Final Report Summary - IASON (Fostering sustainability and uptake of research results through Networking activities in Black Sea & Mediterranean areas) Executive Summary:IASON Project had the ultimate goal to establish a permanent and sustainable Network of scientific and non-scientific institutions, stakeholders and private sector enterprises belonging in the EU and third countries located in two significant areas: The Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions. The main focal points of the project were the usage and application of Earth Observation (EO) in the following topics:• climate change• resource efficiency • raw materials managementIASON aimed to build on the experiences gained by 5 FP7 funded projects, OBSERVE, enviroGRIDS, GEONETCab, EGIDA, and BalkanGEONet. All of the above projects focused on enhancing EO capacities, knowledge and technology in the EU and in neighborhood countries. During their execution time they managed to establish links with a critical mass of research institutions, organizations, public organizations, stakeholders, and policy makers in the Balkan region, the Mediterranean, and the Black Sea Basin. IASON intended to create the proper conditions for enhancing knowledge transfer capacity building, and market opportunities in using EO applications and mechanisms in specific research fields that are addressing climate actions resource efficiency and raw materials management.In order to achieve its goal IASON engaged in• Visible and effective capacity building and knowledge transfer activities with Third countries' research institutes and organizations, stakeholders and policy makers through the organization of two training workshops (one in each region).• Demonstration of market opportunities through uptake of results from three projects (PEGASO, enviroGRIDS, and IMPACTMIN), best case scenarios and success stories. • Identification of projects and networks, using the regional partners’ contacts in the Third Countries, along with input from training workshops, and Advisory Board Members in the thematic fields that have potential for future cooperation.• Liaise and coordinate dissemination activities with other projects dealing with research and innovation cooperation for the Societal Challenge 5 of Horizon 2020• Creation of an innovative web based common information platform with information regarding clustering projects that demonstrate synergy potential, networking tools that will enhance communication between interesting parties.Project Context and Objectives:IASON Project has the ultimate goal to establish a permanent and sustainable Network of scientific and non-scientific institutions, stakeholders and private sector enterprises belonging in the EU and third countries located in two significant areas: The Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions. The main focal points of the project will be the usage and application of Earth Observation (EO) in the following topics:• climate change• resource efficiency • raw materials managementIn a context where environmental threats (for example; climate change in the form of sea level rise, water pollution, water and soil management, mining environmental implications, biodiversity loss, and food security) become more and more global, there is a need for a better integration of various sources of information at different scales. Many activities producing information from global to local scale, as well as different research approaches to tackle these problems, are addressing specific requirements along with regional needs. This has resulted in a suite of different data and information that are not always compatible with each other.IASON intends to create the proper conditions for knowledge transfer, capacity building, and market opportunities in using EO applications and mechanisms in specific research and innovation fields that are addressing climate actions, resource efficiency and raw materials management.In order to achieve its goal IASON will engage in• Visible and effective capacity building and knowledge transfer activities with Third countries' research institutes and organizations, stakeholders and policy makers through the organization of two training workshops (one in each region).• Demonstration of market opportunities through uptake of results from three projects (PEGASO, enviroGRIDS, and IMPACTMIN), best case scenarios and success stories. • Identification of projects and networks, using the regional partners’ contacts in the Third Countries, along with input from training workshops, and Advisory Board Members in the thematic fields that have potential for future cooperation.• Liaise and coordinate dissemination activities with other projects dealing with research and innovation cooperation for the Societal Challenge 5 of Horizon 2020• Creation of an innovative web based common information platform with information regarding clustering projects that demonstrate synergy potential, networking tools that will enhance communication between interesting parties, .In order to achieve the aforementioned goal the IASON network will set the following objectives:• Record, map, and categorize thematically and geographically scientific output achieved by regional and EU funded research creating a portfolio of existing prominent results.• Capacity Building through data integration and interoperability.• To asses projects results and their applications in the Mediterranean and Black Sea Regions under the three thematic nodes.• Establish an EO network covering the Mediterranean and Black Sea basins. • Engage in activities that will foster cooperation between the network’s members/countries and in particular between the EU and the non-EU members/countries on recorded gaps.• Provide consultations to and develop firm links with regional and local institutions, stakeholders and policy makers bridging research agendas with EU priorities for 2020.• Develop a toolkit for fostering and promoting access of regional research institutions to funding opportunities towards a sustainable and market oriented uptake of research results.• Create and maintain thematic nodes of stakeholder communities that will act as focal points for future research interactions.Project Results:The IASON project was structured in 7 work packages. In the following section the S&T results produced during the projects lifetime are presented per work package.Work Package 2 “Assessment of existing and on-going research efforts in the Mediterranean and Black Sea”General summary WP2 “Assessment of existing and on-going research efforts in the Mediterranean and Black Sea” had four main operational objectives:O1. Review and analyse the current status of coastal monitoring, water and soil management, and mining and mineral exploration with respect to EO applications.O2. Network Mapping and Clustering of results.O3. Identify, categorize and record all relevant stakeholders and users into a common reference platform database setting the foundation for the formulation of a Mediterranean and Black Sea Network.O4. Devise a tailor made networking and collaboration strategy of capacity building and technology transfer according to the specific EO needs of the three major challenges (coastal monitoring, water and soil management, and mining and mineral exploration).The first three objectives have been achieved on M12 and the fourth one has been achieved on M18 as scheduled in the DoW. The only deviation was the release of D2.6 planned for M12 and post-poned to M18.Task T2.1 - Current state in the Mediterranean and Black Sea Analysis / Mapping the Existing thematic Networks This task has been coordinated by CNR-IIA, ending on M6 as originally planned. It resulted in the release of two reports (D2.1 D2.2) and a set of information stored in the Initiatives and Stakeholders database (D2.5) later connected to the IASON PNF. The analysis shows a general dominance of networking and research activities, usually combined, in the Mediterranean sea. The Black Sea Region appears lacking of specific networks for the IASON relevant themes; all the existing networks are those also tied to the Mediterranean region.Task T2.2 - Identification and classification of finished and ongoing Research efforts and stakeholders / Cases, outputs & Stakeholder clustering / network creation This task has been coordinated by ISPRA, ending on M6 as originally planned. It resulted in the release of two