Periodic Reporting for period 1 - EuroGEOSec (Establishing the EuroGEO Secretariat to support the EuroGEO initiative)
Reporting period: 2023-12-01 to 2025-11-30
EuroGEO is the initiative supporting the European Caucus of the Group on Earth Observation. The EuroGEOSec project supports the EuroGEO vision and to prepare the transition of the EuroGEO initiative into a sustainable endeavour, by setting-up a EuroGEO secretariat.
The overarching goal of the EuroGEOSec project is to support the coordination of the EuroGEO initiative and develop a sustainability plan guiding its long-term operation. This is achieved by establishing a sustainable concept for a EuroGEO Secretariat with the mission to (i) strengthen GEO-related coordination mechanisms at European and national levels, (ii) support increased innovation, space application development and reinforcement of the European space data ecosystem concept; (iii) foster international cooperation to help stimulate the market and promote European technology and services; (iv) contribute to the European Green Deal objectives and the European strategy for data (EU Data Spaces) by further deploying and exploiting the use of EO towards a strengthened Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS).
The overarching goal of the EuroGEOSec project is to support the coordination of the EuroGEO initiative and develop a sustainability plan guiding its long-term operation. This is achieved by establishing a sustainable concept for a EuroGEO Secretariat with the mission to (i) strengthen GEO-related coordination mechanisms at European and national levels, (ii) support increased innovation, space application development and reinforcement of the European space data ecosystem concept; (iii) foster international cooperation to help stimulate the market and promote European technology and services; (iv) contribute to the European Green Deal objectives and the European strategy for data (EU Data Spaces) by further deploying and exploiting the use of EO towards a strengthened Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS).
EuroGEOSec has achieved its expected outcomes and generated tremendous impact through an enlarged EuroGEO community: The project engaged successfully with the stakeholder communities; the governance structures; projects partnerships and projects; infrastructures; Copernicus Entrusted Entities. This increased engagement was channelled through the Action Groups, which were also strongly mobilised all along the project and demonstrated their value. Action Groups were fully integrated to the EuroGEO initiative and delivered material to build major contributions to EuroGEO: strategic documents ; contributions to GEO Focus areas; contributions to KCEO; contributions to the SRIA and Copernicus.
EuroGEOSec delivered an evidence-based framework supporting the prioritisation of research funding in Europe: The mapping of current projects and initiatives and the delivery of the Observatory provided a knowledge-basis on the current status of research funding ; the JRC-KCEO studies went a step further into delving into the intrications of the Action Groups and European Policies and enquiring about future priorities ; the animation and support to Action Group reinforced the structuration and ramped up the capacity of EuroGEO to deliver recommendations ; the various elements were assembled and coordinated to deliver actual recommendations, contributing to the future update of the “Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda”, which include recommendations to Copernicus’ service improvements. Overall, the EuroGEO implementation plan complemented by the EuroGEO Workshop reports; supported by the state-of-play reports based on RIO; and the JRC-KCEO action group studies form a powerful corpus of documents as a basis for the priorisation of research funding in Europe.
EuroGEOSec demonstrated the attractiveness of EuroGEO to the community and the mechanisms for a reinforced, more visible engagement to GEO, supporting the planning, execution and monitoring of the EuroGEO implementation plan and contributiing to the GEO strategic plan: The intense and effective mobilisation effort led to a renewed interest in EuroGEO. The EuroGEO Workshops were designed to include an engagement platform to discuss the contribution to GEO post-2025 work programme. There is now a reinforced understanding of the potential of EuroGEO and which mecanisms can enable a structured and more visible contribution to GEO. The EGW showed the potential for European contribution to the GEO Focus areas to be reinforced and streamlined by combining the strengths of the relevant Action Groups. EuroGEO is a conveyor of European initiatives toward other regions, for example supporting the uptake of Copernicus outside Europe. Thematic Action Groups have the potential to concentrate all actors and projects earmarked to EuroGEO into a consistent framework with shared objectives. Action Groups can be expanded further under the auspices of GEO’s Earth Intelligence delivery and receive guidance from the EuroGEO Secretariat.
EuroGEOSec maximised the impact of EuroGEO through professional communication and dissemination: Communication activities supported the repositioning of EuroGEO in the European EO ecosystem, and improved its attractiveness through strategic communication. With a primary focus on building an integrated and collaborative ecosystem of stakeholders under the holistic concept of “One EuroGEO,” the Dissemination and Communication activities have worked to elevate the recognition of EuroGEO’s identity and enhanced its significant role within Europe and beyond towards its new era, fostering a sense of community under the guiding principle of the '3Cs': “Combine, Coordinate, and Cooperate”. EuroGEOSec successfully organised two EuroGEO Workshops. It essentially redesigned the concept of EuroGEO Workshops ; their positioning compared to other EO events ; and delivered significant outcomes for future R&I in Europe.
