OBSERVE, BALKANGEONET and EGIDA FP7 projects organized 18-19 November, 2011 the Post GEO Workshop in Istanbul, Turkey. The workshop attracted 88 experts, stakeholders, local policy makers and academics that had the opportunity to get informed on the latest developments regarding International and European Earth Observation developments and participate in vivid debates on the future of EO in the Balkans.
Description of the event
Balkan countries do not have a coherent and continuous approach towards the challenge of implementing integrated Earth Observation (EO) applications in environmental monitoring and management. The defect in the implementation of EO applications and their use in the environmental decision making are manifested through the limited synergies among national and regional institutions, ineffective technological means and discontinuous record of participation to international organizations and committees. On the other hand, the increasing importance of a common approach towards effective environmental monitoring practices, for the benefit of the societal web of the broader Balkan region, calls for immediate action, setting as a starting point the built up of regional institutional capacity and spillage of technology transfer.
The Post-GEO Workshop had the following aims
- Inform audience on EO activities with focus on European institutions (aims, actions, near-term future plans).
- Exchange views on how the above relate to EO activities in Southeastern Europe.
- Inform speakers and leading EO institutions on needs regarding EO in Southeastern Europe.
- Build-up acquaintances, networks and co-operations, with focus on Capacity Building and more extensive use of EO in Southeastern Europe, incl. possible contributions of related EU projects in European activities.
The Post-GEO Workshop was held in Conference Center of Maçka Campus of Istanbul Technical University (in turkish – “ITU Maçka Sosyal Tesisleri”), located in the centre of Istanbul – Maçka (exact pronounciation – “machka”) district, just near the Taksım Area. The accommodation of participants will be organized in nearest hotels in Taksim Area.
You can download the event program here geo workshop agenda.pdf
Presentations and Workshop results
The three FP7 projects (OBSERVE, BGNet, EGIDA) should closely cooperate for the recognition of existing gaps as for Science and Technology roadmaps proposed by European and international initiatives, like INSPIRE and GEO GEOSS. EGIDA presented a Methodology as a possible starting point. In addition the initiatives should exploit and Brokering approach (developed in the context of the FP7 EuroGEOSS project) with existing networks and training activities/initiatives (GEO, ISPRS, IEEE, etc) and Consider also existing international standards and available technologies (e.g. ISO/OGC, INSPIRE, EuroGEOSS Broker, etc.).Finally, possibilities of seeking common funding opportunities for Horizon 2014-2020: Research/Innovation/Education on EO and space related were discussed.
Workshop results and conclusions will be presented in details in the deliverable of OBSERVE project D3.3. In addition all workshop presentations can be downloaded from our Knowledge Base Repository at www.observe-fp7.eu
Promoting use of Earth Observation Data for the social benefit of the Balkans
Objectives of the Competition
Participants from the Balkans are invited to analyse given air quality data sets and to report their findings to the organizers of the competition. The analysis results shall describe typical phenomena that are contained in the data such as pollution levels, their spatial relationships, temporal evolutions, etc.
Every participant is given access to a time series of air quality data that cover the entire Balkan region. Our aim is to acquaint the participants with data that shall be interpreted from different perspectives such as local and temporal phenomena, intensity variations, observed patterns, etc. The individual findings shall then be submitted to the organizers of the competition as a written report. A committee will assess the submissions and select a first prize winner and two runner-ups.
We expect to attract interest from academia (in particular, students) as well as from individuals being employed by institutions that want to learn more about the potential of Earth observation data for the Balkan area.
The prize winners will be given the opportunity to present their results during the final event of the OBSERVE project that will be organized October 2012 in Thessaloniki, Greece. Travel funding (air tickets, accommodation and registration fee, for OBSERVE’s final event in Thessaloniki) will be offered to the prize winners by the OBSERVE project.
Furthermore the prize winners’ contributions will be published to SEE-J-EOG (South-Eastern European Journal of Earth Observation and Geomatics).
Download the detailed guidelines for the OBSERVE competition and join us in Thessaloniki 2011. Detailed information regarding the competition can be downloaded from our website: www.observe-fp7.eu
Important Dates
Submission Deadline:30-04-2012
Join our Competition and present your results during the final event in Thessaloniki, Greece in October 2012 for free.