|
Greek GEO hosts sub-regional meeting
Greek GEO and the GEO Secretariat organized the GEO South-Eastern Europe and Eastern Mediterranean Symposium on Earth Observation Services for Monitoring the Environment and Protecting the General Public on 8-10 June in Athens. The event was attended by participants from Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Hungary, Lebanon, Moldova, Romania, Slovenia and Turkey, as well as by speakers from the European Environment Agency and the European Space Agency.
The meeting recognized that a number of existing GEO Tasks are particularly relevant to the priorities of the sub-region. They include the disasters-related Tasks, such as Task DI-09-01b on Seismographic Networks Improvement and Coordination, Task DI-09-03a on Tsunami Early Warning System of Systems, and Task DI-09-03b on Implementation of a Fire Warning System at Global Level.
In the societal benefit area of water resources, the sub-region could benefit from engagement in Task WA-06-02 on Droughts, Floods and Water Resource Management and Task WA-08-01 on Integrated Products for Water Resource Management and Research. Joining the GEO Coastal Zone Community of Practice or the Water Quality Working Group could also offer the participating countries access to new contacts, approaches and project opportunities.
The participants discussed the benefits of closer collaboration amongst their countries. The areas identified for such collaboration were coastal zone management, natural hazards (forest fires, earthquakes) and drought monitoring.
As a next step towards further engaging the countries in GEO and in sub-regional networking, the meeting agreed that the Greek GEO Office would prepare and circulate a questionnaire on “Earth Observation (EO) Capacities and Capabilities”. Participants will complete the questionnaires in close collaboration with their national research and academic communities. Meanwhile, the Greek GEO Office will explore the possibility of obtaining funding for supporting further collaboration.
The presentations and other information are being made available at www.greekgeo.noa.gr. |