reports (D2.3 D2.4) and a set of information stored in the Initiatives and Stakeholders database (D2.5). The analysis presents a general coverage of research activities in the two areas, although the Climate Actions and Resource Efficiency are more covered and inter-related than the Raw Materials topic. Dominance of networking and research activities, usually combined, in the Mediterranean sea. Task T2.3 - Strategy Plan for the enhancement of capacity building and technology transfer This task has been coordinated by CNR-IIA. Its original duration was from M1 to M12, but after the postponing of the release of D2.6 it has been extended to M18. It resulted in the release of two deliverables: D2.7 and D2.6. D2.7 is the refined version of the EGIDA Methodology taking into account the IASON experience. Caravan Workshops, “Bringing GEOSS Services into Practice” tutorials, IASON PNF, Visualization toolkit, the WP5 uptake of past projects provided new guidelines for the EGIDA Methodology. Moreover a joint activity with EOPOWER has been started to deliver a Science Valorization Framework including the revised version of the EGIDA Methodology as one of its components (along with the EOPOWER methodological framework for impact assessment).D2.6. reports on the multilevel assessment and gap analysis. It was carried out along four different axes: a) research and networking initiatives (how many initiatives are addressing the region of interest?), b) thematic coverage (are all the call themes, and Societal Challenges topics, well covered in the region of interest?), c) resources availability (are datasets, models, and other resources available on the region of interest?) and d) Participation in overarching initiatives (are country in the region of interest active in overarching initiatives on resource sharing?). By a methodological point-of-view, IASON partners utilized different sources of information from both IASON and outside: a) the IASON PNF, b) the IASON Visualization Toolkit developed in WP5, c) direct input from partners, d) GEOSS portal. A specific input for the Mediterranean came from a previous gap analysis performed by the ENPI/SEIS programme for North Africa and Middle East countries. Main results include: a) the good coverage of Black Sea and Mediterranean regions by networking and research activities in the three pillars (Climate Actions, Raw Materials and Resource Efficiency) at least at European level; b) the lesser coverage of the Raw Materials topic in comparison of Climate Actions, and Resource Efficiency, which are also interrelated; c) the existence of regional and global overarching initiatives providing a top-down framework to actions in the two regions; d) the wide participation in GEO from Black Sea Countries, and instead some Mediterranean countries not (yet) member of it; e) the availability of datasets, not always open, and other resources.Work Package 3 “R&I Synergies: Fostering Cooperation”The main objective of WP3 is to foster capacity bridging and sharing the knowledge; To bring the scientific communities and programmes closer to each other with regard to the three specific challenges (EO in coastal monitoring, soil and water management, mining and mineral exploration). Therefore,in WP 3, workshops and caravan events were organised in order to reach the wider society as possible as it can be. A virtual meeting place has been established in order to offer to users a non-duplicate, flexible, efficient environment where one can find relevant data for its purpose. The main significant result in WP3 for the first period of the project is the Twinning & Training Material Toolkit. IASON Virtual Meeting Place (IVMP) has been developed based on eGLE Platform and fully benefits from all its functionality and flexibility, empowering efficient twinning capabilities of previously developed materials and tools.Our purpose has been to obtain a unitary approach for all these distributed sources without replicating the data, creating a more complex management mechanism or replacing the already existing resources management systems. Because the dynamic of the included resources can generate a different number of changes at different time intervals, the synchronization of the Virtual Meeting Place with external repositories can become very difficult. As a result it was decided to dynamically include the available resources from external repositories on the fly, at the display time, through requests sent toward specific REST APIs hosted at distributed repositories locations.Thoughout the project, in two years:1. IASON Virtual Meeting PlaceAn eGLE platform based solution of the IASON Virtual Meeting Place (VMP) has been designed and developed. IASON VMP supports access of stakeholders, research institutes, and end-users to training and teaching materials regarding the applications and tools developed through various projects in the region. The users may develop themselves presentations through eGLE, and to consult already created documents (i.e. as links, files, and eGLE materials). The IASON VMP resources are available from the IASON Portal.3. Informative PublicationsBy this action have been developed and distributed informative publications, and best practice guidelines that would help all relevant actors in the regions to form regional networks and create bridges between existing thematic networks in the region. The informative publications consisting of various documents (e.g. files, links, eGLE materials) are available through the IASON VMP environment. UTCN partner has provided a few examples of training materials, developed by eGLE application, concerning the GreenLand and gSWAT applications, and the enviroGRIDS BSC-OS Portal. Best practice guidelines on developing EO information publications by eGLE application has been developed and provided. It has been a live environment which is fed throughout the project with new materials. D3.2 EO Applications Information Package and Toolkit’s scope is to provide users with an EO application information package and toolkit primarily focused in the three thematic pillars of IASON and extended in H2020 societal challenge 5 themes. Currently a full EO applications information package and toolkit regarding agriculture has been implemented. Furthermore four more packages have been deployed presenting best cases regarding EO applications in the field of disasters, energy, biodiversity and water. It must be underlined that the creation of the EO applications information package and toolkit was an ongoing activity during the project’s lifetime, where new material was added the dedicated web site section by the consortium members and web site users, thus enriching the IASON Common Information PlatformWork Package 4 “Comparing research agendas and sustainable funding”General summary for the WP4WP4 “Comparing research agendas and sustainable funding” has the following objectives:• To map funding opportunities within international context and beyond FP7• To provide practical ideas and support for achieving research funding within the international context• To perform a gap analysis on existing research and innovation national agendas taking under consideration EU priorities within Horizon2020.