From December 2–13, 2024, COP16 brought together global leaders, policymakers, researchers, and practitioners in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to address the urgent challenges of land degradation and desertification. This event, hosted by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), aimed to foster innovative solutions and global collaboration to combat these pressing environmental issues.
MONALISA was presented at COP16 by its sister project, TERRASAFE, during a side event hosted by the Saudi Arabian Meteorological Office on December 6. Lindsay Stringer, Work Package 2 lead for TERRASAFE, delivered a talk, titled “A New Way to Tackle Desertification in Europe through Desertification Innovation Partnerships: Bringing Together Top Down with Bottom Up”, presenting the project. Her presentation also highlighted MONALISA‘s actor-oriented approach to stakeholder engagement. She showcased its objectives to develop digital innovations and to prevent and reverse land degradation. Her presentation also included MONALISA‘s creation of a Community of Knowledge. She explained how this network connects stakeholders and experts to share knowledge and expertise. Lindsay highlighted its role in fostering sustainable solutions for desertification challenges.
The event also included Daniela Smiraglia, a MONALISA consortium member from the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA), who participated as a panelist in a side event titled “MEAs Synergies for Strengthened Environmental Governance: Insights from the Bern III Conference.” Focused on fostering cooperation between the three Rio Conventions, the event explored ways to enhance the implementation of goals related to land degradation, climate change, and biodiversity. Daniela presented MONALISA, highlighting its collaboration with sister projects like TERRASAFE, NewLife4Drylands, and SALAM-MED as examples of integrated approaches. Her participation underscored MONALISA‘s role in promoting synergies between conventions and advancing collaborative solutions to combat desertification.
