of Local Food Initiatives (AMPI), where he works on community-supported agriculture, urban agroecology, and food policy. He regularly contributes to academic, professional, and cultural journals. He collaborates with the educational programme Farmářská škola and manages an agroforestry project in the foothills of the Orlické Mountains, where he also cultivates traditional fruit tree varieties.

Jaroslav Záhora, guest of the panel discussion What is Soil, How Food Self-Sufficient Are We, and How to Protect Soil

Annotation:
Soil is not inert matter—on the contrary, it is full of life and processes that we often know little about. However, soil is not inexhaustible, and today we are facing serious challenges regarding its health. The task of contemporary agriculture is to revitalise compacted and depleted soils resulting from industrial farming, where fertility was addressed primarily through chemical means. Agricultural practice must focus on maintaining a diversity of soil pore sizes and the stability of soil aggregates. Larger soil pores are essential for gas exchange with the atmosphere, water infiltration, carbon storage, and enzymatic activity in the soil.

Bio:
Jaroslav Záhora teaches general and soil microbiology at Mendel University in Brno. Through his teaching, he aims to bring closer the life within soil—the world beneath our feet. He also teaches at the Prague-based Farmářská škola, covering subjects such as agricultural chemistry, soil science, and plant nutrition and fertilisation. In his teaching, he draws on his background in forestry and his previous work at the Brno branch of the Institute of Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences. He currently focuses on studying agricultural systems that utilise, maintain, and enhance the natural fertility of soils.

The programme is subject to change.

Translation assisted by ChatGPT.

Main partners

Co-organized by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute and the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland.

With financial support from

In cooperation with