Advancing earth observation in Africa: Harnessing the European Copernicus program for sustainable development and capacity building through training of trainers

Abstract

The WG Africa project is a collaborative initiative involving 12 national institutions from 8 European countries. Its aim is to enhance the utilization of Copernicus Data and services in Africa through a "training of trainers" program, which is funded by the European Commission and implemented in three languages: French, Portuguese, and English. The primary goal is to assist African academic or private trainers in integrating Copernicus-based modules into their training programs or curricula. This initiative complements other capacity-building efforts in the sector of Earth Observation from space in Africa, such as GMES & Africa. The project has started December 2022 and has completed its initial phase. During 2023, 30 future trainers originated from 18 countries were selected and an extensive 10 weeks long training program on the use of Copernicus data and services was developed and delivered to them on line. Thematic training sessions on different topics such as agriculture, forests, disasters management, hydrology were also organized and delivered by experts from different European institutions and research entities. The project has now entered its second phase in which each trainer is developing and will implement his/her own local training sessions with the support of WG Africa partners. The local training sessions will target different types of audience: engineers, bachelor and master students, decision makers. They will address different topics and thematics depending on the local needs and problematics. The objective is to deliver and widely spread empowerment and capacity building assets to young professionals and students in the fields of remote sensing and Copernicus data and services, to the benefit of scientific studies, policy making or enforcement, and private initiatives in favor of Copernicus applications within the targeted countries. WG Africa partners are committed to enhance awareness of the potentials of Copernicus wheneve