For the past five years, a team of researchers from Cornell University (NY), U.S.D.A.’s Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory (ND), and China (Ningxia) have been working collaboratively on the development of “recipes” for jumpstarting the restoration of seriously degraded and desertified agricultural lands and former grasslands. This session will be used to present the successes and findings from this research and to hear from other researchers working on this critical issue. However, the 2nd goal of the session will be to plan and lay the groundwork for a coordinated network of demonstration test sites around the country/ world where the soil restoration recipes can be tested and modified, with active interaction and collaboration among all the site members.