CNR headquarters in Bologna (Italy) hosted the Restoration Workshop organized in the framework of the Life Mapper project (https://www.life-mapper.eu/) last 11-12 December 2025.
Life Mapper project co-coordinated by Federica Foglini (CNR) and Simonetta Fraschetti (UNINA) organized this workshop inviting many EU projects dealing with marine ecosystems restoration along the EU Seas such as REDRESS, CLIMAREST (https://climarest.eu/), Life DREAM (https://www.life-dream.eu/), Life ECOREST (https://www.life-ecorest.eu/), Life Lophelia (https://www.gu.se/en/research/life-lophelia), PNRR MER (https://www.isprambiente.gov.it/en/projects/sea/pnrr-mer-marine-ecosystem-restoration?set_language=en) and NBFC Restoration Activities and Manual (https://www.nbfc.it/en/restoration).
Life Mapper strengthens marine spatial planning, enhances decision-making, and fills critical knowledge gaps to safeguard Europe’s marine biodiversity. The project integrates fragmented data into a digital manual and a dynamic Knowledge Platform, offering searchable content, datasets, and a GeoPortal for mapping services.
The workshop was rich in the presentations of the different solutions for marine restoration interventions in different habitats along the EU Seas. Among REDRESS partners, Cristina Gambi (UNIVPM) presented an overview of the project while Anthony Grehan (UGalway) provided inputs from the field work carried out in Task 2.1 on the restoration of cold-water corals reefs. Roberto Danovaro (UNIVPM) presented a contribution on role of ecological restoration for a blue strategy of the planet. Sahar Stevenson (SERE) introduced the Marine Restoration Working Group dedicated to the setting up of guidelines for marine restoration.
All speakers from the different projects paid special attention to present different approaches for maximizing the impact of results and to identify synergies to contribute to the national plans for the Nature Restoration Regulation that are expected by September 2026. The meeting was animated by an interesting and constructive discussion and knowledge exchange thanks to the large participation of scientists, environmental agencies, industrial stakeholders, members of the EU Commission.
