| ABSTRACT | Improved adaptation to climate change relies on solid knowledge on current and future regional climate and convincing arguments as well as hands on tools for inspired policy making. In this talk, the GEO-CRADLE project, recently received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme will be presented (www.geocradle.eu, CSA, GA No: 690133). GEO-CRADLE maximizes region specific, targeted information together with a specific roadmap for multi-spectra action directions, based on thorough assessment on the level of coordination and future investment to be carried towards the utilization of EO for climate adaptation and mitigation. The project attempts to coordinate and integrate state-of-the-art Earth Observation Activities in the regions of North Africa, Middle East and Balkans, and develop links so as to support the implementation of the flagships GEO, GEOSS, and Copernicus in support to societal challenges with regional dimension including adaptation to climate change, energy and use of renewable energy resources. In this regard GEO-CRADLE brings together key players fully representing the Region of Interest, and the complete EO value chain therein, and establishes a multi-regional coordination network that: (i) Supports the effective integration of existing EO capacities (space/air-borne/in-situ monitoring networks, modelling and data exploitation skills, and past project experience) in each thematic priority area of the project, (ii) Provides the interface for the engagement of the complete ecosystem of EO stakeholders (scientists, service/data providers, end-users, governmental organisations, and decision makers) (iii) Promotes the concrete uptake of EO services and data in response to regional needs, relevant to adaptation to climate change, and the other thematic priorities of the project. In parallel, GEO-CRADLE foresees to set up a Regional Data Hub, which abides by the GEOSS Data Sharing Principles and facilitates access to and dissemination of region-related climatic data, as well as other geo-spatial information that is available at the level of the RoI. |