• Liaise with regional policy makers• Liaise with relevant regional institutions and initiatives.These objectives are achieved on M24 as scheduled in the IASON DOW. The ‘Funding and Organizations and Institutes Database’ was further developed. The ‘Research Agenda and Funding Watch’ was completed (October 2014). The ‘Research Agenda and Funding Watch’ is forms one of the elements of the ‘IASON Sustainable Funding Toolkit”, together with the EGIDA methodology, the EOPOWER impact assessment framework and the IASON research funding database. The IASON Sustainable Funding Toolkit was completed in April 2015 and supports the assessment of sustainability aspects of the societal challenges of climate change, research efficiency and raw materials throughout the whole innovation chain, thereby increasing funding opportunities.Task 4.1 Identifying funding Opportunities This task is coordinated by HCP.One of the most crucial activities in task 4.1 is the creation of a funding organizations and Institutes database (D4.1). The scope of D4.1 is to collect information and contact details about funding organizations and institutes focusing on Earth Observation in the Mediterranean and Black Sea Region. The objective of D4.1 is to categorize and record all relevant information of funding organizations and institutes into a common reference database platform. The IASON funding organizations database is build on the structure of the PNF database and IASON Capacity Building Database. The database has been developed in Microsoft Access 2007 and has been populated with the input provided by the IASON consortium members. The DB currently contains 58 funding organizations and 67 funding programmes. The ‘Funding Organizations and Institutes Database’ was merged with the ‘Stakeholder and Initiatives Database’. The ‘Funding Organizations and Institutes Database’ was integrated with the IASON PNF GUI. Further input to the database was provided and the marketing toolkits for earth observation applications were updated.Task 4.2 - Sustainable funding in practice (completion: 100%)This task is coordinated by HCP.The “Research Agenda and Funding Watch’ deliverable’ was completed (October 2014), including a reference document containing sections on the European research agenda, European directives and regulations, national research agendas of selected countries, Mediterranean and Black Sea region agreements and regulations, the international research agenda, sustainable development goals and international agreements. The ‘Research Agenda and Funding Watch’ was used as input for the ‘IASON Sustainable Funding Toolkit’, which was completed in April 2015. The IASON Sustainable Funding Toolkit is composed of the combination of four elements:- EGIDA methodology,- EOPOWER impact assessment (in cooperation with the EOPOWER project),- IASON research funding database,- IASON research and funding agendas watch.The sustainable toolkit is supported by specific instruments to enhance knowledge and skills, such as the marketing toolkits for earth observation, the related reference lists, a guide for writing project proposals and business procedures for start-ups that engage in advisory work and/or participate regularly in tenders. The IASON sustainable funding toolkit presents a powerful framework for researchers and innovators to address sustainability aspects of the societal challenges of climate change, research efficiency and raw materials and to benefit from (and even create) funding opportunities for their activities. Special attention is given to the subject of environmental accounting. Work Package 5 “R&I Uptake of Applications Results in Fostering collaborative Future action in MED and BS regions”General summary for the WP5WP5 “R&I Uptake of Applications Results in Fostering collaborative Future action in MED and BS regions” has four major objectives:• To assess the projects results and their applications in the Mediterranean and Black Sea Regions under the thematic nodes (coastal monitoring, water and soil resources management, and mining and mineral exploration).• To apply the capacity methodology developed in WP2.• To uptake the achieved results in related projects to MED and BS areas.• To build a transversal capacity building component enabling for harmonization and integration of datasets in GEOSS, using the brokering approach developed by EuroGEOSS and adopted by the GEOSS Common Infrastructure.The four objectives were achieved on M18 as scheduled in the DoW.The approach taken for the WP5 activity was applied at three different levels:1) Data/metadata level with the following outcomes: Finalization of the enviroGRIDS SDI (about 80 layers) based on open source tools (GeoNode) ; Development of an online platform of environmental base data and water-related model outputs, based on the work achieved in enviroGRIDS ; SDI deployment of coastal indicators and ICZM pilot project datasets, based on the results of PEGASO ; Development of a specific Discovery and Access Broker instance (harvesting 1’500 resources of the 2 regions through WMS, WCS, WPS and CSW endpoints).2) Capacity building level with the following results: Packaging of a training for ArcSWAT based on the work achieved in enviroGRIDS; Upgrade, online packaging, translation in 7 languages of the 2 regions and dissemination of the “train-the-trainers” workshop “Bringing GEOSS Services into Practice” ; Registration of capacity building resources into GEOCAB ; Registration of stakeholders and initiatives into the IASON Permanent Network Facility ; Processing of Georgia and Armenia’s GEO membership (2014) & publication of 2 success stories.3) Model/methodology level with the following outcomes: Development of a specific Business Process Broker use case to uptake enviroGRIDS results ; Collection of EO resources (EO products and methods) in documents based on IMPACTMIN, EO-MINERS and Sava projects ; Publication of an improved version of the ICZM questionnaires for MED and BS countries and enhancement of questionnaire post-processing (e.g. mapping / statistics) based on the work achieved in PEGASO ; Web-based visualization toolkit ; Completion of ICZM guidelines for the BS based on MED protocol approach and review/endorsement of this tool by the BS Commission ICZM Advisory Group.All these results can be accessed from a unique entry point through a faceted search that is published on the IASON website.Task T5.1 - Technology transfer for the assessment of needs and priorities in the Black Sea and Mediterranean [completion: 100%]This task was coordinated by CIMA and is completed 100%.The toolkit aims at facilitating the gap analysis in terms of societal and economic needs and at fostering the strategic cooperation between stakeholders in the Mediterranean and Black Sea regionsThe technology used for this task is Gephi. A toolkit for visualization of stakeholders, initiatives and beneficiaries as well as their connections has been developed and is online and operational. The toolkit is directly connected with the IASON Initiative and Stakeholder database (WP2) and comes with a graphical user interface. It has been proposed that the toolkit be integrated in the refined version of the EGIDA methodology (D2.7). Task T5.2 - Uptake of results linked to PEGASO [completion: 100%]This task was coordinated by UNIST and is completed 100%.Identification of needed datasets for calculating PEGASO indicators has been achieved; the identification of already calculated PEGASO indicators as well. Identification of PEGASO capacity building resources (PEGASO trainings, ICZM trainings, events, case study workshops etc.) has been achieved as well as integration of these resources into the IASON PNF.At the model/methodology level, improvement of the ICZM questionnaire has been achieved. Completion of ICZM guidelines for the BS based on MED protocol approach and review/endorsement of this tool by the BS Commission ICZM Advisory Group have been done.Task T5.3 - Uptake of results linked to enviroGRIDS [completion: 100%]The task was coordinated by UNIGE and is completed 100%.The data to be used in T5.3 have been post-processed and published on the basis of SWAT input and output data.The technology used in T5.3 are:- Data access in WMS-WFS-WCS- Data processing in WPS- Graphical user interface in OpenLayers / javascript / htmlA web-based application for extracting data on an extent defined by the user (by bounding box, by main river catchment and by country) is operational. A web-based application for chaining web processing services is also operational and published.Task T5.4 - Uptake of results linked to IMPACTMIN [completion: 100%]This task was coordinated by UNIST and is completed 100%.The identification and collection of data/metadata, capacity building resources, algorithms and concepts has been achieved. These resources have been registered in the IASON PNF and/or into GEOCAB . Task T5.5 - Transversal capacity building Component [completion: 100%]This task was coordinated by CNR and is completed at 100%. The technology for harmonizing and integrating datasets has been implemented and is operational. The capacity building resources have been collected by WP2 and WP5 partners.The “Bringing GEOSS Services into Practice” workshop has been widely improved from the 2012 version. It has now new chapters and is packaged online in the form of an interactive book and a virtual machine with software, tutorial and data already installed. A dedicated website has been developed. The workshop presentations have been translated into 7 languages of the two regions. The workshop has been presented in various international events in Novi Sad, Geneva, Rabat, Tunis, Istanbul, Batumi and Thessaloniki. An online questionnaire has been developed, sent out to 450 past participants of the workshop and analysed to measure the impact of the workshop.WP6 “Dissemination and awareness strategy”General summary for the WP6WP6 “Dissemination and awareness strategy” has the following major objectives:• Raise institutional and public awareness on the three specific challenges.