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Space hubs for Copernicus

 

Support the activities of the Copernicus Relays and the Copernicus Academy by:

  • Organising joint initiatives of interest to the network and its members, such as events and educational opportunities;
  • Sharing communication tools to ensure updates about the latest Copernicus events, lectures, new members, new training tools, best practices, and new funding opportunities;
  • Develop publications and reference lectures for training on Copernicus data and information use, under a public license and Including Copernicus-related material and modules in existing courses;
  • Fostering user uptake and spin-off strategies of the members, notably by interacting with the Copernicus entrusted entities, Copernicus partners and local actors;
  • Supporting the organisation of events and initiatives at local level to promote Copernicus to potential users.

Proposals shall demonstrate that they avoid overlap with the various activities financed under Copernicus, such as the Copernicus support office and Copernicus User Uptake Framework Partnership Agreement.

The Commission considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU of EUR 1 million would allow this specific challenge to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts.

This topic contributes to the Horizon 2020 focus area ""Digitising and transforming European industry and services"".

The Commission has identified the need to support the creation of voluntary participative networks related to Earth observation and Copernicus. The Copernicus Relays and Academy have been set up under their own funding and act as channels of promotion and target, targeting intermediate and end-user communities.

The Commission does not finance the members of the Copernicus Relays and Academy directly. The Commission finances:

  • The Copernicus Support Office, which provides non-financial support to members of the two networks (e.g. speakers, advice, promotional material);
  • The Copernicus User Uptake Framework Partnership Agreement, through which the Commission co-finances user uptake activities with Member States. Some of these activities might be organised by members of the Copernicus Relays or Academy, but will focus exclusively on stimulating the use of Copernicus data and information (e.g. awareness events, booths).

The Commission wishes to provide financial support to these two networks in order to strengthen their R&D dimension. These networks need to be better linked with research and innovation activities and with the ESA Space Solutions. Moreover, the expertise and tools developed by the Copernicus Relays and the Copernicus Academy need to be used also at the service of research and innovation with a view to boosting their innovation potential: and the uptake of space in general.

  • Strengthen the synergies and cooperation between members by sharing knowledge building, education experiences, best practices and Copernicus-related research and applications outcome and by enabling developed innovations to ‘hit the market’ as quickly as possible;
  • Build up a knowledge culture and a strategic think-tank around the benefits of the Copernicus programme and its potential for both public services needs and societal challenges;
  • Increase awareness about Copernicus toward all potential user communities.
  • Expand these two networks to other European Regions and to other space technologies (e.g. Galileo) and activities from other major space and innovation actors (such as those of regional clusters, national space agencies and the ESA).