Marine and coastal topics at the EuroGEO Workshop 2024

Published On: 21 November 2024Categories: News

In October 2024, national and European policymakers, representatives from European programmes like Copernicus and DestinE, Earth Observation-focused private sector leaders, researchers, youth, and GEO (Group on Earth Observations) representatives, gathered in Krakow, Poland, for the 2024 EuroGEO Workshop.

Operating alongside AfriGEO (the African Group on Earth Observations, AmeriGEO (the Americas Group on Earth Observations), and AOGEO (the Asia-Oceania Group on Earth Observations), EuroGEO is the European arm of GEO – a collaborative intergovernmental body dedicated to co-producing user-drive Earth Intelligence solutions to inform decisions and shape policies for a sustainable future.

The Workshop, which was jointly organised with the European Commission and supported by the Polish Space Agency (POLSA), was a crucial step in repositioning EuroGEO towards GEO’s Post-2025 Work Programme, which shifts from “Earth Observations” to “Earth Intelligence.” This shift moves beyond services to prioritising equity to bridge global information gaps. Central to EuroGEO’s repositioning is the “Coordinate, Combine, Cooperate” theme across national and European Earth Observation ecosystems, sectors, and domains.

Marine and coastal matters featured strongly across the three-day event.

The first day saw a session dedicated to the Marine Action Group, which is led by GEO Blue Planet’s European office, supported by the EU4OceanObs project and hosted by Mercator Ocean International. With the Marine Action Group still in its infancy, the session explored the potential future directions to ensure that the Group will deliver valuable contributions and avoid duplicating efforts elsewhere. Actions considered include extending the scope of the Marine Action Group to include a coastal component, engaging with EU-funded marine and coastal projects contributing to GEO, and embracing co-design strategies for stakeholder engagement in some selected EU-funded projects.

Other marine and coastal matters were discussed during the Land and Water Sustainability Synergy session. The panel-based discussion was moderated by Dr Franz Immler, head of the Environmental Observations Sector at the European Commission’s department for Research and Innovation. Alongside Dr Audrey Hasson, EU coordinator for GEO Blue Planet, Tushara Maturi, members services associate at GEO, and Dr Conrad Bielski, Chief Science Officer at EOXPLORE, spoke at building synergies between initiatives working on land-based topics, such as agriculture, and those with a marine focus. Discussions explored the interconnectedness between land and ocean, societal impacts on the coast, and how projects can deliver the data needed in a usable format for coastal communities to adapt to change and become more sustainable.

In another panel-based synergy session, Dr Hasson, who is also a physical oceanographer with Mercator Ocean International, represented Copernicus Marine. Joined by José Miguel Rubio Iglesias (Copernicus In Situ, European Environment Agency), Stijn Vermoote (Copernicus Atmosphere and Climate – CAMS and C3S, European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts), and Michele Melchiorri (Copernicus Emergency Management Service, European Commission Joint Research Centre), the panellists explored how EuroGEO could support Copernicus’s Marine and other programmes, and vice-versa. Discussions included EuroGEOs role in increasing awareness and uptake of open datasets for emergency services, as well as involvement in National Collaboration Programmes and Copernicus Thematic Hubs.

The marine environment also took centre stage in the main hall, with an exhibition of posters and TV screens showcasing European marine initiatives, including the Copernicus Marine Service and EU Digital Ocean Twin, and GEO Blue Planet’s Sargassum Information Hub.