Showcase Events continued

Farrah Naidoo (DE-Africa), Kenneth Mubea (DE-Africa), Crista Straub (United States Geological Survey - USGS), Sinesipho Ngamile (South African National Space Agency - SANSA), Lulu Makapela (National Earth Observations and Space Secretariat - NEOSS), Esther Makabe (GEOGLAM)

Diversity refers to the traits and characteristics that make people unique while inclusion refers to the behaviours and social norms that ensure people feel welcome. The difference between diversity and inclusion in the workplace is that diversity is the presence of people of different races, ethnicity, gender, etc. Inclusion is the practice of making sure that people feel ‘included’ in the organization, embraced, valued, and safe. So what’s important to achieve a diverse workplace? The ability to embrace different perspectives. For instance, you can hire more Africans or Asians but if the culture at your organization doesn’t embrace different perspectives, it will be hard to have diversity. Be it diversity or inclusion, both cannot thrive in a close-minded culture that doesn’t look past their own perspectives. Similarly, you can’t have diversity without inclusion. Both diversity vs inclusion goes hand in hand.

Paola Di Francesco (UN World Food Programme - WFP )

The Asset Impact Monitoring from Space (AIMS) at the World Food Programme (WFP) is a high-tech, data-driven, service that uses satellite imagery and landscape monitoring techniques to demonstrate and evaluate the impact of livelihood programmes. Launched in 2017, AIMS has experienced tremendous growth ever since, and it is now a full-fledged service that has so far benefited multiple countries from all the WFP Regional Bureaux. The service is run by the Climate and Earth Observation unit of the Research, Assessment and Monitoring (RAM-C) division together with the Livelihoods, Asset Creation and Resilience (PROR-L) unit of the Programme division, and its outcomes now represent one of the pillars of future evidence-based programming decisions supporting monitoring, advocacy and programming activities.

Imraan Saloojee (Research Institute for Innovation and Sustainability - RIIS), Zviko Mudimu (DE-Africa), Mansoor Leh (International Water Management Institute - IWMI)

Join us for a dynamic session where three organisations shed light on geospatial initiatives across the African continent. In this session, you’ll hear presentations from the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Digital Earth Africa (DE Africa) and the Research Institute for Innovation and Sustainability (RIIS). The presentations will be followed by a Q&A session for attendees to engage directly with the presenters. We invite you to participate in the conversation shaping Africa’s geospatial future! About the organisations: Digital Earth Africa (DE Africa): DE Africa leverages Earth Observation data to address Africa’s development challenges. Through partnerships and advanced technology, DE Africa provides critical insights for agricultural decision-making, water management, and disaster response. They empower African nations to drive sustainable development and resilience. International Water Management Institute (IWMI): IWMI is a global research organisation dedicated to sustainable water resource management. Their flood and drought analysis expertise contributes to improved agricultural productivity, food security, and African water governance. Research Institute for Innovation and Sustainability (RIIS): RIIS specialises in Earth Observation and geospatial analytics. They inspire innovation through the Africa EO Challenge, fostering entrepreneurship and advancing Africa’s geospatial capabilities. RIIS exemplifies impactful partnerships and cutting-edge technologies in Africa’s development.

Shunlin Liang (University of Hong Kong), Jiangcheng Shi (National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences), Yuyu Zhou (University of Hong Kong), Dongdong Wang (University of Maryland), Han Ma (University of Hong Kong), Eric Vermote, (NASA/GSFC), Tao He (Wuhan University)

The urgency in addressing the triple planetary crisis requires the collaboration of all actors in sensing the grounds, remote sensing, research infrastructures, smart sensors, and citizens. We will discuss the critical issues in converting original remote sensing observations into high-level products. We will discuss how to augment and complement research infrastructures and national agencies sensor networks with other networks of in-situ sensors developed by the private sector and deployed by companies and citizens. The Essential Variables framework is useful to thematically coordinate and integrate these datasets. First the workshop reviews the need for a common set of essential variables as a common methodology for making data types comparable and easy to aggregate in a data space. There will be two presentations. The first discuss how to derive remote sensing high-level products from original data with inversion methods, product validation and producer-user interactions. The second provides, examples of in-situ sensors and its current capabilities are presented such as the air quality networks, water quality, the current interoperability issues and the need for the inclusion of standards to exchange sensor data in the GEOSS platform using modern APIs. A round table on how in-situ and remote sensing complement each other considering standards-based interoperability will finalize the event.

Gerardo Herrera (European Commission DG Grow), Veronika Kopačková-Strnadová (Senior scientist at CGS and Copernicus programme consultant EUSPA), Abdul Wadood Moomen (University of Energy and Natural Resources), Irene Benito (Planet.)

EO data and technologies offer invaluable support for promoting sustainable mining practices and policies. By providing accurate and timely information about the environment and human activities, they can help ensure that mining activities are conducted with minimal environmental impact and long-term sustainability. This session aims to bring together policymakers and the EO community to discuss mining policies and explore the current state-of-the-art EO data and technologies that support important topics such as environmental monitoring, resource mapping, risk assessment, and sustainable land use planning. With the help of EO data, policymakers can make informed decisions related to mining. regulations and environmental protection while companies can optimize their resource use, identify and mitigate potential risks, preserve sensitive ecosystems, and protect important natural resources.

Mpho Sadiki (DE-Africa), Jiang Ming (Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences), Qinhuo Liu (Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences), Amadou Sall (Centre de Suivi Ecologique - CSE)

This session will highlight different Earth Observation tools and datasets applied at local, national, and continental scales with a focus on terrestrial ecosystems. The session will begin with applications and impact stories that support sustainable development goals, action on biodiversity, climate change, water resources and agriculture situation e.t.c. followed by presentations on global efforts. We will finish up with a presentation on the global ecosystem atlas and a discussion on the challenges and opportunities of integrating tools, methods, satellite image sources, across the globe, while also maintaining local, adaptable solutions.