MONALISA in Alta Murgia: Farmers Join the Co-Design Process for Sustainable Land Management
On July 8, 2025, the MONALISA project took an important step toward participatory land restoration with its first co-design meeting in the Alta Murgia region, hosted at the Alta Murgia National Park headquarters in Gravina in Puglia, Italy.
Organized by researchers from CNR in collaboration with park expert Fabio Modesti, the event aimed to introduce MONALISA to the local community and engage farmers directly in the development of sustainable solutions to combat land degradation and desertification (LDD).
This meeting marked the beginning of a broader co-design process that MONALISA is implementing in its case study areas. Nineteen participants, including local land management practitioners and academic representatives, took part in a series of discussions and feedback sessions focused on understanding:
- Local perceptions of land degradation problems in the Alta Murgia landscape
- Existing and traditional land-use practices
- Willingness of farmers to take part in on-farm experimentation and co-design of restoration solutions
The event emphasized dialogue and mutual learning as key principles. Farmers shared valuable insights about the challenges they face and expressed interest in participating further in the project’s activities. This lays a strong foundation for MONALISA’s multi-actor approach, which places stakeholders at the heart of solution development.
This co-design meeting is the first of several participatory actions in MONALISA’s pilot areas. The insights gathered will inform future stages of the project, including the testing of sustainable land management practices tailored to local environmental and socio-economic conditions.
To support outreach and awareness, informational brochures about MONALISA were distributed during the event. These materials helped introduce the project’s objectives and invite continued collaboration from the local farming community.
The co-design process in Alta Murgia will continue with follow-up workshops and field-based activities. These will ensure that restoration strategies are both ecologically effective and socially accepted, creating the basis for long-term sustainability.
