SWF Contributes to GEO Week 2018

Tuesday, November 6, 2018

In its role as a participating organization of the Group on Earth Observations (GEO), SWF had an active presence in the GEO-XIV Plenary and side events held in Kyoto, Japan from October 29 - November 1. Participating in the week long agenda of side events, planning meetings, plenary sessions, Director of Space Applications Programs, Krystal Wilson, engaged with representatives from the international GEO community, including new members and participating organizations, data providers and users. For more detailed information about GEO’s current initiatives, please see their 2017-2018 Highlight report. 

On October 29, 2018, The Earth Observations and Citizen Science Community Activity, of which SWF is an active member, held a side event entitled “The Role of Citizen Observatories and Crowdsourcing Community in GEOSS.” Building on last year’s successful side event “The role of Citizen Observatories and Crowdsourcing Community in GEOSS,” this meeting delved more deeply into how the GEO community can benefit from incorporating citizen science (CS) methodologies more widely. Contributors discussed activities already underway to advance the established GEO work plan, considered how GEO can strengthen their involvement in and support for citizen science through partnerships and emerging endeavors, and discussed concrete next steps for advancing citizen science through GEO. For more detailed information, including the full speaker lists, presentations, and event recording, please see the event page [add link to our event page]. Ms. Wilson presented on SWF’s current efforts in this area and helped to moderate the event. SWF also distributed hardcopies of the Handbook for New Actors in Space and an updated Space Sustainability guidebook in partnership with USGEO at their EO Café booth.