Greece | Citizens and Open Data for Sustainable Development
On Thursday, February 7th from 6pm to 9pm ( UTC+02 note — this is 4PM in UK), at the Athens Conservatoire, the GROW Observatory is organising a public event on “Citizens and Open Data for Sustainable Development”.
This event is now SOLD OUT but you can catch the livestream here (starting at 4PM UTC)
(Facebook event below)
This forum will address a number of important topics: What is Citizen Science? What are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals that the United Nations have set out to achieve by 2030? How do they affect the development agenda in Greece? How can smartphones, low-cost sensors, open data visualisation platforms and satellite systems provide more specific measurements and better predictions for critical situations such as extreme weather events like flooding and droughts? And how can we activate citizen communities in order to design and implement smarter policies?
The GROW Observatory is the one of four Citizen Observatories funded by the European Commission in the framework of the Horizon2020 research and innovation programme. In the context of the GROW Consortium Meeting taking place in Greece next week, with the participation of 18 partners, Athens becomes the springboard for a Europe-wide discussion, reconnecting citizens to science, and science to policy.
Distinguished speakers from Greece and Britain, including the Edinburgh Futures Institute, the University of Dundee, the Hellenic Platform for Development and Organization Earth present new strategies, tools and programmes during an evening of information, discussion and networking, focusing on active citizenship, open data and sustainable development.
This key public event addresses needs and concerns of local authorities, national and international organisations, research institutions and innovation companies, NGOs and civic networks as well as anyone interested in tackling the social transition to sustainability.
The event is organised by CulturePolis, the Greek consortium partner of the GROW Observatory, led by ethnobiologist and sustainable development consultant Pavlos Georgiadis. It is supported by the British Council and SciCo — Science Communication, as well as the British Permaculture Association and the Irish non-profit organisation Cultivate.
Presentations and open discussion will be held in Greek and English, with simultaneous interpretation from 6pm to 8pm, followed by a reception and networking opportunities between participants and with international guests. Due to limited availability of seats, early registration is strongly recommended to attend the event. Admission is free and you can book your seat here.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 690199.
The GROW Observatory
The GROW Observatory engages thousands of growers, researchers and citizens passionate about the land, and leads a Europe-wide effort for the protection and regeneration of soils and the lad.
In this framework, GROW is developing 9 GROW Places in different European countries, engaging communities to connect and act as citizen scientists for the implementation of three out of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals: Zero Hunger (Goal 2), Climate Action (Goal 13) and Life on Land (Goal 15).
Through the use of low-cost soil moisture sensors, citizens gather useful soil data which are being used by scientists for ground truthing satellite data and developing climate models. To date, GROW communities have placed 2,000 sensors in different regions of Europe, aiming to place 15,000 sensors during 2019. The GROW Place Greece community, located in Alexandroupolis, brings the project activities to Greece, offering unique training and networking opportunities to participating growers, scientists and active citizens.
This constitutes the largest citizen-led soil moisture survey ever conducted in Europe which is implemented in the framework of a pioneering project that connects thousands of citizens with science, aiming at the sustainable management and regeneration of our soils, the improvement of growing practices and the adaptation to climate change.
As the GROW Observatory enters its final year of implementation, the Public Event in Athens marks the launch of a creative public dialogue on smart decision-making and policy change at European level.
