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Bringing Copernicus Academy into Universities



Charles University is a part of the Copernicus Academy, which connects European universities, research institutions, and business schools, both private and non-profit organizations, in the participating countries of the programme and beyond. The Copernicus Academy works to increase the exchange of ideas and best practices across borders and disciplines while contributing to the development of the use of Earth Observation data in general and Copernicus data and information in particular, in various public or private user organisations or industries. Moreover, the Academy fosters collaboration between educational institutions and established commercial operators or entrepreneurs so that innovation can reach the market and benefit the citizens of Europe and the future of our Planet.

Existing study programs/curriculums are analysed together with organizations in charge and it will be assessed how Earth Observation/Copernicus products and services can contribute to EO education and strengthen the links between academic sector and application sector.

New tutorials based on Copernicus data, open source SWs (SNAP) and big data tools, e.g. Copernicus DIAS will be developed. The tailoring and translation of the already existing and new tutorials and use cases to national and regional applications and the adaptation to the local language (Czech).

The main aims of this action follow the main ideas of Copernicus Academy initiative:

  • To promote and implement the ideas of the Copernicus Academy into academy and higher education
  • To identify places in the existing high school/universities curriculums where EO technologies and data are mentioned
  • To find gaps in study programs/curriculums of universities and high schools where would be possible and useful  to be implemented EO with focus on Copernicus products and services
  • To create a concept and plan for supporting  the implementation of  the most important and relevant application of EO/Copernicus data and services in higher education and academy in the Czech Republic
  • To implement the best practices/successes stories into education and to create a link between academic and private sector – presentation of best practices to students
  • To create training/education materials bringing EO/Copernicus data and services into universities and high schools education system
  • To organize a workshop to be presented and discussed situation and perspectives of  implementation of EO/Copernicus products into teaching in higher education with focus on the success stories of application of EO/Copernicus data
  • Website “Copernicus Academy CZ” which allows interested people to share the results of this project, using together with Action 3.2.31

The project will be coordinated by the Charles University with cooperation with the National Secretariat of GEO/Copernicus in the Czech Republic (NSGC), ESA ESERO Office, ESA BIC Prague, Ministry of Education and the representatives of the Czech universities and high schools.

Outputs and Results

  • Set of use case and tutorial materials in local languages on working with Sentinel data with focus on the cloud technologies and big data cluster processing on-demand
  • Working with Copernicus service products, with initial focus on Land monitoring and Climate Change services
  • A broader awareness about Copernicus services and data in the higher education in the Czech Republic
  • A report about current situation of the using the EO in curriculums
  • A concept for the implementation of the Copernicus data and services in the higher education
  • Workshop reports