›Geospatial Technologies for Monitoring Water- and Health-related SDGs

How can geospatial technologies and remote sensing monitor the progress towards SDGs relater to water and health? With the recent adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the call by UN Secretary General for a “revolution” in the use of data for sustainable development, geospatial technologies have tremendous potential to efficiently monitor SDGs progress. Since the adoption of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the amount of data available, data collection, and processing methods have changed substantially. Geospatial technologies and remote sensing offer a crucial location element to the monitoring of SDGs and their corresponding targets and indicators. The unprecedented “power of where” allows for unbiased observation and analysis across borders, administrative boundaries, and nations.

Despite the tremendous potential geospatial technologies offer, there is still a gap between the technology world and the world of environmental decision and policy makers. Furthermore, these technologies are constantly changing and improving, making it even more difficult for practitioners to track the updates about the potential use and application of information and communication technologies (ICTs), such as geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing.

Topics

The workshop provides an opportunity to get updated on the latest advances in geospatial technologies and remote sensing and see how these technologies can be applied to the monitoring of some SDGs: sustainable water management and sanitation; improving resilience and sustainability of cities and urban settlements; conservation of the world’s oceans; sustainable management of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems; and more. The main topics include:

• Remote sensing
• Geospatial technologies
• Data collection
• Decision support systems (DSS)
• Satellite-based earth monitoring and remote sensing for environmental studies and management (potential and limitations)

The workshop will begin with a plenary session featuring presentations by the world ICT leaders (Google, Esri, etc.) and practitioners (e.g. DG Joint Research Center), setting the stage in applying geospatial technologies and highlighting the importance of “data revolution” in monitoring SDGs. The lessons learnt by participants from these theoretical sessions will be accompanied by practical sessions later during the week.

Target Group

The target group for this course includes UN staff, national focal points of international conventions (e.g. UNECE, Black Sea Commission), mid-career practitioners and researchers directly involved in water, health or other SDG-related issues.

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