“The uptake of Copernicus is not a solitary endeavour:
it inexorably lies on collaborative joint efforts across sectors, disciplines and political orientations.”
The launch of “The Ever Growing Use of Copernicus across Europe’s Regions” at the European Parliament, organized by the European Commission, the European Space Agency and NEREUS, became an opportunity to showcase and celebrate the collective and collaborative dimension of the deployment of Copernicus at the local and regional level.
With over 140 participants, the event staged a discussion and networking occasion in the presence of several Members of the European Parliament, such as Ricardo Serrao Santos (host), Clare Moody, and Davor Škrlec. Regional applications by public users based in the Azores, Galway County, Western Macedonia, Estonia, Coimbra and Viseu Dao-Lafoes were shared in order to portray the broad range of policy domains covered by Copernicus.
The format of the interventions aimed at shedding the light over the co-design process behind the development of Earth observation services relying on Sentinel data: public users together with service providers explained how tailored solutions to global challenges were tweaked at the local level.
The hardcopy of the publication was made available as the backbone of the joint discussion. It will be distributed in future key events of the European Commission, the European Space Agency and NEREUS and is now available in digital version. The event was streamed online and covered via Twitter, engaging with the broader Copernicus user community around the globe via the hashtag #Copernicus4Regions.
As NEREUS Vice-President Plano concluded, “now we need to spread the work and make sure that the publication finds its way to regions, politicians, public administrations and all potential stakeholders beyond the consolidated Copernicus user community”.
The next phase includes the production of 5 promotional videos of user stories selected in the publication and representing relevant public policy domains. Moreover, working sessions on topics with high relevance for local and regional authorities are planned for 2019.