• To disseminate the results of the project.• To stimulate the involvement of existing networks within the IASON dissemination activities• To act as an enabler of knowledge and technology transfer among EC, EU and third countries in the broader Mediterranean and Black Sea Region.• To formulate a permanent link with all organizations.• To liaise with relevant and international scientific forums and unions, • Liaise and coordinate dissemination activities with other projects dealing with research and innovation international cooperation targeting other regions of the world or related projects in the target areas with projects such as ESOCIO-LA, SUSTAIN EU-ASEAN, EOPOWER, MED-RSPRONG, INCO-NETThe approach taken for the completion of the above objectives considers 2 major pillars of activities:• Project results and events dissemination 0bjectibes (1,2,4)• Liaison with networks and identified stakeholders (3,5,6,7)The process towards completion of the WP objectives is very satisfactory. Most of the identified networks and stakeholders have been identified and contacted and are frequent recipients of project results and announcements. In addition the number of events attended where project results or projects elements have been presented exceeds initial expectations. Task 6.1 Project Dissemination strategyThis task is coordinated by HCP and is completed 100% as scheduled.Within this task the dissemination strategy of IASON project was drafted. The general dissemination strategy discusses specific aspects of successful dissemination, such as a focus on customer value propositions and how to cross the ‘technology chasm’. As not all the benefits of earth observation can be captured in traditional cost-benefit calculations, alternative considerations are considered: making use of environmental accounting mechanisms or simply showing that the application of earth observation is the best means to reach a pre-defined goal.Instruments for promotion are: dissemination of success stories, presentation of material derived from marketing toolkits, establishment of resource facilities to provide information, data and training material, implementation of demonstration or pilot projects media coverage and engagement in international and local events. The main output of task 6.1 is included in deliverable D6.1 Dissemination StrategyTask 6.2 - Dissemination ActivitiesThis task is coordinated by GEO and is completed 100% as scheduled. Within this task the following activities have been undertaken:• A detailed fact sheet and project poster has been developed in print and web format for facilitating project visibility in events and activities.• The printable version and html version of the IASON project e-newsletter has been produced and 6 issues have been published and circulated to the identified stakeholders (300+)• A project logo has been selected (several logos were produced and IASON partners had the chance to select the most suitable with an electronic voting)• Multilingual material, dissemination tools and dissemination sections have been created for the project website (implemented by WP7)• A list of stakeholders has been produced for dissemination reasons. The pool of the stakeholders regularly liaised is mostly drawn by the existing databases of the clustered projects and additional institutions, magazines funding organizations that are being approached by the different project activities and dissemination events. • International organizations and networks have been approached and invited to participate in IASON activities with a special focus given to organizations such as GEO, OGC, ISPRS and local black sea and Mediterranean institutions while organizing and conducting the dedicated workshops. • Web magazines and platforms have been approached for enhancing project dissemination. It must be underlined that web magazines such as the EARSC, geoconnexion, eathzine, EOmag, have been liaised and published press releases (details included within D63).• Monitoring the social media campaign in coordination with WP7 that is the implementation mechanism for social media• A detailed dissemination and implementation strategy has been drawn to liaise with the sister projects of IASON, namely SUSTAIN EU-ASEAN, ENSOCIO-LA and recreate. The strategy included the following:o Each project website to create a visible section at each respected home page that is called “sister projects” and include the logos of all projects with direct links to each home page (logo-links)o Exchange contacts (name, surname, institution, email) and create an integrated mailing list containing personnel involved in all projects so information on events, newsletters etc reaches every partner involved. Individuals in this emailing list will also serve as a core stakeholder group for project activities as well (questionnaires, pilots, validation studies etc)o Mutual exchange of dissemination and promotional material that can be distributed in events (sister project information packages)• Dissemination activities (pre and post event) to raise awareness for project events o GEO workshop Novisad - Serbia (pre & post event)o IASON workshop MED - Rabat, Morocco (pre & post event).o IASON Workshop BS - Batumi, Georgia (pre & post event).)o IASON Final event (pre & post event).• Participation in events & conferences disseminating project results and introducing project elements and objectives to different audiences. (a detailed list compiled by the WP6 mechanism regarding the events participation is included within D63). Participation in events conferences and publications is monitored and supported administratively by WP6. More specifically IASON was present in the following events:o 27 Events with dedicated IASON presentationo 4 events for marketing of earth observation productso 8 events focused to policy makers, research funders and industryo 8 vents with posters, information material and oral presentations• Liaised with additional networks and stakeholders identified within WP2• Liaised within relevant on-going initiatives and partnering projects (separate website section)• Launched informational campaign to web magazine and portals (several publications in web and print)• Produced and dissemination of scientific and general publications (5 scientific articles and a thematic cover in South-Eastern European Journal of Earth Observation and Geomatics)• Compiled press releases and publications to local media and individual partners websites• Delivered D6.3 Dissemination Activities Report• Delivered D6.5 IASON Policy Brief & Executive Summary• Produced the IASON Policy Brief & Executive Summary Booklet in print and web format titled: “How the EU can support more strategic use of Earth Observations as means to deal with environmental issues in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean basins countries”.• Devised an exploitation strategy to achieve sustainability of results (included in D65)Task T6.3 - Organization of IASON final eventThis task is coordinated by AUTH and is completed 100% as scheduled. Within T6.3 AUTH in coordination with WP6 leader proceeded to all the elements that would guarantee a successful organization of the IASON final event. More specifically selected the event location, catering and participant accommodation, designed the event agenda and promotional material and implemented a dissemination plan to maximize event visibility and attendance. Task T6.3 also liaised with WP7 to create a separate section for the IASON final event at the project website and processed all logistic elements regarding the attendance of the Advisory Board members and invited speakers. IASON event that focused mainly on disseminating project results was attended by 85 participants. Finally tasks T6.3 delivered D6.2 - Final Event Report and Material report.WP7 “Common Information Platform”General summary for the WP6Within the WP7 a virtual place of the IASON project was created where all relevant stakeholders were able to collaborate and find useful information regarding the project, trends, scientific publications, funding initiatives etc. The website provided useful tools for stakeholders to build on existing knowledge in order to enhance their effectiveness and efficiency. It was also a virtual interactive web space, where interesting parties were able to learn about latest advances and future evolutions and download many useful materials from the Knowledge Base Repository. The activities within the WP7 exploited the developed collaborative tools for both interaction with the community and for the consortium activities. These tools included stakeholder forum, social media links, interactive announcement board, RSS feeds, distribution of news, newsletters and IASON policy brief to subscribed mailing lists etc.Task 7.1 – Informative Website [completed 100%]The IASON website (www.iason-fp7.eu) was realized through a freeware dynamic portal engine and content management system and is hosted and maintained by the University of Novi Sad (UNS). The structure of the website comprises five units: Project, Events, Knowledge base and Community as publicly available parts and Member area for project partners. The website supports 13 regional languages + English, it has a public section and a sections for registered users – IASON partners. It the repository of all IASON documents, surveys, discussions, events, outcomes and deliverables which can be easily traced and overviewed. It has been developed in responsive manner, meaning that the web site automatically recognizes the type of device the visitor is using to access it and it responds to it by adjusting its graphical representations – from large screen display fit for desktop and laptop machines to reduced and more structured display with enlarged fonts for tablets and mobile phones.Tasks performed within the second project year comprise: maintenance of the IASON web site in 14 languages, upgrade and maintenance of the Knowledge Base Repository of the IASON project linked with the informative website, creation of the repository and distribution of the IASON policy brief and linking the website to partner projects’ websites.Task 7.2 – Networking Tools [Completed 100%]All IASON news are published on blog-like page on IASON website. Six issues of the IASON newsletter were published in two forms: PDF and online edition. The website also has an engine for automatic sending of the Newsletters via email and currently 318 key players and users are subscribed to it. Project members and external visitors of IASON website were able participate in different forum topics, so called, one page forum. The visitors needed no account within the IASON website and they were able to join the discussion in an ad-hoc manner choosing their nickname on comment adding (even different ones each time, if they wish so). Project partners have also created the IASON Permanent Networking Facility – a regional Earth observation directory, with tools for easy and user-friendly partner and expertise search. IASON PNF was built upon experiences of the PNF developed within the frame of the FP7 project BalkanGEONet. The IASON PNF gathers similar type of data for Balkan, Mediterranean and Black Sea region collected through the activities of the IASON project, while its interface (GUI) and OpenSearch capabilities - for connecting the PNF to various GEO brokers - have been created with the support of the FP7 project EOPower. It is open to all users and its database is extended through a continuous voluntary inputs by EO stakeholders. The IASON PNF was connected to the GEO-CAB broker and IASON Virtual Meeting place through RESTful services and OpenSearch end-points.Task 7.3 – Social Media Links [Completed 100%]The IASON social media coverage was managed by the University of Split (UNIST). Appointed social media manager was responsible for monitoring all social media activities, providing help desk activities, guaranteeing up-to-date content, encouraging partners to contribute, etc. Social media presence was established on five networks: LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and YouTube. Presence was realized through different types of content: photos, videos, news, relevant links etc. All social media content was provided in English because the IASON website supports other 13 regional languages.Social media networks were considered as much needed instrument for multi-perspective visibility. All networks were characterized by a small number of followers and lack of interest. Still, since dissemination activity was to be taken seriously, presence in social media was required and some useful experiences for future projects were gathered.Potential Impact:The IASON project had as its main focus to establish a permanent and sustainable Network of scientific and non-scientific institutions, stakeholders and private sector enterprises belonging in the EU and third countries located in two significant areas: The Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions. The main focal points of the project will be the usage and application of Earth Observation (EO) in the following topics: climate change, resource efficiency, and raw materials management.ImpactThe IASON project has contributed significantly in capacity building, networking, financial sustainability and uptake of research results in the two regions. Regarding IASON’s contribution to impact targets through the calls work Plan the following strategic impact has been achieved.With respect to “Stimulation of future integrated and strategic cooperation activities…” the activities performed in WP2 “Assessment of existing and on-going research efforts in the Mediterranean and Black Sea” lead to the creation of two regional networks. During the assessment of the existing and on-going research efforts a Stakeholders and Initiatives database was created that was connected to the IASON PNF. In addition an in depth Multilevel assessment and Gap Analysis was also performed. Activities undertaken under WP2 had a significant impact in networking.Networking: The knowledge about existing networking and research initiatives in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions is fundamental for achieving the main goal of fostering sustainability and uptake of research results through networking activities. To this aim, a database of initiatives and stakeholders has been developed to approach and develop analysis related to the identification of regional (Mediterranean and Black Sea regions) gaps in the frame of research and networking activities. Furthermore a visualization toolkit was developed that will help potential users to identify the needs and priorities in each regions. In addition the PNF infrastructure in combination with the visualization tool can be a powerful and useful tool for identifying potential partners and scientific fields for strategic cooperation activities.Furthermore under the same impact pillar WP3 “R&I Synergies: Fostering Cooperation” had as its main goal capacity building, knowledge transfer and promote R&I synergies. WP achieved is goal by the organization of caravan workshops, and by preparing Twinning and training material, and an EO applications information package and toolkit thus creating an impact in capacity building.Capacity Building –Research Impact: The researchers, stakeholders and SMEs network that was established during the lifetime of the project created knowledge, training material and understanding of Earth Observation applications regarding the three thematic pillars of IASON. The various IASON activities (Events, caravan training workshops, IASON virtual meeting place, and the EO applications information package and toolkit) stimulated the generation of new research ideas, adoption of research methodologies through the exchange of best practices and transfer of knowledge from different countries of the two focus regions on common research questions, and scientific publications that increase visibility of institutions and individual researchers In the field of climate change, resource efficiency and raw material management. In addition the two organized workshops managed to bring together regional stakeholders and policy makers transferring knowledge and applying in practice technical challenges aligned to the EU strategic agenda. Moreover during the IASON final Event a detailed presentation of the IASON Executive Summary and Policy brief was given informing the participants on the current state of EO applications in the three pillars, in two regions, and potential actions that can be performed in order to strengthen international R&I cooperation. The IASON Executive Summary and Policy brief circulated in web and print format will serve as a vehicle to liaise with regional policy makers and drive research agendas.Regarding the topic impact “… mobilization of financial means from various sources” the main potential impact was achieved through activities undertaken in WP4 “Comparing research agendas and Sustainable Funding”. WP4 final outcome was the IASON sustainable funding toolkit.Financial - Regional Sustainability: The IASON sustainable funding toolkit is composed of the combination of four elements:• The EGIDA methodology, which helps researchers and administrators make the national science and technology research infrastructure compatible with the global earth observation system of systems (GEOSS) and (other) European research initiatives.• The EOPOWER impact assessment, which helps researchers, entrepreneurs, policy makers and decision makers to find out which earth observation products and services can contribute to tackle societal challenges and what aspects still need to be improved or deserve special attention.• IASON research funding database, which contains funding opportunities with special emphasis on the Mediterranean and Black Sea regions that can be found at www.iason-fp7.eu.• The IASON research and funding agendas watch, that contains an overview of international and national research and funding initiatives and can also be accessed at www.iason-fp7.eu.All these are supported by specific instruments to enhance knowledge and skills, such as the marketing toolkits for earth observation, the related reference lists, a guide for writing project proposals and business procedures for start-ups that engage in advisory work and/or participate regularly in tenders.Advice is provided on which assessment to make in each phase of the expert system such as research, design, development and implementation, to enable a good prediction of the outcomes and the operational applicability of the research results. Externalities, the so-called effects of human interventions that cannot be measured with current economic models, play often an important role in the calculation of the benefits of environmental applications of earth observation. Tips are therefore provided on how to use environmental accounting for this purpose. Application of the IASON sustainable toolkit, or elements thereof, will help researchers, entrepreneurs, policy makers and decision makers to develop and support better targeted actions for sustainable development.Finally regarding the call topic impact” … enhanced uptake and use of research and research results for meeting societal challenges in bi-regional and bilateral mutual priorities” activities performed under WP5 “R&I Uptake of Applications Results in Fostering collaborative Future action in MED and BS regions” tackle this issue. WP5 had had the following objectives among others: To uptake the achieved results in related projects to MED and BS areas, and to build a transversal capacity building component enabling for harmonization and integration of datasets in GEOSS, using the brokering approach developed by EuroGEOSS and adopted by the GEOSS Common Infrastructure. WP5 have worked at three distinct levels: data/metadata level, capacity building level and concepts/models level. Identification, collection and registration of resources have been done not only for the three projects (PEGASO, IMPACTMIN, enviroGRIDS) but also for other projects/programs covering the two regions, such as FP7 EOMINERS, FP7 Afromaison, and Sava (UNECE) project.Uptake of Results: Results obtained at the data/metadata level include: finalization of the enviroGRIDS SDI; SDI deployment of coastal indicators and ICZM pilot project datasets, based on the results of PEGASO; identification & collection of datasets/indicators from the three projects; publication of these datasets through OGC standards and registration into GEOSS instance where feasible and reporting for the multilevel assessment and gap analysis (WP2) otherwise; development of an online platform of environmental base data and water-related model outputs based on OGC protocols.Results obtained at the capacity building level include: identification & collection of existing resources from the three projects; registration of these resources into the IASON Permanent Networking Facility or into the GEOCAB catalogue; uptake of the existing “Bringing GEOSS Services into Practice” workshop material, online packaging and translation of this material into 6 languages of the two regions and training of about 200 people; packaging of a training for ArcSWAT based on the work achieved in enviroGRIDS; processing of Georgia and Armenia’s GEO membership and publication of the related success stories.At the concepts/models level the following results have been obtained: publication – and registration into GEOSS -- of chained web processing services for analyzing environmental data; improvement and publication of the ICZM questionnaires; completion of ICZM guidelines for the BS based on MED protocol approach and review/endorsement by the BS Commission ICZM Advisory Group; identification and collection of existing resources (e.g. EO products and methods) and registration of some of these resources into GEOCAB; development of a visualization toolkit for helping assess regional needs and priorities in the three nodes. By making all these material available through the IASON website regional stakeholders, and researchers will have access to rich online content research results in climate change, resource efficiency, and raw materials management in the two regions, thus they will be able to find available resources and enhance their research. Furthermore the topics covered by WP5 have an indirect impact contribution to H2020 societal challenges. Socioeconomic Impact: IASON managed to bring together research communities and stakeholders coming from different origins, background and economic constellations in order to create a critical mass in EO for climate change, resource efficiency, and raw materials management thus boosting competiveness and effective use of resources in the EO industry. Furthermore the establishment of a sustainable network of market players through WP2 and the possibility of interaction will contribute to the expansion of markets and opportunities regarding promotion of EO services. Furthermore bridging of international and regional market players with local researchers can accumulate substantial mass of innovative ideas that will drive innovations with multiple benefits for the economy and the environment. Research is ranked first as a competitive tool for sustainable development. In that context IASON consortium partners have already participated in a number of National and European level proposals regarding EO issues. Members of the consortium submitted the proposal “Mobilizing EO Activities in North Africa, Middle East and Balkan – (NAMEBA-GEOSS)” in the H2020 topic H2020-SC5-2015-one-stage SC8-18b-2015 “Integrating North Africa, Middle East and Balkan Earth Observation capacities in GEOSS”. Finally adoption of best practices, uptake of project results, principles and regional human resources networking can have extensive economic impact at the organizational level through the creation of economies of scale. This specific impact at the institutional level through the spillover effect will can impact positively the general socioeconomic operational environment of the Mediterranean and Black Sea regions institutions. DisseminationIASON consortium invested considerable efforts and resources in achieving the project objectives and the assumptions set at the initial strategic planning made in the deliverable D4.1 “Dissemination Strategy”. More specifically the IASON project dissemination and awareness strategy had the following major objectives:1. Raise institutional and public awareness on the three specific challenges.2. To disseminate the results of the project.3. To stimulate the involvement of existing networks within the IASON dissemination activities.4. To act as an enabler of knowledge and technology transfer among EC, EU and third countries in the broader Mediterranean and Black Sea Region.5. To formulate a permanent link with all organizations.6. To liaise with relevant and international scientific forums and unions, such as EGU (European Geoscience Union), AGU (American Geophysics Union), IGARSS, GEO Stakeholders Network, etc.7. Liaise and coordinate dissemination activities with other projects dealing with research and innovation international cooperation targeting other regions of the world or related projects in the target areas with projects such as ESOCIO-LA, SUSTAIN EU-ASEAN, EOPOWER, MED-RSPRONG, INCO-NET.In order to accomplish the target above the consortium followed an approach that considered 2 major pillars of activities:• Project results and events dissemination (Objectives 1,2,4).• Liaison with networks and identified stakeholders (Objectives 3,5,6,7).The main dissemination activities and tools can be summarized as followsEvents attendance, conferences, publicationsIASON project partners participated and presented in a dedicated time slot elements and results of the IASON project to the invited audience in a total of 27 events.Official IASON EventsThe section below presents the events, conferences and workshops that have been organized specifically within the IASON activities either as standalone IASON events or as joint initiatives within the framework of wider events. It must be underlined that even though the IASON DoW indicated that the official project events would be three (Workshops MED & BS and the final event) the consortium launched an additional joint workshop in Novisad Serbia within the context of the GEO workshops.Novi Sad GEO Workshop: “The future of Earth observation activities in the wider Balkan area” - September 19-21, 2013 Novi Sad, SerbiaThe event in Novi Sad gathered over 150 experts from 6 on-going and 3 past FP7 projects, renowned representatives the European Commission, the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) and the EU Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR), as well as the representatives of the governments from the region. The workshop was a unique opportunity to get acquainted with the latest achievements in coordination of the Earth observation (EO) activities and to address questions of interest for its future in the wider Balkan area.Coordinators of the FP7 projects: BalkanGEONet, IASON, EOPOWER, DANCERS, enviroGRIDS, ENORASIS and InnoSense invited all interested parties to join them at the workshop in Novi Sad and contribute to the discussions, the exchange of information and the creation of a common strategy towards the upcoming H2020 programme. The JRC held a special session devoted to the prospective partnership between the DRDSI and all EO-related projects in the region. The participants addressed potential contributions of current and future projects to the DRDSI, the creation of recommendations for the EO components articulation and the creation of short and mid-term synergies.Bridging the Gap: IASON Workshop (MED) & Caravan Events - Rabat, Morocco January 29-31 January 2014The workshop was hosted by the Centre Regional Africain des Sciences et Technologie de l' Espace en Langue Francaise, affilié à l'ONU and was held together with the regular meetings of IASON & EOPOWER projects in Rabat, Morocco January 29-31 January 2014. The workshop had a twofold objective targeting traditional users and local policy/decision makers.The first part was devoted in promoting integration of national administration into existing R&I results. It was targeted to policy makers, researchers, and stakeholders from the region along with European and International experts and helped local stakeholders to be informed in the current European needs and trends in EO in the thematic nodes.The second part was devoted to capacity building along the thematic nodes through the use of standardized interfaces. The "Bringing GEOSS services into Practice" hands-on workshop will teach attendees how to set up their own SDI and how to publish and share data and metadata through the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). The training explained and taught the participants how to set up their own SDI and access by their laptops the high performance computation infrastructures in order to process remotely large geospatial data. The resources of the enviroGRIDS system are accessible to the large community of users through the BSC-OS Portal that provides Web applications for data management, hydrological model calibration and execution, satellite image processing, report generation and visualization, citizen oriented applications, and virtual training centre. The portal publishes through Internet both the geospatial functionality provided by Web technologies, and high performance computation resources.IASON project Black Sea Region Workshop & Caravan events in Batumi, Georgia 30th - 31st October 2014 Following the successful organization of the first IASON workshop in Morocco, the IASON workshop II was organized in Batumi, Georgia on 30 - 31 October 2014 with an important participation of experts from 14 countries including participants from 5 Black sea countries. The workshop was organized by the IASON partner GIS and RS Consulting Center GeoGraphic and in synergy with European Cross-Border Cooperation ILMM-BSE Project celebrating the international Black Sea Day of October 31st The event was also endorsed by the Black Sea Commission Permanent Secretariat and the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Protection of Georgia and its National Environmental Agency.Important outcome of the meeting was the capacity building and opportunity delivered by IASON and obtained by partner projects such as ILMM-BSE, establishment of person-to-person links and networking between institutions represented at the meeting. Particularly high level of satisfaction was expressed to the acquaintance with advanced GEO/GEOSS knowledge among participants; opportunity to exchange knowledge and experience on hydrological modelling tools, with particular satisfaction regarding the high power computing resource access opportunities.IASON Final Event, 22nd of April 2015The IASON project final Event took place in Thessaloniki, Greece the 22nd of April 2015.The final event of IASON is the last of a series of events launched by the project and run in parallel with the LOCALSATS project conference to maximize visibility.The final event focused primarily on presenting and disseminating the most significant results achieved by the project and was structured into 7 sessions according to the different tasks. The event, scheduled at the end of the project, provided the opportunity to the attendees to have a detailed overview of what was achieved by IASON and capitalize on the different tools and training material created for the two areas of focus, the Black Sea and Mediterranean regions. Besides the detailed presentations given by the Work Package leaders on the different activities, Dr. Nicola Lamaddalena, member of the IASON advisory board, presented best cases from the Mediterranean countries regarding tackling the issue of water scarcity and provided useful insight on how innovative EO applications can contribute to mitigate the problem. During the last session and the open discussion that followed, the sustainability of the project results through further funded initiatives (open calls) available within the H2020 theme was discussed. Moreover, the networking tools and virtual meeting place of IASON were presented and the consortium acknowledged the importance to integrate the IASON results and online platforms within existing umbrella platforms like the GEOSS. Finally, the draft of the IASON Executive summary and policy brief was presented by Mr. Kostas Smagas of GeoImaging Ltd which will be delivered in the end of May 2015 and will be circulated to academic and EO related channels attempting to reach audiences that were not targeted explicitly so far such as, policy makers and industry stakeholders.Professor Petros Patias, coordinator of IASON closed the event and underlined the need for the IASON partners to continue the exploitation activities even after the official end of the project in order to achieve sustainability of results and bridge with the new challenges presented within the H2020 program. As Prof Patias stated, “it is essential to continue supporting the local networks in the Mediterranean and Black sea regions and help them capitalize further on the results of IASON”. During the last session of the event, the consortium was briefed by the coordinator regarding the final deliverables to be submitted during the last month of the project and the steps towards the final report.Disseminating toolkits for marketing of earth observation productsThe toolkits for marketing of earth observation products and services and the course/workshop on marketing of earth observation were respectively updated and further developed in cooperation with the EOPOWER project. Presentations on marketing of earth observation were given in Georgia (October 2014), Tunisia (December 2014 and Greece (April 2015, for a Mediterranean audience), A workshop for scientists / entrepreneurs on marketing of earth observation was organized in the framework of the InnoSense workshop in Serbia (February 2015). The aim of covering all project regions with at least one dissemination activity on marketing of earth observation was achieved.Dissemination to policy makers, research funders and industryA very important aspect of IASON project is disseminating results to policy makers, industry players and research funding institutions. This specific aspect relates to the dissemination objectives 3, 5, 6, & 7 as mentioned in the introduction. In total IASON partners participated in 7 events.IASON disseminated with posters, information material and oral presentations IASON consortium partners attended events where no dedicated presentation of the project was scheduled however the project was disseminated either with a poster or through distribution of informational material or oral presentation and networking in a total of 8 events.Dissemination through the IASON websiteThe website is hosted and maintained by University of Novi Sad (UNS) within the WP7 activities however as the website is a basic pillar for project dissemination a close cooperation was developed between WP6 & WP7.Using the public part of the project website visitors can easily find all necessary information related to the project such as complete data about the project, Knowledge Base repository (Toolkits, Trainings, Surveys, Documents, Scientific articles, Video materials, Image repository, and External links) and Discussion Forum. Member area is for the registered users only (project members). It provides access to e.g. the internal project documents, Partner forum etc. The project website is multilingual and at the time of the writing of this document it was translated by the project partners on 7 languages and its infrastructure was already built to support 14 languages. Website pages are cross-linked for all languages which means that by clicking on different flag, content of the page remains the same. In order to automatically present the resources listed in the public categories of Knowledge Base section from IASON website in the IASON Virtual Center, without re-uploading or moving them two REST API web services were developed.IASON social media LinksSocial media presence was established on five networks: LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and YouTube. Presence was realized through different types of content: photos, videos, news, relevant links etc. All social media content was provided in English because the IASON website supports other 13 regional languagesPublicationsIn total 18 publications including scientific publications, European Commission & third party publications, press releases and publications in e-Magazines. Furthermore the IASON consortium recognizing the importance of D65 IASON Policy Brief & Executive Summary as a dissemination vehicle targeting specific and difficult to reach audience, transformed the content of this deliverable into a high quality publishable and printable booklet. The booklet is available in high resolution pdf format for print (press) and web distribution and can be downloaded through the project website (www.iason-fp7.eu). Finally issues of the IASON e-newsletter were produced and circulated to 350+ subscribers in Html and pdf format. The newsletters covered regular project news such as workshops, events, meetings, project results, and informed readers on forthcoming events. Moreover the e-Newsletter Issue 03 was a thematic issue covering the dissemination activities of the project and the last issue released end of May 2015 made extensive reference on the Thessaloniki final event and contained key features of the Policy brief & executive summary.SYNERGIES WITH OTHER PROJECTSA detailed dissemination and implementation strategy was drawn to liaise with the sister projects of IASON, namely SUSTAIN EU-ASEAN, ENSOCIO-LA and RECREATE. The implementation strategy included the following:• Each project website to create a visible section at each respected home page that is called “sister projects” and include the logos of all projects with direct links to each home page (logo-links).• Exchange contacts (name, surname, institution, email) and create an integrated mailing list containing personnel involved in all projects so information on events, newsletters reaches every partner involved. Individuals in this emailing list will also serve as a core stakeholder group for project activities as well (questionnaires, pilots, validation studies etc.).• In at least one newsletter host an interview of a coordinator or presentation of an event of a sister project.• Mutual exchange of dissemination and promotional material that can be distributed in events (sister project information packages).In addition to the above, the 3 projects exchanged regularly information on their activities (at a project management level) and the specific timeframe in order to prevent overlapping and invitation to key events. Finally IASON participated into the Pre-Cluster meeting of SUSTAIN EU-ASEAN and the RECREATE workshop launched in Brussels.IASON had extensive joint activities with EO Power , Balkan GeoNet and ILMM-BSE projects especially in organizing common events and meeting for resource optimization and maximizing impact. More information on the IASON partner projects can be obtained from the dedicated section of the website at http://www.iason-fp7.eu/index.php/en/community-eng/partner-projects-engEXPLOITATION PLANKey results of the IASON project as described within the Policy Brief & Executive Summary Booklet produced by GeoImaging Ltd will be disseminated after the project official end (May 2015). Even though resources cannot be allocated to this specific activity after May 2015, the consortium has decided upon entering the exploitation phase of the project with an ‘end product” strategy in order to maximize impact for the associated parties (partners involved as well as key audiences). More specifically, project results through the IASON Policy Brief & Executive Summary, as an “end product”, will be disseminated to the following channels:Project Website, IASON e-Newsletter (activity completed), GeoConnexion magazine, South-Eastern European Journal of Earth Observation and Geomatics (SEEJEOG), EC International research newsletter, Earthzine, EOmag, EARSC, and selected print versions for update of relevant bodies.In addition, a strategic partnership has been formed with the GEOCONNEXION magazine that will provide (with the minimum resources) the possibility to the IASON results to be visible to over 153,000 online visitors per month. More specifically, after the project end and for the entire 2015 IASON will be presented in: 3 press releases (web/print), 1 dedicated column within the October 2015 Issue, Dedicated project banner & link.All of the above activities will be performed by the IASON WP6 mechanisms.Finally, not only financial aspects should be evaluated and recognized in the future cooperation. There are many possibilities to further run different activities between the established network in the IASON which can be based on the overall contributions of individuals or institutions (contributions in kind, e.g. to initiate an e-forum or blog). The synergy between the IASON partners and the network established in the framework of the project could bring much more and better results that considering only individual or national activities in the Earth Observations.List of Websites:http://www.iason-fp7.euProf. Petros PatiasProject CoordinatorAristotle University of ThessalonikiP.O. Box 439 GR-541 24 Thessaloniki, GreecePhone: +30 2310 99 6116Fax: +30 2310 99 6128Email:patias@auth.gr
