What?
The CHORAL Foresight Workshop brings together experts from across the Mediterranean to assess the current state of knowledge on coralligenous assemblages—highly biodiverse, functionally crucial marine habitats whose distribution, structure, and ecological status remain only partially understood. It provides a collaborative forum to review existing research, compare approaches, and identify the most urgent scientific and conservation needs at the basin scale.
Why?
Coralligenous habitats deliver essential ecosystem services but remain threatened and understudied due to fragmented, regionally uneven data and limited long‑term monitoring. By uniting researchers, enhancing methodological coherence, and defining shared priorities, the workshop aims to strengthen coordinated Mediterranean‑wide research and support evidence‑based conservation and management.
About
Coralligenous assemblages are among the most biodiverse and functionally important marine habitats in the Mediterranean Sea, providing essential ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, nutrient cycling, fisheries support, and cultural value. Despite extensive research, knowledge of their distribution, structure, functioning, and conservation status remains fragmented, geographically biased, and temporally limited.
The CHORAL Foresight Workshop brings together leading experts working across disciplines, regions, and methodological approaches to assess the current state of knowledge on coralligenous assemblages, identify critical gaps, and define future research and conservation priorities at the basin scale.
Key Objectives
- Assess the current state of scientific knowledge on Mediterranean coralligenous assemblages
- Identify key gaps, biases, and research needs across regions and disciplines
- Strengthen and consolidate existing collaborative initiatives (e.g. CorMedNet)
- Promote the development of new shared tools and databases (e.g. trait databases, AI-based approaches)
- Identify future funding opportunities and joint research actions
Expected Outcomes
- A shared synthesis of current knowledge and research gaps on coralligenous assemblages
- A collaboratively developed outline for a peer-reviewed synthesis paper
- Strengthened transnational research networks across the Mediterranean
- Conceptual frameworks for new basin-scale databases and analytical tools
Expected Impact
The workshop will advance coordinated, basin-scale research on one of the Mediterranean’s most threatened habitats, supporting evidence-based conservation and management strategies. By fostering collaboration across institutions, disciplines, and regions—including early-career researchers and scientists from the Southern Mediterranean—the workshop will contribute to long-term capacity building and improved policy relevance.
Registration
Participation will be by invitation. Invitations will be sent in March 2026, with the final programme confirmed by the end of April 2026. Limited virtual participation options will be available to ensure broad engagement.