Connect locally with a Network of Passionate Individuals.
28 April 2026, 5.00pm AEST. Please check your time zone.
If you cannot attend the live webinar session, you can still register and receive the recording and presentations in an email after the event.
Local governments, regulators and practitioners across Europe, Australia and New Zealand are sharpening their focus on soil health – driven by rising expectations for consistent monitoring, clearer governance and stronger evidence to support land‑use and environmental decision‑making.
Join ALGA and Common Forum for a practical walkthrough of the European Union’s Soil Monitoring Law, outlining the policy framework, implementation approach and delivery roadmap, drawing on material published by the European Commission: view here.
Dru Marsh from EPA Victoria will provide a corresponding update on the current status of soil monitoring and regulatory implementation across Australia and New Zealand, highlighting areas of alignment, divergence and emerging challenges.
In this webinar, our speakers will explore:
This webinar is exclusive to local government professionals, consultants, regulators and practitioners involved in soil monitoring, contaminated land assessment, environmental regulation and land‑use planning.
A live question‑and‑answer session will follow the presentation, and the webinar will be recorded.
Webinar Moderator
Dietmar Müller-Grabherr has worked with the Environment Agency Austria (EAA) since 1989. National main responsibilities include supervising the national program and the working group “Risk assessment of contaminated sites” at the Austrian Standards Institute. Given his national function, he has been involved in science-policy dialogues concerning soil and groundwater-related EU policies for more than 20 years. Since October 2025, he has been Vice Chairperson of COMMON FORUM on Contaminated Land in Europe (www.commonforum.eu) and represents the European network of policy advisors and regulators in contaminated land management at the Soil Expert Group supporting the European Commission with regard to the implementation of the EU Soil Strategy for 2030.
Dru assisted in the policy development and drafting of Victoria’s new Environment Protection Act and its supporting regulations. During implementation, he was a key author on policy and guidance developed to support the contaminated land and groundwater duties and continues to provide advice on key contaminated land initiatives. He has represented EPA Victoria on several cross-jurisdictional committees and regulatory presentations at contaminated land conferences in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand on regulatory frameworks. Before joining EPA, he practised as a safety and environment lawyer and as a consultant, specialising in asbestos compliance. He is a Senior Adjunct Lecturer at the University of New South Wales, Canberra, and Honorary Senior Lecturer at the Australian National University. He served on the Board of ALGA between 2018 and 2022 and supports a range of ALGA specialist interest groups and networks, including the collaboration with the ICCL.
Esther Goidts is a soil scientist and a seconded policy officer at the European Commission, with a strong background in soil protection and contaminated sites policy. Before joining the Commission in 2026, she was a senior advisor within the Soil Protection Direction of the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment of Wallonia in Belgium, in charge of policy development and leading R&D on soil degradation across different land uses. Her expertise includes monitoring soil carbon and biological quality, developing soil health indicators, and assessing pollutant transfer, risks and remediation needs. She is deeply engaged in European policy discussions on soil monitoring, including when the Soil Monitoring Law was negotiated at the Council of the European Union level, and works to bridge scientific knowledge and regulatory implementation to achieve healthier soils across Europe.
Clara works at the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, where her work focuses on contaminated sites, sediment and soil health. With a background spanning research and consultancy, she brings a broad, multi‑perspective understanding of these challenges. Over the past year, she has also had a coordinating role at agency level regarding the work related to the EU Soil Monitoring Law.
FREE TO ALL
1.5 CPD Points
