GMES and Africa Regional Workshop (Southern Africa): Earth Observation bridging the gap between science and policy

From 5th to 7th of June 2023, CSIR and SASSCAL co-hosted in Luanda Angola their G&A Regional Workshop. The event was officially opened by the Minister of Higher Education Science Technology and Innovation Hon Prof Maria do Rosário Bragança

Political involvement in Space and space technology applications is becoming increasingly pronounced. The NewSpace conference held in Abidjan end of April was hosted by the Government of Cote d'Ivoire and was opened by Prof. Adama Diawara, Cote d’Ivoire’s Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research.

As reminded by SASSCAL, GMES and Africa is an instrument of the African Agenda 2063 and of African space policy and strategy, a driving force behind efforts to harness space technologies and applications, including Earth observation, for sustainable development and natural resources management.  

Overall, the utilization of Earth Observation data for sustainable development and climate resilience provides policy makers with accurate and timely information to monitor environmental changes, predict future scenarios and assess the effectiveness of interventions. It allows early warning systems for floods, droughts, degradation, and desertification. This allows decision makers to anticipate and respond to such challenges proactively.  

Through their online geoportals and other apps, the two G&A funded Projects, WeMAST for SASSCAL and MarCoSIO for CSIR respectively offer useful and near real time information about wetland management and marine and coastal areas management. 

More details about the G&A Regional Workshop for Southern Africa 

• 14 June 2023, CSIR puts best foot forward in Angola, https://marcosio.org/blog/blog_post/csir-puts-best-foot-forward-in-angola-gmes-africa-workshop/ 
• 9 June 2023, GMES and Africa seeks to strengthen synergy with policy makers on earth observation technologies to mitigate effects of climate change, https://sasscal.org/2023/06/09/gmes-and-africa-seeks-to-strengthen-synergy-with-policy-makers-on-earth-observation-technologies-to-mitigate-effects-of-climate-change/
• 12 May 2023, Media Release: GMES & Africa Southern Africa Regional Workshop to showcase new earth observations technology to mitigate the effects of Climate Change, https://sasscal.org/2023/05/12/media-release-gmes-africa-southern-africa-regional-workshop-to-showcase-new-earth-observations-technology-to-mitigate-the-effects-of-climate-change/

Other useful links

• The Agenda 2063, https://au.int/en/agenda2063/overview
• The African Outer Space Program, https://au.int/en/flagships/africa-outer-space-strategy
• The African Space Policy, https://au.int/sites/default/files/documents/37433-doc-african_space_policy_isbn_electronic_.pdf
• The African Space Strategy, https://au.int/sites/default/files/documents/37434-doc-au_space_strategy_isbn-electronic.pdf
• SASSCAL WeMAST Geoportal, http://gmes-geoportal.sasscal.org/
• CSIR MarCoSIO Geoportal, https://marcosio.org/