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GEO-CRADLE NEWSLETTER
ISSUE #3, October 2016
EVENTS
OUTREACH
GE0-CRADLE @
GEO/COPERNICUS
OUTCOMES
CALENDAR
!Highlights!
PDF Version
 
GEO-CRADLE Portal: Your window on EO activities in the Middle East, North Africa and Balkan regions!
 
GEO-CRADLE launched on 12th October its brand new portal, offering a wide range of information on EO-related activities in Middle East, North Africa and the Balkans. The portal aims to become the go-to destination for all stakeholders interested in staying up-to-date with EO-related regional news and events. Inspired by the strategic vision of GEO, the portal will also provide a unique platform to engage stakeholders in the region and beyond, advocate the benefits of coordinated EO-activities for society and the economy, and deliver the necessary tools for the sustainable uptake of Copernicus and GEOSS.
We invite EO service providers, research institutes, governmental agencies and end-users, to closely follow the information presented on the portal, explore the opportunities offered by the
Regional Data Hub and register on the networking platform. The portal will be enriched and updated with additional functionalities and information as the GEO-CRADLE project progresses, making it your window to EO-related activities in the region!

Visit the GEO-CRADLE portal at:
http://geocradle.eu/
 
Meet GEO-CRADLE partners at the GEO-XIII Plenary & Exhibition 2016
07-10/11/2016, St. Petersburg, Russia
GEO-CRADLE will participate in the GEO-XIII Plenary and Exhibition 2016, and invites you to attend this top event and meet with GEO-CRADLE partners there, in order to explore new opportunities for regional networking and contributions towards the implementation of GEO's and Copernicus' objectives.
You can find us at the Exhibition Area from Tuesday 8th to Thursday 10th of November, and you can also learn more about GEO-CRADLE by participating in the GEO Plenary Side Events on Monday 7th of November. The Project Coordinator, Dr. Haris Kontoes, will give a talk in the sessions: Towards open Earth Observation data policies & 1st Data Providers Workshop.

 
GEO-CRADLE Project Meeting to refine and launch the pilot activities
16-17/11/2016, Limassol, Cyprus
GEO-CRADLE has proactively engaged with the relevant regional stakeholders (data/service providers, decision makers, and SMEs) in a series of consultation activities including surveys, interviews, workshops and bilateral exchanges, in order to identify the regional needs. After an in-depth analysis of their feedback which was presented in the GEO-CRADLE meeting in Novisad, Serbia, GEO-CRADLE is now going to make a concrete first step through 4 pilot/feasibility studies towards addressing the identified gaps and needs in relation to common regional challenges, by creating the appropriate ecosystem, building the necessary toolbox, and providing a first tangible outcome.
The four GEO-CRADLE feasibility studies are: 1) Adaptation to Climate Change, 2) Improved Food Security – Water Extremes Management, 3) Access to Raw Materials, 4) Access to Energy. The GEO-CRADLE meeting in Limassol, kindly hosted by the partner Cyprus University of Technology, will refine the scope of the pilots and conclude with their launch.
 
GEO-CRADLE Partner CEDARE co-organizes Symposium on Climate Change Adaptation in the Arab Region
28/02-02/03/2017, Cairo, Egypt
GEO-CRADLE partner CEDARE together with Hamburg University of Applied Science and the Ministry of Environment in Egypt are organizing a “Symposium on Climate Change Adaptation in the Arab Region” on 28/02-02/03/2017 in Cairo, Egypt. The Symposium will be a truly interdisciplinary event, mobilizing scholars, social movements, practitioners and members of governmental agencies undertaking research and/or executing climate change projects in Arab countries.
The Symposium will focus on managing climate change in the Arab region, meaning that it will serve the purpose of showcasing experiences from research, field projects and best practice to foster climate change adaptation among countries in the region, which may be useful or implemented elsewhere.
Registration is open here.

