MONALISA

The main goal of MONALISA is to identify and promote the expansion of innovative and tailored solutions to prevent and reverse land degradation and desertification (LDD) while showcasing their socio-economic and environmental effectiveness. MONALISA will put in place a transdisciplinary approach to integrate scientific and local knowledge, emerging from newly and established social learning spaces with multi-sector stakeholders and multi-disciplinary and interdisciplinary researchers. Work will be carried out in six Mediterranean case studies (CS), encompassing different levels of aridity across five countries (European: Italy, Spain and Greece; and non-European: Tunisia and Palestine). In the CS, the following solutions to prevent and restore LDD will be assessed and scaled-out: (i) innovative grazing systems (e.g., adaptive multi-paddock grazing systems); (ii) microbial-based solutions (e.g., biofertilizers and symbiotic Nfixing rhizobia); (iii) conservation agriculture practices (e.g., cover crops and reduced tillage); (iv) ecological restoration practices (e.g., harvesting and seeding of residual plant materials in protected grasslands, green infrastructures); (v) water harvesting techniques; (vi) treated wastewater reuse in agriculture. One of the main outputs of MONALISA will be a multi-modular practice-oriented Decision Support System, composed of several web-based applications, that will leverage innovative data and technologies, including from remote sensing and Artificial Intelligence. MONALISA will focus on new business opportunities with (and not only for) stakeholders, taking into account cost-benefit and market analysis and the promotion of public and private investments. The main goal will be the promotion and adoption of sustainable and environmentally-friendly solutions for LDD while contributing to support the economic growth of European and Mediterranean drylands.

ITI/CERTH plays a central role in the MONALISA project by advancing the integration of Earth Observation technologies, environmental data, and socio-economic information to support land degradation and desertification (LDD) assessment and monitoring. Leveraging its expertise in remote sensing, data analytics, and geospatial modelling, the ITI/CERTH team contributes to the development of robust and scalable methodologies for evaluating LDD risks across Europe and the Mediterranean. This includes the design of composite indicators, the processing of high-resolution satellite data, and the application of machine learning and deep learning for extracting essential environmental variables. ITI/CERTH also supports the interoperability of data and models by contributing to the creation of open, modular frameworks and digital infrastructures that enable the seamless integration and sharing of geospatial data with platforms like Copernicus and the European Union Soil Observatory (EUSO). Furthermore, the team contributes to the development of decision-support tools and interactive dashboards, and engages in dissemination and communication efforts, helping to build a European knowledge community on desertification. It engages in capacity-building initiatives and supports the translation of scientific outputs into actionable knowledge for policymakers, land managers, and local communities.

Consortium

Università degli Studi di Sassari, Italy
Università degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza, Italy
Panepistimio Kritis (University of Crete), Greece
Centro de Investigación Ecológica y Aplicaciones Forestales, Spain
Hellenic Society for the Protection of Nature, Greece
Ethniko Kentro Ereynas kai Technologikis Anaptyxis (CERTH), Greece
Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale, Italy
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Italy
Institut des Régions Arides, Tunisia
Commissariat Régional au Développement Agricole de Médenine, Tunisia (affiliated Entity)
Centre International de Hautes Études Agronomiques Méditerranéennes, France
Agricolus Agritech Spain SL, Spain
Fondazione MEDES, Italy
We World-GVC Organizzazione Non Lucrativa di Utilità Sociale, Italy
Aarhus Universitet, Denmark
Asociación Adroches para el Desarrollo Rural de la Comarca de Los Pedroches, Spain
Universitatea din București, Romania
InoSens DOO Novi Sad, Serbia
Cooperativa Produttori Arborea – Società Agricola, Italy
Ente Parco Nazionale Alta Murgia, Italy
Réseau pour la Recherche Internationale sur la Désertification, France
Universität Basel, Switzerland
Université de Genève, Switzerland