Hosted by IICT in Lisbon, Portugal,

the meetings of the GMES and

Africa Coordination Team and

BRAGMA Project kick off took place.

The BRAGMA project, coordinated

by IICT is a Coordination and

Support Action to GMES and

Africa, supported by the European

Commission.

GMES (Global Monitoring for

Environment and Security) is

the European Programme for

the establishment of a European

capacity for Earth Observation:

http://www.gmes.info/.

The “GMES and Africa” process

was launched by the Maputo

Declaration, signed on 15 October

2006. The initiative aims to

strengthen and further develop

infrastructure for a more coherent

exploitation of Earth Observation

data (space and in-situ),

technologies and services in support

of the environmental policies for

sustainable development in Africa

and ACP countries.

In response to the Maputo

Declaration, a large event dedicated

to “GMES and Africa” was set

up in December 2007 in Lisbon,

BRAGMAJanuary 23-24, 2012P R O J E C T S TA RT S !

which resulted in the adoption of

“The Lisbon Process on GMES and

Africa”, which required developing

an Action Plan in 2010.

These meetings where attended by

all BRAGMA project partners and

representatives of the European

Commission and African Union

Commission, including also

representatives of the Nigeria

and Egypt Space Agencies, of

the Economic Community Of

West African States (ECOWAS)

and United Nations Economic

Commission for Africa (UNECA).

The Global Monitoring for

Environment and Security (GMES)

and Africa Coordination Team,

consisting of members from Africa

and Europe, met to discuss the way

forward for this initiative, taking

into account the recommendations

of the Space Troika meeting

between both African and European

Commissions with participation

of Portugal, at the African Union

Commission (AUC) premises in

December 2011.

 

BRAGMA Project kick-off and GMES and Africa Coordination Team meeting in Lisbon

Discussions were focused on the

prioritisation of the GMES and Africa

thematic areas, the organisation

of consultation workshops in

Africa and the establishment of

a GMES and Africa Secretariat at

the AUC. During the GMES and

Africa Coordination Team meeting,

a work programme for 2012 was

established in order to present

tangible results by the end of the

year.

Link to video:

http://www2.iict.

pt/?idc=21&idi=18035

(bilingual video, with

subtitles in Portuguese)

 

BRAGMA (Bridging Actions for

GMES and Africa) is supported by

the European Commission with co-

funding under FP7.

Within the context of the Space

Track of the 8th Africa - EU Strategic

Partnership (Science, Information

Society, Space), BRAGMA is

specifically focused on Supporting

GMES and Africa coordination and

promoting awareness by:

BRAGMA Project Overview

 

One of the key priority areas

identified in the Second Action

Plan of the 8th Africa-EU Strategic

Partnership for the period 2011 -

2013 is to finalise the development

of the Action Plan based on the

Baseline document on GMES and

Africa taking into consideration

ongoing deliberations and guidance

on the process since it was initiated

in 2007 for the implementation

process of GMES and Africa.

The current base line information

of the GMES and Africa addresses

9 thematic areas as well as 5 cross

cutting issues.

During 2012, at the request of the

European Commission (EC) and

African Union Commission (AUC),

BRAGMA will focus primarily on

three of the nine GMES and Africa

Thematic Areas:

A multi-day thematic expert

meeting will be organised by

BRAGMA partners for each of these

thematic areas and preparations for

these meetings are well advanced.

Thematic Expert Meetings during 2012

- Organising coordination and

thematic expert workshops

- Facilitating participation

of pre-qualified African

stakeholders at relevant

events to ensure pan-African

engagement

- Building the GMES and Africa

community, by engaging with

key stakeholders, establishing

and connecting networks face

to face and online

It also provides In-loco support

to the development and

implementation of GMES and

Africa Action Plan (GAAP)

through

- Investing on the connection

with governance

- Contributing to the

sustainability of the GMES and

Africa initiative

- Providing in-loco consultation

and dissemination

BRAGMA will produce reports on

the contribution of GMES services

and GMES & Africa related projects,

to support a coherent strategy

between Europe and Africa

Finally, BRAGMA supports the

effective development, conclusion,

endorsement and implementation

of the GAAP, by working in

collaboration with key stakeholders

to identify and facilitate the scope

and definition of high priority

projects.

- Marine and Coastal Areas

(which includes fisheries,

integrated coastal zone

management, transport, etc.)

- Water Resources Management

(which includes integrated

basin management, ground

water, water scarcity)

- Long-Term Management

of Natural Resources (which

includes forest resources,

biodiversity, land resources,

land cover change, protected

area management)

Please register on the BRAGMA

Portal, specifying GMES and

Africa related thematic areas of

primary interest based on your

skills and experience. More

news on the timing and location

of the 2012 thematic expert

meetings will be announced in

May 2012.

BRAGMA is organising a one day

public workshop focused on GMES

and Africa on 08 May in Dar es

Salaam, Tanzania.

The BRAGMA Workshop will bring

together key stakeholders from

Africa and Europe, to discuss

progress to date and showcase

a number of relevant projects

supporting work in different

thematic areas within GMES and

Africa.

Organised as a pre-conference

event to IST-Africa 2012, target

participants include thematic

subject experts as well as

sophisticated end-users of GMES

and Africa related applications.

Online registration is opened from

April 2012.

BRAGMA Organises GMES and Africa Workshop in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 08 May 2012

Next Events

A workshop on Marine and

Coastal Areas and Coordina-

tion Team Meeting is planned to

happen in Kenya, June 2012.

A workshop on Water Manage-

ment is planned to happen in

Nigeria, July 2012.

A workshop on Long Term Man-

agement of Natural Resources

and is planned to happen in

Egypt, September 2012.

A GMES and Africa Coordina-

tion Team to take in Addis back

to back to the 10th EUMETSAT

Forum, October 2012.

Next BRAGMA project meeting

will take place in the 9th AARSE

Conference, Morocco, October

2012