On 30 October 2025, the MONALISA community met online for Café Talk #2, a lively session on how Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML) and Remote Sensing (RS) can accelerate action against land degradation and desertification.
We were honoured to host Neil Simms (CSIRO, Australia) and Gregory Giuliani (UNEP/GRID-Geneva & University of Geneva, Switzerland), who shared practical pathways for turning Earth Observation into decision-ready insight—from national reporting frameworks to Digital Earth infrastructures and long time-series analysis for land-change monitoring.
From the MONALISA Community of Knowledge #1 Open Call (June 2025), four young scientists presented their work and sparked an engaging discussion:
Shahzoda Alikhanova – first-ranked by the Scientific Committee
Marica De Lucia
Fatima-Ezzahrae Imam
De Marinis
All four were invited to present at the café; the Committee’s evaluation focused on maturity and scientific quality. As announced in the Call, thanks to the collaboration with DNI Academy, the first-ranked candidate may request limited financial support for registration at relevant events on land sustainability and desertification.
The session was moderated by Francesca Assennato (ISPRA, Italy) with rapporteur Marco Di Leginio (ISPRA, Italy), combining short talks, chat-based Q&A and a quick live poll to capture priorities for future cafés.
What’s next
Replay: Watch it HERE.
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