MONALISA Synergies
Fostering Synergies and Building Bridges
At MONALISA, we strongly emphasise cultivating synergies and fostering cooperation with sister projects, as well as EU and non-EU initiatives that share our goals, objectives, and values. By aligning our efforts with like-minded projects, we amplify our collective impact, extending our reach and enhancing the effectiveness of our stakeholder engagement strategies.
This approach underscores our commitment to inclusivity, innovation, and collaboration. Through joint actions, knowledge sharing, and coordinated outreach, we empower stakeholders to actively participate in shaping sustainable solutions. By bridging diverse expertise and perspectives, MONALISA creates a vibrant ecosystem of partnerships that drives progress in tackling land degradation, desertification, and beyond.
Together, we are not just working on solutions—we are creating a legacy of cooperation and shared achievements that resonate globally.
TERRASAFE - MONALISA's Sister Project
TERRASAFE, a five-year project funded by the EU and UKRI, will empower local communities in southern Europe and North Africa to tackle desertification.
The primary goal of the project is to co-create, test and enable the adoption of innovations that both prevent desertification and/or restore degraded land. The project includes 5 pilot areas, each of which are highly vulnerable to desertification.
These pilot areas were each chosen to represent the full range of the main types of desertification alongside a variety of approaches to land use. The pilot areas include:
- Italy: Land abandonment and depopulation
- Spain: Water scarcity
- Romania: Vegetation decline
- Tunisia: Soil salinization
- Cyprus: Soil organic carbon decline
The key objectives of TERRASAFE are:
- Develop and implement a multi-actor approach to seek sustainable ways of preventing and combatting desertification.
- Produce and adopt an integrated desertification assessment framework
- Create and implement a harmonised framework to evaluate and demonstrate potential innovations that seek to prevent and combat desertification.
- Carry out policy analysis and produce policy recommendations that could help prevent and combat desertification at local, regional, national, European, and international levels.
- Co-develop and co-implement an integrated communication-dissemination-collaboration strategy to raise awareness about preventing and combatting desertification.
Related projects and initiatives
Cluster initiated by MONALISA
MONALISA has established a dedicated thematic collaboration framework under Task 5.3 (led by CIHEAM) to strengthen cooperation among EU-funded initiatives addressing land degradation and desertification. Through a series of structured exchanges, including initial coordination meetings and a follow-up in-person workshop, participating projects engaged in joint reflection on governance approaches, monitoring methodologies, data exchange practices, and restoration strategies. These interactions have created a coordinated platform for aligning priorities, identifying synergies, harmonising approaches, and fostering long-term cooperation across the Mediterranean region, while reinforcing knowledge transfer and collective impact among soil-focused initiatives.
The LivingSoiLL “Healthy Soil to Permanent Crops Living Labs”, is a Horizon Europe project that is funded by the European Commission within the framework of the EU Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’. The project aims to establish 5 Living Labs (LLs) in: Portugal, France, Spain, Italy, and Poland. These LLs will improve soil health and ecosystem services through co-creating, co-implementing, and co-testing (digital) solutions. These LLs will improve soil health and ecosystem services through co-creating, co-implementing and co-testing (digital) solutions.
The Key Objectives of LivingSoiLL include reducing erosion, improving soil structure, minimizing the impacts of the intensive use of fertilizers and pesticides, increasing water storage, enhancing soil biodiversity and boosting the overall soil resilience.
The Project will promote active precipitation in more than 2000 local actors in combating soil degradation through the co-creation and co-development of solutions for permanent crops.
Establishing, activating and empowering local ecosystems to restore soil values, roles and connectivity through science, technology and creative expression.
The SoilTribes project aims at fostering a deep-rooted connection between society and soil, paving the way towards inspiring “back to Earth” narratives and empowering diverse communities to engage in soil stewardship through a shared language, knowledge base, and collective action.
