Less than two weeks after its own opening conference, the EU-funded ODYSSEA project will feature at the 11th European Group on Earth Observations (GEO) Workshop, taking place in Helsinki, 19-21 June.
ODYSSEA Coordinator Prof. Georgios Sylaios, of Greece’s Democritus University of Thrace, was invited to co-chair the conference’s session on Harmonisation of Ocean Observations and Information, and present the ODYSSEA project.
Prof. Sylaios will be asked to relate ODYSSEA to the work of GEO, Global Earth Observations System of Systems (GEOSS), European Global Ocean Observing System (EuroGOOS), European Ocean Observing System (EOOS), the GEO Blue Planet initiative. More generally, he will explain how ODYSSEA addresses sustainable development goals with a view to the upcoming decade and the aim of optimising the impact of ocean observations and reliable forecasts in the Mediterranean Sea and across Europe.
Prof. Sylaios will touch on anticipated challenges in providing information for the various marine user groups, application of best practices in data collection and sharing, interfacing with other initiatives and sectors, and approaches for including more partners – especially in North Africa and the Middle East – in the ODYSSEA network.
More information on the Helsinki workshop, titled “EuroGEOSS: Shaping the European contribution to GEOSS,” can be found here.
ODYSSEA is comprised of 28 partner organizations from 14 EU and non-EU countries across the Mediterranean. The consortium includes research institutes, universities, policy makers, nongovernmental organisations and SMEs.
ODYSSEA held its opening conference in the city of Kavala, Greece June 6–8, 2017.