EuroGEOSec delivered an evidence-based framework supporting the prioritisation of research funding in Europe: The mapping of current projects and initiatives and the delivery of the Observatory provided a knowledge-basis on the current status of research funding ; the JRC-KCEO studies went a step further into delving into the intrications of the Action Groups and European Policies and enquiring about future priorities ; the animation and support to Action Group reinforced the structuration and ramped up the capacity of EuroGEO to deliver recommendations ; the various elements were assembled and coordinated to deliver actual recommendations, contributing to the future update of the “Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda”, which include recommendations to Copernicus’ service improvements. Overall, the EuroGEO implementation plan complemented by the EuroGEO Workshop reports; supported by the state-of-play reports based on RIO; and the JRC-KCEO action group studies form a powerful corpus of documents as a basis for the priorisation of research funding in Europe.
EuroGEOSec demonstrated the attractiveness of EuroGEO to the community and the mechanisms for a reinforced, more visible engagement to GEO, supporting the planning, execution and monitoring of the EuroGEO implementation plan and contributiing to the GEO strategic plan: The intense and effective mobilisation effort led to a renewed interest in EuroGEO. The EuroGEO Workshops were designed to include an engagement platform to discuss the contribution to GEO post-2025 work programme. There is now a reinforced understanding of the potential of EuroGEO and which mecanisms can enable a structured and more visible contribution to GEO. The EGW showed the potential for European contribution to the GEO Focus areas to be reinforced and streamlined by combining the strengths of the relevant Action Groups. EuroGEO is a conveyor of European initiatives toward other regions, for example supporting the uptake of Copernicus outside Europe. Thematic Action Groups have the potential to concentrate all actors and projects earmarked to EuroGEO into a consistent framework with shared objectives. Action Groups can be expanded further under the auspices of GEO’s Earth Intelligence delivery and receive guidance from the EuroGEO Secretariat.
EuroGEOSec maximised the impact of EuroGEO through professional communication and dissemination: Communication activities supported the repositioning of EuroGEO in the European EO ecosystem, and improved its attractiveness through strategic communication. With a primary focus on building an integrated and collaborative ecosystem of stakeholders under the holistic concept of “One EuroGEO,” the Dissemination and Communication activities have worked to elevate the recognition of EuroGEO’s identity and enhanced its significant role within Europe and beyond towards its new era, fostering a sense of community under the guiding principle of the '3Cs': “Combine, Coordinate, and Cooperate”. EuroGEOSec successfully organised two EuroGEO Workshops. It essentially redesigned the concept of EuroGEO Workshops ; their positioning compared to other EO events ; and delivered significant outcomes for future R&I in Europe.
EuroGEOSec unveiled the full portential of EuroGEO and delivered a sustainability concept towards ensuring long-term operation of the EuroGEO initiative.
EuroGEOSec was first able to propose a revised value proposition of EuroGEO, in line with the GEO post-25 work programme and to European priorities. Added value was clarified compared to related initiatives and avoided duplication of efforts. The project proposed a revised governance, transparent and inclusive, allowing to mobilise and monitor resources in a flexible framework. The project then proposed an operational framework allowing the initative to unfold, with a flexible programme which can adjust in scope with the available resources. The potential commitments for 2026 were screened and a scenario was developed to identify the requirements for additional pledges towards an operational Secretariat. The full guidance package was made available publicly to the EuroGEO website, to support the ongoing call for expression of interest for pledges to the EuroGEO secretariat released by the European Commission.
EuroGEOSec was first able to propose a revised value proposition of EuroGEO, in line with the GEO post-25 work programme and to European priorities. Added value was clarified compared to related initiatives and avoided duplication of efforts. The project proposed a revised governance, transparent and inclusive, allowing to mobilise and monitor resources in a flexible framework. The project then proposed an operational framework allowing the initative to unfold, with a flexible programme which can adjust in scope with the available resources. The potential commitments for 2026 were screened and a scenario was developed to identify the requirements for additional pledges towards an operational Secretariat. The full guidance package was made available publicly to the EuroGEO website, to support the ongoing call for expression of interest for pledges to the EuroGEO secretariat released by the European Commission.