21 October 2025 | CIHEAM Bari (Valenzano, Italy) & online
The day opened with a vibrant hybrid Clustering Workshop that brought MONALISA together with sister EU projects to align efforts on land restoration and soil health. Participants were warmly welcomed by Biagio Di Terlizzi, Director of CIHEAM Bari, and guided throughout the day by facilitators Giovanna Dragonetti, Roula Khadra (CIHEAM Bari), Daniela Smiraglia (ISPRA), and Cristina Tarantino (CNR). Colleagues from SALAM-MED, InBestSoil, BIOServicES, LivingSoil, EARTHONE, SoilWise, EcoFuture, iCOSHELLs, TUdi, SoilTribes and other initiatives working under the EU Soil Mission joined to exchange experiences and explore practical synergies.
The workshop framed cooperation for sustainable land restoration around three themes.
Governance & Monitoring focused on the decision-making models, policy relevance and uptake, and the role of citizen science in robust monitoring. Participants discussed soil-health indicators in use across projects and the possibilities of creating a transversal core set of indicators. The conversation underscored the importance of connecting scientific tools with community engagement and policy frameworks so that restoration efforts are effective, inclusive, and scalable.
Data & Knowledge Exchange discussion focused on the aspects on how to make project outputs easier to find, understand, and reuse. Partners are committed to improving interoperability and accessibility, respecting ethical and inclusive data-sharing practices. The discussion highlighted how consistent documentation, clear licensing, and user-friendly access can accelerate uptake by farmers, advisors, public authorities, and researchers.
The afternoon’s Strategic Alignment consolidated insights from both themes and identified common ground for collaboration. Participants compared communication approaches for farmer-facing materials and policy briefs and discussed the possibilities and pathways to amplify impact across events and channels.
A sincere thank-you to all who contributed insights, examples, and constructive ideas, on site at CIHEAM Bari and online. The energy and openness to collaborate made it clear that we are stronger together under the Soil Mission, and that consistent methods, shared data practices, and coordinated outreach will speed up real-world restoration where it matters most.
Access more photos from the event via CIHEAM Bari photo gallery on Flickr.
