Tirana, Albania 26 September, 2016 – Institute for nature Conservation in Albania has successfully presented and promoted to the main Albanian stakeholders the new project GEO-CRADLE, coordinated by the National Observatory of Athens (NOA) and funded under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Programme.

The one-day meeting served as the national official kick-off of the project and in the meantime as a first Albanian National stakeholder’s workshop meeting.  It took place at the International Hotel in Tirana, Albania during one day event. The event was attended by 25 participants from different potential public institutions (the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Environment, National Agency for Nature Resources, National Agency of Protected Areas, National Agency of Territory Planning, National Authority for Food, Albanian Energy Corporation, the State Authority for Geospatial Information, Universities, etc).   

The meeting aimed at the presentation of this regional project coordinated by the National Observatory of Athens (NOA), and at the establishment of an Albanian national network of key stakeholders that have in their practice the use of EO data and application models for Earth observation and monitoring especially highly estimated in the field of the Climate Change, Renewable Energy, Row materials and Food Security.

INCA staff has presented to the audience the milestones of the GEO-CRADLE project and the advantages it will bring for the Albanian stakeholders network in professional benefit terms. They highlighted that this Albanian network will be part of the regional network and will be focused on using and exchange of data and experience in the areas of climate change, access to raw materials, energy and food security. It is stressed that the GEO-CRADLE will enable the actors involved to identify capacity needs and to be engaged in regional and wider cooperation in the implementation of GEOSS and COPERNICUS models.

The participants during the workshop have worked in groups assisting by INCA staff to better understand and fulfill the online survey and the questionnaires prepared before by the GEO-CRADLE project for the evaluation of the existing EO capacities (space/air-borne/in-situ monitoring networks, modeling and data exploitation skills, and past project experience).

All representatives of different institutions participants in this event appreciated the GEO-CRADLE project as a very significant in terms of Earth observation, but they considered it as very ambitious for the Albanian situation. The representatives of the Albanian institutions expressed their concern about the recent development in Albania, considering the country in a baseline stage. They expressed the willing to collaborate in providing existing data, skills, gaps and complementarities, necessary for the development of synergies in relation to national priorities.

AGENDA