Workshop: Klima~Taten~Drang, Salzburg

Die Universität für angewandte Kunst Wien (Science Visualization Lab, Digitale Kunst) und die Universität Salzburg (IFFB Geoinformatik – Z_GIS) laden ein zum gemeinsamen Workshop,

KLIMA~TATEN~DRANG | Wissenschaft + Kunst = Aktion

am, Donnerstag den 15. Oktober 2020, im virtuellen (und öffentlichen) Raum  

http://c-art.zgis.at/workshop-de/

um Antworten auf die brennende Frage zu finden:

Wie können Kunst & Wissenschaft – gemeinsam – zu einem stärkeren ‚Klimawandel-Bewusstsein‘ beitragen und wie kann nach konkreten Lösungen gesucht werden?

Dieser Workshop wird umrahmt von einer Kunstwerkstatt mit dem Aktionskünstler Hermann Josef Hack.

ZIEL & INTENTION

Die wissenschaftlichen Erkenntnisse über den Klimawandel und seine verheerenden Folgen für die Natur und Gesellschaft sind seit Jahrzehnten dokumentiert. Was fehlt, ist die konkrete Umsetzung des Wissens in aktives Handeln und das Anregen einer gelungenen Transformation.

Ziele unseres Workshops sind…

…Personen aus Wissenschaft und Kunst miteinander ins Gespräch zu bringen und zu vernetzen

…gemeinsam Ideen zu entwickeln, um möglichst konkrete Beiträge zur Steigerung des Bewusstseins zur ‚Klimakrise‘ zu leisten

…zu ganz konkretem Handeln aufzufordern

…im Rahmen des Workshops eine öffentliche Aktion gemeinsam durchzuführen

WER

Der Workshop richtet sich an Personen aus Kunst und Wissenschaft und Engagierte (Scientists4Future, Artists4Future, FridaysForFuture, Extinction Rebellion, etc.), welche an ein Zusammenwirken von Ratio und Emotion im Kontext des Klimawandels interessiert sind und die Erderwärmung nicht nur als wissenschaftliche, sondern vor allem als kulturelle Herausforderung sehen.

Weitere Informationen zum Workshop und zur Anmeldung unter http://c-art.zgis.at/workshop-de/.

KONTAKT

Universität Salzburg, IFFB Geoinformatik – Z_GIS, Dr. Stefan Kienberger, stefan.kienberger@sbg.ac.at

Universität für angewandte Kunst Wien, Science Visualization Lab, Digital Arts Department; Dr. Martina R. Fröschl; martina.froeschl@uni-ak.ac.at

INQUIMUS Workshop: a new generation of multi-hazard risk, vulnerability and resilience assessments

INQUIMUS, latin for “we say”, is a workshop series initiated by Z_GIS and EURAC, which was hosted this year ‘on tour’ in Venice, Italy at Ca’Fascori University . The workshop was titled “Methods and tools to assess multi-hazard risk, vulnerability and resilience” and focused on how quantitative and qualitative assessment methods could boost a transition toward a new generation of multi-hazard risk, vulnerability and resilience assessments. It included four State of the art (SOTA) talks followed by poster presentations and gave place for in-depth discussions among researchers from around the globe and various fields. Topics were addressed by scientists and practitioners working in different fields (geographers, physicists, statisticians, informatics, economists, environmental, social scientists etc.) to advance concepts and sharing of best practices in different application contexts (environmental management, disaster risk reduction, emergency planning and climate change adaptation).

Key outcomes of the workshop
Multi-risk is a reality, and there are merging risk and threats to infrastructure and humans. We need to understand the complexities and interlinkages between hazard exposure and vulnerability. Risk assessment is needed as there are growing cascading effects and dependencies. Several gaps in risk assessment were pointed out during the discussions: i.e there is no clear definition of ‘multi-risk’, Multi-risk is multi-disciplinary, - and there is a need for different stakeholders to create a framework to carry out risk assessments. Innovative aspects in multi risk as for instance cascade effect tools/ artificial intelligence and how IT can help in understanding multi-risk dynamics and validation were disscussed. With the use of technology, we can represent uncertainties in a better way and improve vulnerability dynamic mapping.

http://www.inquimus.org/

Contact: Stefan Kienberger

EO4Alps Summer school

On June 24th the UNIGIS EO4Alps summer school - jointly organized by Z_GIS and GEO - has started. The event is dedicated to the topic “Earth observation and geospatial information: supporting a sustainable use of alpine ecosystems and water resources”. It brings together international students and practitioners from 9 countries and is supported by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Copernicus Academy. The intense program deals with the key environmental challenges in alpine regions as well as the potential of remote sensing techniques to meet these needs. The combination of international key speakers with hands-on sessions and field trips offers the opportunity to discuss with experts and get first hand experiences. Next week the summer school participants will present their group works in form of posters at the GI_Forum Expo night on Wednesday July 4th.

