This tailor-made training (TMT) project in Jordan was funded by the Netherlands OKP Knowledge Programme, and the proposal was written by Yolla al Asmar (Lecturer), Caroline Gevaert and Mariana Belgiu (both Assistant Professor), with the University of Jordan, School of Agriculture as the main counterpart.
The School of Agriculture, besides other organizations in Jordan, prioritizes the protection, production, and sustainable management of forest and agricultural areas. Sustainable practices such as evaluating, assessing, and monitoring these areas will help establish a renewable food production systems and enhance the sustainable water management in the country. Both forest and agricultural monitoring evaluate plant properties such as chlorophyll and water stress. The use of UAVs and satellite imagery can be used to scale up monitoring activities, collecting data more frequently and manageably.
In this TMT training, University of Twente, Faculty ITC, EOS department is collaborating with the School of Agriculture to help understand these tools in the context of Jordan. The project is divided mainly into three phases. The first phase starts with the initial training of two weeks in August 2019. The training had 23 participants from institutions such as the School of Agriculture (University of Jordan), National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC), Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Water and Irrigation, Royal Botanical Gardens, Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature, and Exporters and Producers Association for Fruit and Vegetables. During the training, we will define how the acquired knowledge can be applied in the participants’ organizations. The second phase includes the implementation and will be supported by Faculty ITC during the year, and the third phase includes presenting the results at a public symposium in Spring 2020.