For more info, you can visit the website of the Symposium here.
GEO-CRADLE @:
GEO-CRADLE Coordinator NOA and Partner i-BEC at the Copernicus Information and Training Session
07/10/2016, Athens, Greece
GEO-CRADLE Coordinator NOA and Partner I-BEC participated in the "Copernicus Information and Training Session" which was held on 7 October 2016 in Athens at the premises of the National Hellenic Research Foundation.
This Copernicus Information and Training Session was the first of a series of national Copernicus events which the European Commission will be organising at the request of, and in collaboration with Member States.
More information about the session and relevant material is available here.

 
GEO-CRADLE Coordinator NOA at the ConnectinGEO Workshop on Gap Analysis and Prioritization
10-11/10/2016, Laxenburg, Austria
GEO-CRADLE Coordinator NOA participated in the ConnectinGEO Workshop on Gap Analysis and Prioritization and presented the Gap Analysis process in the GEO-CRADLE project, in the 4th Session entitled "Making Gap Analysis Results Usable".
The Workshop discussed the outcomes of the gap analysis and prioritization performed in the ConnectinGEO project. This gap analysis was guided by the information and knowledge needs resulting from humanity’s “Road to Dignity” detailed in the Agenda 2030 and specified in the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agreed upon by the United Nations. The workshop provided a forum to review the methodology for gap analysis and prioritization, discussed the relevant gaps and priorities in the European Earth observation networks and developed a strategy to address those gaps that have a high priority assigned.

 
GEO-CRADLE Partner EGS at the Copernicus for Raw Materials Workshop
05/09/2016, Brussels, Belgium
GEO-CRADLE Partner EGS participated in the Copernicus for Raw Materials Workshop with a presentation about Earth Observation for Raw Materials. In the framework of its pilot activity on access to raw materials, GEO-CRADLE aims to define the roadmap that facilitates the access and exploitation of mineral resources in extensively under-explored areas, thus creating well sustained businesses, in compliance with widely recognised environmental protection principles.
The objective of this workshop was to propose effective measures to support Copernicus uptake from private intermediate and end users. Specifically, the workshop focused on the area of raw materials and extractive industries, as well as identifying potential research and development needs, and highlighted potential Copernicus contributions to the extractive industries domain while focusing on new and emerging needs of the sector.
GEO-CRADLE Coordinator NOA at the "EU Research and Innovation in Support of the Earth Observation Market" Workshop
21-22/09/2016, Brussels, Belgium
GEO-CRADLE Coordinator NOA participated in the "EU Research and Innovation in Support of the Earth Observation Market" Workshop by presenting The role of the Greek Sentinel Collaborative Ground Segment for the Copernicus & GEO data commercial uptake in the region of Balkans, Middle East & North Africa. This presentation was part of the 4th plenary session entitled "National and regional views on commercial alliances towards GEO and Copernicus both regarding the service and research component of the initiatives".
The overall objective of this workshop will be to explore Research and Innovation actions needed for the development of a dynamic EO market in Europe in relation to the Copernicus and GEO initiatives. The workshop was organised by the Directorate Climate Action and Resource Efficiency of European Commission's DG Research and Innovation.
 
GEO-CRADLE Coordinator NOA at the MEDCLIVAR 2016 Conference
26-30/09/2016, Athens, Greece
The GEO-CRADLE Project Coordinator NOA participated in the MEDCLIVAR 2016 Conference for improved adaptation to climate change. The Project Coordinator, Dr Haris Kontoes, was invited speaker on 27/09, and presented "The GEO-CRADLE Project: Integration of Earth Observation Activities in the Regions of North Africa, Middle East and Balkans, for improved adaptation to climate change". The related abstract is available here.
This presentation was part of the 2nd Session entitled: "Earth Observations and Climate Services in the Mediterranean region. Promoting integrated observational platforms and synergies with earth system models towards the development of Climate Services."
OUTCOMES:
! GEO-CRADLE & the 2nd EuroGeoSurveys Networking Meeting !
17-23/10/2016, Rabat, Morocco & Timimoun, Algeria
 
In the framework of the GEO-CRADLE Project, consecutive events in Morocco (Rabat) and Algeria (Timimoun, South Sahara) were jointly organized by the hosting partner EuroGeoSurveys (EGS), and the project coordinator National Observatory of Athens (NOA) between 17th and 23rd October 2016.
 