Contact: Barbara Riedler, Regina Hatheier-Stampfl, Stefan Lang

'Klimatag 2018' @ University of Salzburg

The conference 'Aktuelle Klimaforschung in Österreich' has been kicked-off today at the University of Salzburg. The 19. Austrian Climate Day takes place at the University of Salzburg, Faculty of Natural Sciences, from 23 to 25 April 2018.

Link to the programme.

Stefan Kienberger and Bernhard Zagel are representing 'Z_GIS' at this event co-organized by the CCCA – Climate Research Network Austria, Universität Salzburg, Land Salzburg, Salzburg 2050, Bundesministerium für Nachhaltigkeit und Tourismus (BMNT), Alpenkonvention: Ständiges Sekretariat, Universität für Bodenkultur Wien (BOKU), Zentralanstalt für Meteorologie und Geo-dynamik, (ZAMG), Umweltbundesamt (UBA), Weatherpark.

'Lange Nacht der Geoinformatik' 2018

A successful Researchers' Night introduced the field of Geoinformatics to hundreds of visitors, including lots of kids. They joined the Department of Geoinformatics (Z_GIS) presentations and activities, for many a first contact with ‚Geoinformatics‘ at the iDEAS:lab on Friday 13, 2018 (https://zgis.at/lndf2018).

The evening started with a visit by the Salzburg governor Dr Wilfried Haslauer and councillor Martina Berthold, both impressed by the wide range of applied research topics on display. This event was organized jointly and with the support of Salzburg Research  and took place in Z_GIS' iDEAS:lab in the Science City Itzling, being operated in cooperation and with sponsorship from Bildungspreis Privatstiftung, eoVision, and wissen.stadt salzburg.

How to improve water management by using space technology

This issue was addressed by the 4th International Conference on the Use of Space Technology for Water Management, which recently took place in Islamabad, Pakistan. More than 100 experts from all over the world discussed cutting-edge tools and findings to better understand, describe and quantify water-related issues using space technology. The conference was organised by the the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, the National Space Agency of Pakistan SUPARCO on behalf of the Government of Pakistan, and the Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water.

The range of applications covered the entire water cycle - extending from precipitation estimation from satellite data to glacier mapping, run-off estimation, erosion and water quality assessment, evapotranspiration calculation and beyond.

In his keynote presentation within the session on case-studies, Lorenz Wendt (Z_GIS) gave insight into the lessons learned by Z_GIS from developing water-related information products and services and providing those to humanitarian actors within the EO4HumEn+ project.

The key to success in many water-related applications of space technology is the integration of remote sensing data with information collected in situ, by experts or measurement systems on the ground, which is both a technical and an organisational challenge. No the less, space technology bears a great potential to tackle the many water-related challenges the world is facing.

Contact: Lorenz Wendt

Remixed Speeddating with Z_GIS @ BeSt Salzburg

As one of seven experts, Z_GIS researcher Sebastian d’Oleire-Oltmanns participated in a bmvit (Austrian Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology) initiative at the BeSt Salzburg event. The annual fair addresses pupils on the edge of deciding what to do after high school. Students from the Christian-Doppler High school as well as from the Werkschulheim Felbertal participated in the event in order to learn from and exchange with experts from various disciplines.

Source:fti remixed

The field of UAS-based remote sensing was of high interest for the participating students and generated a broad range of questions and a lively discussion. The exchange provided a detailed view beneath the surface of Geoinformatics to the students.

Contact: Sebastian d’Oleire-Oltmanns

For more information and more pictures see:
FTI remixed blog and  pics 

Z_GIS Invited to ERASMUS+ Conference in Myanmar!

Z_GIS was invited to the Regional Conference on Cooperation in Higher Education organized by the European Commission's offices in Brussels and Myanmar on 29th and 30th November, 2017 in Yangon. The main aim of the conference was to foster cooperation among various Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Europe and the ASEAN region (especially from Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam) as well as motivate the ASEAN HEIs to apply for various types of projects within the ERASMUS+ framework. Altogether, the conference attracted about 150 participantsk.

(Conference participants)

The conference was adorned by high level delegates, i.e. Mr. Kristian Schmidt (Ambassador of the European Union to Myanmar), H.E. Prof. Dr. Myo Thein Gyi (Myanmar Union Minister for Education), Ms. Milvia van RIJ-BRIZZI (Head of Department - Erasmus+ & EU Aid Volunteers, European Commission, Brussels), a large number of Rectors, Vice Rectors and Professors from various HEIs in the region.

