The BRAGMA project, coordinated by IICT is a Coordination and Support Action to GMES and Africa, supported by the European Commission. Copernicus, formerly GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) is the European Programme for the establishment of a European capacity for Earth Observation: http//www.copernicus.eu

This newsletter issue focuses on the last two GMES & Africa workshops, organised in the scope of the BRAGMA Project. The thematic area of these two workshops, Water Resources Management, and Long Term Management of Natural Resources, complete the first set of areas that were identified to finalise the GMES and Africa Action Plan, along with

BRAGMA Bridging Actions for GMES & Africa

Marine & Coastal Areas (1st workshop).The main objective of these events is to discuss in detail the content of the draft chapter on each thematic area and come up with an African-endorsed updated chapter.

A consolidation - validation workshop is planned for October 2013 in South Africa. This last workshop is expected to move towards clear operational recommendations in the 3 thematic areas.

2nd GMES and Africa Workshop on Water Resources Management - May 2013 Abuja, Nigeria

The workshop was hosted by NASRDA (National Space Research and Development Agency) and co-financed by the European Union in the framework of the joint Africa-EU Strategy with the support of BRAGMA.

Over 30 African countries were represented by around 60 participants, including also AUC, AMCOW, NEPAD, ECOWAS, EAC, CEMAC, along with

representatives from the EC, thematic EU-Africa cooperation projects such as WATPLAN (http://www.watplan.eu/), and the European Space Agency funded TIGER (http://www.tiger.esa) project.Three working groups were organised, focusing on the following sub-themes: 1.Policies, strategies and legal frameworks for water resources monitoring as well as national, trans-boundary and integrated water

management;2. Surface and ground water resources monitoring next to water use monitoring (for: drinking, hygiene, sanitation, industry, agriculture, energy, transport, tourism and ecosystems);3. Early Warning Systems for flood and drought monitoring, monitoring for climate variability and change adaptation strategies and (African) space technology for water resources monitoring.

Newsletter no.5 | September 2013

3rd GMES and Africa Workshop on Long-Term Management of Natural Resources - June 2013 Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt

Newsletter no.5 | September 2013

This event gathered 44 experts from 28 African and 7 European countries and it was hosted by NARSS (National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences).

On the first day there were several presentations regarding projects using Earth Observation as well as information on the specific GMES and Africa baseline study chapter on natural resources management.

Three working groups were organised: 1- biodiversity2- land and forest resources3- non-renewable natural resourcesGroup 1’s recommendations included a strong emphasis on training, the use of international standards to facilitate data management and sharing, the recognition of the importance of protected areas and ecosystems in land use planning processes and the support

of Earth Observation in natural resource management.

Group 2 highlighted the need for information across Africa and therefore the requirement of facilitated information exchange, possibly through Open Access arrangements.

Group 3 highlighted the need for more African capacity in the sector, which is at present unequally distributed, and requires both expertise from other countries (both European and African) as well as the development of new capacity, for example through the pan-African universities.

An open discussion session took place with the following topics:

- Data exchange across borders requires strong policies;

- Currently, the ICT infrastructure in

Africa for EO is weak. It needs to be addressed at the level of the GMES and Africa cross-cutting themes.

- A clear definition of EO needs to be provided, to clarify that it does include in situ observation alongside satellite-based and aerial surveys.

- There is a need to redefine borders in order to enable clear information exchange for the management and exploration of NR. This will require cross-national collaboration and strengthened geodetic networks.

- A call was made to ensure that the chapter focused on developing an Action Plan with clear guidelines.

- A suggestion was made that more African countries join the Open Geospatial Society.

- Validation of data services is important

3rd GMES & Africa Workshop on Long-Term Management of Natural Resources - Sharm-el-Sheikh, 25-26 June 2013

Links:http://www.bragma.euhttp://bragma.mixxt.eu/ http://capacity4dev.ec.europa.eu/africa-eu-part.gmes/

Relevant Events - 2013

TIGER Workshop 2013 - Achievements Review and Future PlanningOrganizer: TIGER Capacity Building Facility / Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation, University of Twente (ITC)Date: 21-22 October 2013 Venue: Hotel Ramada Plaza Tunis, Tunisiahttp://www.ramada.com/hotels/tunisia/gammarth/ramada-plaza-tunis/hotel-overview

BRAGMA future Events Consolidation - Validation Workshop which will take place in South Africa, October 2013

List of International Cooperation FP7 projects with focus on development or African priorities

EAU4FOOD: European Union and African Union cooperative research to increase Food production in irrigated farming systems in Africa (2011/2015)

http://www.eau4food.info

WAHARA: Water Harvesting for Rainfed Africa: investing in dryland agriculture for growth and resilience (2011/2016)

http://www.wahara.eu

AFROMAISON: Africa at a meso-scale: Adaptive and integrated tools and strategies for natural resources management (2011/2014)

http://www.afromaison.net

DEWFORA: Improved Drought Early Warning and FORecasting to strengthen preparedness and adaptation to droughts in Africa (2011/2013)

http://www.dewfora.net

WATERBIOTECH: Biotechnology for Africa’s sustainable water supply (2011/2014)

http://www.waterbiotech.eu

HEALTHY FUTURES: Health, environmental change and adaptive capacity: mapping, examining and anticipating future risks of water-related vector-borne diseases in eastern Africa (2011/2014)

http://www.healthyfutures.eu

CAAST-NET: A Network for the Coordination and Advancement of Sub-Saharan Africa-EU Science & Technology Cooperation (2008/2012)

http://www.caast-net.org

QWECI: Quantifying Weather and Climate Impacts on Health in Developing Countries (2010/2013)

http://www.liv.ac.uk/qweci QWECI:

Newsletter no.5 | September 2013