From Knowledge to Action: MONALISA at CRIC23 Showcasing Science-Based Land Restoration

CRIC23 Side Event – Panama City, 4 December 2025, 18:15–19:45, CARIBE 3

On the evening of 4 December 2025, the MONALISA project was presented at the 23rd session of the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC23) in Panama City through a dedicated side event organised together with DesertNet International and the Mission Soil sister project TERRASAFE.

This CRIC23 side event titled:

“Land Degradation and Desertification Risk Monitoring and Restoration Assessment: Towards Innovative Science-Based Approaches”

attracted more than twenty participants. This turnout reflected strong interest in science-based approaches to land degradation and desertification (LDD) risk monitoring and restoration.

Setting the Scene: MONALISA in the Spotlight

The session was opened by Giovanna Seddaiu, General Secretary of DesertNet International and Coordinator of MONALISA.

In her introduction, she outlined how MONALISA, funded under the Horizon Europe Mission Soil programme, is working to:

• develop and test innovative monitoring frameworks for LDD risk,
• link prevention and restoration solutions to robust assessment methods, and
• strengthen the science–policy interface in support of UNCCD objectives.

She emphasised that the central challenge is to move from knowledge to action: not only producing new indicators and maps, but ensuring that these tools are usable for policymakers, practitioners and local communities.

The Keynote Session brought together four presentations that, collectively, illustrated how LDD monitoring and restoration assessment are evolving in different contexts.

1. MONALISA: Gap analysis and contributions to desertification monitoring systems

Daniela Smiraglia (ISPRA, Italy, MONALISA WP3 leader) presented:

“Knowledge, experiences, and gap analysis for LDD monitoring and assessment. How MONALISA is contributing to desertification monitoring systems?”

She showed how MONALISA has:

• reviewed existing indicators, datasets and tools used for LDD monitoring in Mediterranean drylands,
• identified key gaps in data availability, continuity and comparability, and
• begun building harmonised but flexible frameworks that can be applied in both national reporting and local decision-making.

2. TERRASAFE: Restoration as a socio-ecological process

Lindsay Stringer (York University, UK, TERRASAFE) spoke on:
“Interrelations between socio-economic and biophysical factors for ecosystem restoration monitoring”

Her presentation, based on TERRASAFE, echoed many of MONALISA’s principles. She emphasised that restoration monitoring must consider both biophysical and socio-economic dimensions. Indicators of vegetation recovery, soil condition and erosion need to be complemented by:

• measures of livelihoods and equity,
• governance and institutional capacity, and
• community perceptions of risks and change.

Her key message was that monitoring systems that do not work for people on the ground are unlikely to be sustained over time.

3. Tracking progress in France

Jean-Luc Chotte (French Scientific Committee on Desertification) presented:
“Land degradation and desertification risks monitoring and restoration assessment progresses in France”

He offered insights into how France is reinforcing national capacity to:

• monitor land degradation and desertification risks,
• integrate remote sensing with national datasets and field observations, and
• evaluate the effectiveness of restoration measures over time.

Chotte highlighted the role of scientific committees and research networks in translating scientific advances into policy-relevant indicators and supporting UNCCD reporting.

Chotte also highlighted that innovation in implementing land degradation and desertification risk monitoring and restoration assessment depends on:

• Reliable and efficient technology for measuring ecosystem health (soil organic carbon, soil functions, etc.)
• Sharing scientific and non-academic knowledge
• Co-creating a desirable future at local (living labs), national (NBSP, CDN-NAPs, LDN), and international levels
• Long-term collaboration, comprehensive policies, and adequate funding

Dr. Barron Joseph Orr, Chief Scientist of the UNCCD, joined the session and underlined the importance of projects like MONALISA and TERRASAFE in the achievement of the UNCCD goals and supported the collaboration between UNCCD and both initiatives.

Panel Session: From Pilots to Policy

The Panel Session brought together experts from research institutions and national UNCCD processes to reflect on how to move from pilot experiences to broader implementation.

Panelists:

• Pier Paolo Roggero (UNISS, Italy, OUMED)
• Mongi Ben Zaied (IRA, Tunisia, MONALISA)
• Anna Luise (Italian Science and Technology Correspondent at UNCCD, ISPRA associate)

The panel discussed:

• lessons learned from Mediterranean and semi-arid pilot areas,
• how Mission Soil projects such as MONALISA and TERRASAFE can provide tested tools, indicators and case studies for national monitoring systems, and
• the conditions required to scale up innovative approaches beyond individual projects.
• the crucial role of the living lab approach, in which monitoring methods are tested alongside concrete prevention and restoration actions, ensuring that tools are grounded in real-world needs.

Among the barriers identified were limited technical capacity, uneven access to data and infrastructure, and the need for long-term funding for monitoring activities. At the same time, panellists highlighted the importance of simple, robust indicator sets that countries can adopt immediately and refine over time, rather than overly complex systems that are difficult to maintain.

Pier Paolo Roggero (PRIMA projects) key take-aways:

The Mediterranean is a global hotspot of climate and socio-environmental vulnerability requiring integrated, transboundary responses
Water scarcity, land degradation, food insecurity and socio-economic inequalities are coupled with low adaptive capacity and interact across borders and sectors, making nexus-based, Euro-Mediterranean cooperation essential to deliver resilient and adaptive pathways.

• Technological innovation delivers impact only when coupled with societal readiness, governance, and local co-design
  The five PRIMA project’s experiences showed that Living Labs, early stakeholder engagement, and the integration of social and biophysical sciences are critical to bridging the gap between scientific evidence and the adoption of innovations in the diverse Mediterranean contexts.
• The key challenge ahead is scaling and adoption, not further piloting of solutions
  In transitioning from Technology Readiness to Society Readiness Levels, future programming (PRIMA2) must invest in strengthening the science–policy–practice interfaces, empower the capacity of youth, women, and SMEs to achieve lasting, systemic resilience across the region.

Thanks to the contributions of keynote speakers, panelists, participants and the UNCCD Chief Scientist Barron Joseph Orr, the side event offered a concrete example of how bridging science, policy and practice can help move from knowledge to action in the fight against land degradation and desertification.