In Rabat the events were kindly hosted at the
Ministry of Energy, Mines, Water and Environment of the Kingdom of Morocco. The 2nd EGS Networking event “Aimed at in-situ network operators and Geological Surveys – especially in Middle East and North Africa” took place on October 17th, and a Stakeholders’ workshop “Using geo-information services in the Middle East and North Africa” was organized on October 18th. The events in Morocco further increased the stakeholders’ engagement in the region, bringing together high-level Ministerial officers, Geological Surveys representatives, coordinators of regional initiatives and networks, relevant professors, scientists and researchers, local and regional in-situ network operators and EO-related companies.
In Timimoun the events were organised in the framework of the Algerian 5th National Stratigraphy Workshop by the Geological Surveys of Algeria. The meeting in Algeria was attended by over 200 participants representing the whole Algerian geoscientific community, mainly from universities and governmental institutions at the highest levels. In Algeria several sectors are not fully open to the free market, and the state-enterprises manage most of the country’s resources, including raw materials. The heads and managers of all the main Algerian state-enterprises attended the meeting in Timimoun. Also Tunisia was represented at Director General level.
 
With a series of interesting presentations, interventions and discussions, the events provided project partners and stakeholders with valuable knowledge on the identified regional EO capacities and skills, as well as the challenges in the domain of access to raw materials. They also provided opportunities to exchange information, register the needs, and share best practices in using EO services to facilitate access to raw materials, thus helping to identify a roadmap with solutions to enhance innovation in the geo-information sector. Following the registration of the stakeholders’ needs in the region, the GEO-CRADLE partners presented the opportunities which the European Union provides in terms of networking, capacity building, technology transfer and funding in general.
 
Furthermore, the events in Morocco and Algeria contributed to the refinement of the scope of the relevant GEO-CRADLE pilot activity that will focus on the access to raw materials in the regions of Balkans, Middle East and North Africa, to the extent that this can be supported by
GEO, GEOSS, and Copernicus. The meetings were in line with the objectives of PanAfGeo, Copernicus (GMES and Africa), and the new GEO Energy and Minerals Societal Benefit Area.

 
OUTREACH:
* GEO-CRADLE in Bulgarian Magazine GEOMEDIA [BG]  Read the article here!
 
Islam Abou El-Magd, Elham Ali and Hesham El-Askary, Determination of spatial variability of Aerosol over the Nile Delta, Egypt using AERONET, MISR and In-situ data, 11th International Conference of the African Association of Remote Sensing of the Environment, Kampala, Uganda, October 24-28, 2016.
Panagiotis Kosmopoulos, Stelios Kazadzis, Michael Taylor, Hesham Mohamed El-Askary, Panagiotis Raptis, Iphigenia Keramitsoglou and Christos Kiranoudis, “Estimation of the solar energy potential in Egypt by developing high resolution solar Atlas and nowcasting service in real time”, American Geophysical Union, SanFrancisco, December 12-16, 2016.
Ashraf Farahat, Hesham Mohamed El-Askary, Olga V. Kalashnikova and Michael J Garay, “Statistical Inter-comparison Analysis of MODIS, MISR, and AERONET Over the Middle East and North Africa”, American Geophysical Union, SanFrancisco, December 12-16, 2016.
Become a GEO-CRADLE Stakeholder and join an evolving Regional Network by filling in the GEO-CRADLE Survey.
                           
Copyright © 2016 GEO-CRADLE, All rights reserved.

The GEO-CRADLE project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 (H2020) research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 690133.

Project Duration: 01/02/2016 - 31/07/2018 (30 Months)

Project Homepage: www.geocradle.eu



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