Dr. Shahnawaz represented Z_GIS in the conference and gave a presentation about an ongoing ERASMUS+ KA2 project 'GeoServices-4-Sustainability (GeoS4S)'. The organisers also asked him to lead a group of the participants from various HEIs aspiring to submit a project proposal. He explained to them various steps from designing an innovative project idea to developing a competitive project proposal and submitting complete documents. Later he was invited for a meeting at the Department of Geography, University of Yangon for exploring the opportunities of cooperation with Z_GIS.

The conference concluded with the demonstration of a lot of enthusiasm and motivation for enhancing cooperation among the HEIs in Europe and ASEAN.

GIS Day: Gaining insight into the world of Geoinformatics

About 100 pupils  and 40 teachers from a variety of high schools from Salzburg and Upper Austria  attended the 2017 GIS Day event at the Z_GIS iDEAS:lab to explore geospatial technologies and  applications. After an initial talk on "Location as interface – geomedia in the 21st century" by Robert Vogler a wide range of topics and tools was presented and tested by the participants: sensors and smart buildings, microsimulations, learning with geomedia and rightwing extremism and geomedia, to name just a few.

The attendees actively participated in the programme, such as a group of pupils who shared its experience with the GI Learner programme. Some teachers attended the event in the course of a teacher in-service training.

More information on GIS Day Salzburg
Contact: Robert Vogler

Weekend dedicated to EO for humanitarian action: Z_GIS and Spatial Services GmbH delivering information products for Rohingya crisis and presenting collaboration with MSF at political discourse

A high-level political discourse under the overall topic “Smart me, smart home, smart world” took place at the Evangelische Akademie in Tutzing on 13-15 Oct, where Stefan Lang (Z_GIS) and Edith Rogenhofer (MSF Austria) presented the fruitful and long-lasting collaboration between Z_GIS and Doctors Without Borders (Médicins sans Frontières, MSF).

© Louise Annaud/MSF

In their dual talk, insights were given on how satellite technology is being used by MSF for logistics support, aid and food delivery, vaccination campaigns, and more. 
Emphasis was placed on the fact, that relying on recent technology such as Earth observation satellite data and image analysis to support strategic decisions in humanitarian action, implies mutual trust building among partner institutions. Issues were discussed on data sharing, data security, reliability of products, and the resulting decisions process.

© Z_GIS/MSF

Simultaneously to the workshop attendance, Z_GIS supported by Spatial Services GmbH, delivered first hand information products for the current Rohingya crisis in Bangladesh over the weekend. The information was used to better plan aid measures by the epidemiologist team on the ground.

More information / Contact: Stefan Lang

Satellite Applications for the Alps - Search and Rescue Edition

This year´s conference on "Satellite Applications for the Alps: Search and Rescue Edition" will take place from October 11-12 in Brixen, Italy.

The confernce, entitled IMS "Meet.Mountain.People.Soul", focuses on nature meeting technology. It is dedicated to satellite applications for search and rescue, emergency response, civil protection and risk mapping in and around the Alps, asking: How can satellite communication and navigation enable more advanced emergency call systems? How can it enhance the coordination of teams? How can Earth Observation help to provide better geo-information and post natural disaster imaging?

Z_GIS is again actively involved in the organisation and implementation of this event, together with EURISY, IDM Südtirol, Cluster Satellite Navigation BGL – Salzburg und GI-PLUS e.V., to name just a few.

The two-day event is free.

Find all information on the event online online and take the chance to participate via online registration.


Contact Z_GIS: sebastian.doleire-oltmanns@sbg.ac.at

MAPATHON goes AGIT / GI-Forum

Z_GIS lädt gemeinsam mit Ärzte ohne Grenzen (MSF) und dem Österreichischen Roten Kreuz  zu einem Mapathon in Salzburg ein.

Mapathons sind eingebettet in das Missing Maps Projekt von MSF, dem Roten Kreuz und dem Humanitären Open Street Map Team (HOT OSM) und bieten engagierten Freiwilligen überall auf der Welt eine Plattform, humanitäre Hilfe mit online mapping in Krisenregionen zu unterstützen. Geografische Details, wie Dörfer, Straßen und Infrastruktur werden basierend auf Satellitenbildaufnahmen interpretiert und kartiert, und bieten somit für die Arbeit von Hilfsorganisationen eine wichtige Informationsgrundlage, damit diese im Krisenfall schneller und gezielter reagieren können. Bei diesem Mapathon, der zum ersten Mal im Rahmen der AGIT in Salzburg stattfindet, wird ein Gebiet bearbeitet, das aktuell von Naturkatastrophen, Krankheiten oder Konflikten betroffen ist und in dem sowohl MSF wie auch das Österreichische Rote Kreuz aktive Hilfe leisten.