The project recognizes that healthy soils are fundamental to food security, climate resilience, and biodiversity, yet they are increasingly threatened by climate change, intensive agriculture, urbanization, and other human-driven pressures.
By building multi-actor communities, SoilTribes seeks to bridge scientific knowledge with art and cultural narratives, policy frameworks, and innovative practices to drive sustainable soil management and conservation.
AgroTech Hub Cluster
The AgroTech Hub Cluster is a collaboration between Horizon Europe innovation projects: NOSTRADAMUS Project, AgRimate, LandShift, Agrarian, EARTHONE, OpenAgri, Climate Farm Demo, TERRASAFE, ENFORCE, Nemesis, and MONALISA.
It was created with the goal of amplifying impact, exchanging knowledge, and building a more connected innovation ecosystem. This collaborative cluster will help the Projects drive greater visibility, create shared learning opportunities, and strengthen Europe’s transition toward sustainable, data-driven, climate-resilient agriculture.
EARTHONE’s mission is to provide a comprehensive understanding of the socio-economic, demographic, and physical drivers that influence GHG fluxes. The project adopts an innovative interdisciplinary approach, combining advanced data- driven technologies with on-the-ground data from vulnerable regions in southern and Mediterranean Europe.
Over the next four years, EARTHONE will work to develop multi-tiered solutions
that address land use, land-use change, and forestry challenges. By employing
regional pilots, the project will deliver evidence-based recommendations,
adaptable methodologies, and policy guidelines for a diverse group of
stakeholders, including landowners, environmental experts, and policymakers.
EARTHONE’s Pilots
Through strategically selected pilots across Croatia, Greece, Italy, North Macedonia, Slovenia, and Spain—each representing diverse land uses—the consortium will implement a risk-based methodology to tackle the challenges of global change. Soil, vegetation, and atmosphere sensors will be deployed across all pilot sites, transmitting real-time data to climate modelling partners, ensuring precise, data-driven insights to support this approach.
AGRARIAN’s mission is to strengthen the sustainability and resilience of modern agriculture by developing open, data-driven digital infrastructures that enable real-time decision-making. The project integrates satellite, airborne, and ground communication systems with edge computing, AI, and IoT technologies to support farmers, especially in rural and connectivity-limited environments.
Over its lifetime, AGRARIAN will deliver scalable digital solutions that improve resource efficiency, climate resilience, and farm productivity. Through an open innovation ecosystem and financial support to third parties, the project will enable SMEs, startups, and research organizations to develop and test new smart farming applications.
AGRARIAN’s Pilots
Through pilots covering livestock management, field crop monitoring, and viticulture, the project will demonstrate how AI-driven analytics and edge computing can transform agricultural practices, providing near real-time, data-driven insights to support sustainable and efficient farming decisions.
AGRIMATE’s mission is to transform pruning practices in high-value crops by integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI), Augmented Reality (AR), and robotics to improve productivity, sustainability, and worker well-being. The project focuses on supporting small-scale farmers by combining advanced digital technologies with traditional agricultural knowledge.
Over its lifetime, AGRIMATE will develop human-centred precision agriculture solutions, including AI-driven pruning decision support, AR-based training and guidance, and robotic and assistive technologies such as exoskeletons. These solutions aim to reduce labour strain, improve efficiency, and support socially sustainable rural development.
Climate Farm Demo’s mission is to accelerate the adoption of Climate Smart Farming practices across Europe by connecting farmers, advisors, and innovation actors in a large, multi-actor knowledge network. The project focuses on helping agricultural systems adapt to climate change while contributing to the transition toward a carbon-neutral agricultural sector.
Over its lifetime, Climate Farm Demo will support the implementation and demonstration of climate adaptation and mitigation solutions through a pan-European network of around 1,500 pilot demonstration farms, supported by dedicated advisors and harmonised monitoring tools. The project strengthens knowledge exchange, innovation uptake, and practical implementation of climate-smart solutions across the agricultural sector.
NOSTRADAMUS’s mission is to strengthen European food security and agricultural independence by developing a scalable digital ecosystem for real-time agricultural data collection, processing, and analysis. The project integrates Earth Observation, IoT, and advanced algorithms to deliver actionable, data-driven insights that improve sustainability, resource efficiency, and competitiveness across the agricultural sector.
Over its lifetime, NOSTRADAMUS will develop open-source digital applications and a centralised Data Cube ecosystem that aggregates agricultural data from multiple sources, enabling improved farm decision-making, policy evaluation, and climate-resilient agricultural practices across Europe.
ENFORCE’s mission is to strengthen environmental compliance across Europe by integrating citizen science with advanced digital technologies. The project focuses on bridging the gap between locally collected environmental data and regulatory enforcement needs, enabling collaboration between citizens, researchers, and public authorities.
Over its lifetime, ENFORCE will develop innovative tools, digital frameworks, and a pan-European collaboration hub to improve environmental monitoring, reporting, and policy enforcement. By combining geospatial intelligence, AI, and living-lab approaches, the project supports evidence-based environmental governance and sustainable practices aligned with EU environmental policies.
OPENAGRI’s mission is to democratise digital farming by developing cost-effective, energy-efficient open-source software and open-hardware Agricultural Digital Solutions (ADSs) that can operate reliably even in remote areas with weak connectivity. The project focuses on co-creating digital tools with farmers, advisors, and AgriTech providers to increase trust, reduce costs, and accelerate adoption of digital agriculture technologies.
Over its lifetime, OPENAGRI will build reusable open-source software services, digital infrastructures, and community co-creation frameworks that enable the development and deployment of interoperable Agricultural Digital Solutions. The project supports sustainability, competitiveness, and improved working conditions in agriculture through data-driven decision-making and open innovation ecosystems.
LANDSHIFT’s mission is to transform land-use planning and management in Europe by combining advanced data-driven technologies, Nature-Based Solutions, and community co-creation to support climate-resilient landscapes. The project focuses on balancing climate mitigation, biodiversity protection, food production, and regional development in line with the European Green Deal and the New European Bauhaus.
Over its lifetime, LANDSHIFT will develop innovative, data-driven frameworks and decision-support tools that integrate Earth Observation, AI, and advanced data infrastructures to support evidence-based land-use strategies and policy development across Europe. The project aims to enhance ecosystem functions, increase carbon sequestration, and reduce emissions from land use and agriculture.
AfroGrow’s mission is to enhance sustainable and climate-resilient agroforestry systems across Africa by strengthening the connection between science, practice, and policy through collaborative innovation and knowledge exchange. The project focuses on transforming agroforestry landscapes into multifunctional systems that simultaneously support food security, biodiversity conservation, climate change mitigation, and socio-economic development, in alignment with African Union priorities and global sustainability goals. AfroGrow will develop integrated, practice-oriented frameworks and decision-support tools through a network of Living Labs, enabling informed, evidence-based agroforestry management. By leveraging local knowledge, capacity building, and co-creation approaches, the project aims to empower stakeholders with actionable solutions that improve land productivity, enhance ecosystem resilience, and foster inclusive growth across diverse African contexts.
GEORGIA’s mission is to enhance the resilience of European agriculture to climate change by transforming water management and irrigation practices through innovative, sustainable, and data-driven solutions. The project focuses on addressing water scarcity, soil degradation, and inefficient irrigation systems by integrating advanced technologies, alternative water sources, and environmentally responsible resource use, in alignment with the European Green Deal and sustainable agriculture objectives. GEORGIA will develop innovative irrigation frameworks and decision-support tools that combine in-situ monitoring, drone-based assessments, and explainable AI to enable efficient water and nutrient management. Through large-scale pilots across diverse European regions, the project aims to support evidence-based farming practices, promote the reuse of wastewater and biowaste, improve soil health, and strengthen climate resilience.