The GEO Week is the yearly gathering organized by the Group on Earth Observations (GEO). The 115 member states and 153 participating organizations including ITC Faculty joined this edition in Cape Town, South Africa. During GEO Week, the Group on Earth Observations brings together countries and organizations that develop Earth Observation and monitoring systems, and implement these products in business, science, technology and policy-making all around the globe.
Listening to the Earth
The 19th GEO week in Cape Town was focused on “Earth talks”; Earth intelligence to address global challenges. For that reason, during this edition of the GEO Week, GEO issued the global ecosystems service and the heat atlas, which helped share their vision on how earth observation is essential for addressing global challenges. The key message for the 2023 GEO Week was to ensure political and financial commitment to make a change.
An enriching experience for ITC
The ITC Faculty had a dedicated space at the GEO Week exhibition in one of their booths. At this booth, the ITC presented the Geoversity project to the GEO community. Many visitors were attracted to the booth with very positive reactions towards Geoversity.
After the GEO Week, the ITC Faculty hosted an alumni gathering event. Former students and friends of the ITC Faculty came together to share stories, reconnect, and celebrate their shared experiences.
During this trip, ITC's Professor Andy Nelson was awarded the GEO Team Award 2023. This award recognizes accomplishments like creating a positive social impact, shaping policies, and promoting a diverse and inclusive GEO community.
He was given the award as a member of GEO’s flagship programme Group on Earth Observations Global Agricultural Monitoring Initiative (GEOGLAM). GEOGLAM aims to improve food security by sharing timely and useful details about agricultural conditions globally, enhancing access to agricultural information.
The ITC Faculty and GEO
The ITC Faculty formally joined GEO as a Participating Organization during the 2012 GEO-IX Plenary Session at Foz do Iguacu, Brazil. As a Participating Organization, and through the secondment of Joost Teuben to the GEO secretariat, the ITC has impacted GEO by setting the agenda for the capacity-building working group. Over the last years, our Faculty has also developed a Theory of Change framework to facilitate an impact strategy for several elements of GEO.