Wer kann mitmachen?
Jede/r kann mitmachen, egal ob Anfänger/in oder erfahrene Mapper. Mitzubringen ist lediglich ein eigener Laptop (inkl. Maus).

Wann & wo findet der Mapathon statt?
Dienstag,  4. Juli 2017
17 bis 19 Uhr
im Rahmen der AGIT / GI-FORUM 

Achtung: für die Teilnahme am Mapathon muss keine Konferenzgebühr bezahlt werden! Es genügt eine Registrierung im AGIT Tagungsbüro.

Universität Salzburg, Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät
Dekanatssaal, 1.Stock
Hellbrunnerstrasse 34
5020 Salzburg

Kontakt
Lorenz Wendt
Barbara Riedler

"Global Migration": Z_GIS at the Estoril Conference

The prestigious Estoril Conference (May 29-31, Estoril Congress Centre, Cascais, Portugal), with its general ambition to “Change the World”, this year focused on the overall topic “Global Migration”. The Estoril Conferences initiative, which has become a dialogue cluster for leaders, thinkers and opinion leaders from around the world, aims at responding to issues related to globalisation.

In a side event to the track “Migration With(out) Boundaries”, which investigated migratory flows as multi-faceted challenges to states and policies, Stefan Lang presented his initiative to support humanitarian NGOs by satellite remote sensing products. He showcased the various information products dedicated to humanitarian assistance and discussed his experience from the long-term cooperation between Z_GIS and Doctors Without Borders (MSF) with the audience, including representatives from the YouthSummit. The talk opened various paths to engage with other organisations in the humanitarian and health sector, who are likewise in urgent need for updated figures on the population in need, as well as mapping products to make their operations more efficient and targeted.

Contact: Stefan Lang

High-tech day at the iDEAS:lab and the Science City Itzling

Friday, May 12 was high-tech day at the Science City Itzling in Salzburg.

In the morning, school classes were invited to the research and education institutes.

At the iDEAS:lab, pupils experienced geospatial technologies, showing: How can earth imagery support humanitarian action by analysing refugee camps? How are drone-based camera images used to construct 3D models? And how do user-centered routing applications work?

In an 'open lab' session in the afternoon, families, students and the public at large joined the researchers to see what they are working on and to check out by themselves.

Contact: Bernd Resch

Experience Geospatial Technologies at iDEAS:lab on May 12

Z_GIS' iDEAS:lab again opens its doors to the general public on May 12 from 3-8pm. Throughout the month of May (labelled "Wissensmonat Mai" by Salzburg City) education and research institutes in Salzburg offer various knowledge-related activities for children and adults.

Friday May 12, is high-tech day at Science City Itzling! We are looking forward to meeting you accompanied by friends and family in our iDEAS:lab ready to explore a range of Digital Earth technologies.

Visitors experience how geo-technologies support daily lives by:
• finding the safest way for bicycle rides
• preparing earth imagery for humanitarian action, etc.

The iDEAS:lab (“Integrated Digital Earth Applications and Science Lab”) serves as a multipurpose open geospatial technologies and media lab, connecting education, research, the geo-tech industry and the public.


When: Friday, May 12, 3-8 pm
Where: iDEAS:lab
Schillerstraße 30
Techno-Z Bauteil XV, ground floor
5020 Salzburg

Contact: Bernd Resch

Panorama:Uni: Stefan Lang on providing EO-based services for dynamic information needs in humanitarian action

About 100 visitors attended Prof. Stefan Lang´s talk on his work for aid organizations at the Panorama:Uni event in Salzburg on April 24.

Outlining the development within the last ten years, he looked back on the first contact between Z_GIS and  Doctors without Borders (MSF) in 2008. In 2010, Z_GIS started its cooperation with MSF, which has been mainly financed by the Karl Kahane Stiftung since 2012.
Z_GIS´ information products on population density and dynamics, water availability and environmental resources support MSF in organizing and maintaining camps for refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPS). Large numbers of new arrivals can mutate small villages into city-like settlements, raising challenges in terms of resources (water, medical health) and safety.

Within the EO4HumEn+ project, Z_GIS is currently closely cooperating with a wide range of NGOs and humanitarian actors including MSF, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the Austrian Red Cross, SOS Children’s Villages, and Groundwater Relief.

More information/video

Contact: Stefan Lang