Thursday, July 26, 2012

Impressions from the MS.MONINA Summer School 2012




The second MS.MONINA Summer School organized by the University of Málaga and the Centrefor Geoinformatics took place from 9th to 14th of July 2012 in Málaga (Spain). The event was dedicated to the topic “EO-based biodiversity monitoring: From concepts to products” and brought together researchers and practitioners from 11 European countries. Asking one the participants about her impressions, she gave the following statement: “The Summer School was a very successful platform for interactive learning and exchange of experiences in remote sensing, GIS and nature protection in Europe with a focus on research activities within the MS.MONINA project”. 

It was an intense programme dealing with the European concept of biodiversity at the science-policy interface, the Habitats Directive and its monitoring and reporting requirements as well as the potential of remote sensing techniques to fulfill these. As indicated by the event title, there was a strong focus on ways to communicate with potential users of EO-based products, their requirements and the design of these products. 

A field trip to the Sierra Nevada National Park offered the opportunity to discuss with local experts about the potential of remote sensing techniques to monitor sensitive high-mountain habitats. The importance of the service provider-user relationship has also been emphasized by another participant: “I think this Summer School will enable us to get closer to our user community and thus produce information that can be more efficiently used in everyday nature conservation and monitoring”.

No comments: