Advancing the understanding and measurement of the societal benefits of Earth Observation [Nov/2019]
From 1 to 3 July 2019, ESA co-organised a workshop on “Advancing the understanding and measurement of the societal benefits of Earth Observation” and hosted it in ESRIN, its site located in Frascati (Italy).
The goal of this workshop was to advance valuation of the
benefits from Earth Observation (EO) through case studies and through
cross-fertilization with researchers, practitioners and managers from
different disciplines. It brought together around 60 economists,
engineers, scientists, policy makers and key personnel from space
agencies and international organisations to discuss the motivations, the
approaches and the challenges for valuing EO.
During a dense
three-day programme (1-3 July 2019), the participants shared ideas
about areas for improvement and elaborated concrete recommendations to
support the advancement of EO valuation practices.
The
working sessions, addressing separately different types of benefits
(i.e. socio-economic, socio- environmental, regulatory, on innovation
and entrepreneurship and on scientific research), stimulated the
participants to discuss the challenges intrinsic to the measurement of
the different impacts. The splinter sessions allowed concrete and
interactive discussions among small groups, whose conclusions were
brought together during a final session.
Day 1 – Setting the frame: About the motivation and the challenges of Valuing EO
Day 2 – Into the field: Examples of impact measurements through showcases from the sentinels benefits study and other programmes
Day 3 – The way ahead: Areas of improvement and recommendations for next steps. The workshop summary findings and the recommendations are documented in these proceedings.