The MONALISA project participated in the European Mission Soil Week 2025, held this year at Aarhus University in Aarhus, Denmark. This flagship annual gathering brought together Mission Soil Living Labs, research institutions, policymakers, farmers, local authorities, and civil society to advance the EU Mission “A Soil Deal for Europe”. The event focused on practical pathways for healthy soils, sustainable land management, and resilient agricultural landscapes across Europe.
The programme explored topics such as:
Scaling soil health practices and nature-based solutions,
Strengthening science-policy dialogue for land stewardship,
Improving soil monitoring through the Soil Monitoring Law,
Supporting farmers and land managers in climate transition,
Strengthening community-driven and multi-actor collaboration.
This year, MONALISA was represented by:
Giovanna Seddaiu (University of Sassari, UNISS) – Project Coordinator – “The EMSW 2025 was a nice opportunity to have insights into the progress and results of the Mission Soil-funded projects that started earlier than MONALISA in 2023. I had the opportunity to talk with representatives of these projects and create the potential conditions for further exchanges and common commitments for future collaborations, in particular in the domains of multi-dimensional soil-health assessment frameworks and of the development of educational tools for soil literacy and awareness raising.”
Francesca Assennato (ISPRA) – Lead of the MONALISA Community of Knowledge
Michalis Probonas (University of Crete – Natural History Museum of Crete, UoC-NHMC) – Case Study and Stakeholder Engagement Lead
Their participation focused on sharing insights from Mediterranean case studies on preventing and reversing land degradation and desertification, as well as implementing co-design and community-based approaches that integrate scientific knowledge with local land-use practices.
MONALISA’s Contribution
MONALISA contributes to the Mission Soil objectives through:
Demonstrating nature-based and community-rooted land restoration approaches,
Developing a multi-modular decision support system (DSS) for sustainable land management,
Creating a Community of Knowledge framework to support replication,
Working directly with farmers, graziers, land cooperatives, and local authorities across six Mediterranean case study regions.
By participating in the Mission Soil Week 2025, MONALISA continues to strengthen collaboration with other Mission Soil projects and contribute to a shared European effort to restore healthy soils and resilient landscapes.
More about the event on the EU Mission Soil Week 2025 webpage.
You can also watch the recording of the plenary sessions.
Reflections from Stakeholder Engagement Discussions
One discussion session focused on which stakeholders should be involved in advancing soil health transitions. Participants highlighted the value of broad and diverse collaboration networks. Beyond farmers and agronomists, many emphasized the importance of involving municipalities, farmer associations, insurers, banks, business model experts, landscape architects, citizen groups, philanthropic institutions, and youth representatives. Several contributors also noted that place-based participatory formats, such as roundtables and hands-on field activities, can strengthen trust, mutual understanding, and collaborative planning. The overall message pointed toward building soil literacy and cooperation across multiple sectors, rather than focusing on a single actor group.
Perspectives on Policies and Governance
Another session discussed policies and governance frameworks supporting soil restoration, including the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the emerging Soil Monitoring Law. Participants shared different perspectives on how financial incentives, market structures, and regulatory instruments could evolve to better support soil health practices. Key themes included: ensuring economic viability for farmers, planning transitions in ways that preserve food system resilience, and recognizing the diversity of regional contexts. There was also discussion on how monitoring systems, land-use planning, and stakeholder advisory services could help translate policy goals into practical implementation pathways. While viewpoints varied, the conversation remained centered on how to effectively support farmers and land managers during transition processes.
