International co-design workshop: Earth observation in support of the Sustainable Development Goals – The case of urban areas in Asia

Future Earth and its collaborators will co-host a workshop on how Earth observation data can support the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals – with a focus on urban areas in Asia. Partners on the event include The University of Tokyo Integrated Research System for Sustainability Science (IR3S), Group on Earth Observations (GEO), the International Council for Science (ICSU) World Data System and the Science Council of Japan. The event will be held at the Science Council of Japan from 16 to 18 January 2017.

In 2015, the UN General Assembly formally accepted a new set of 17 measurable Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), ranging from ending world poverty to achieving gender equality and empowering women and girls by 2030. These goals are to supersede the previous Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a set of eight measurable goals which came to the end of their implementation in 2015.

To achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, geospatial information and Earth observations – collected at local, national and global levels and supported by the best science, tools and technologies – can serve critical, insightful roles in monitoring targets, tracking progress and helping nations make mid-course corrections. Space-based and in-situ data and information, combined with a large amount of socio-economic and statistical data, will assist nations to analyse and model conditions, create maps, and monitor change over time in a consistent and standard manner.

The workshop will address the integration of Earth observations (satellite and in-situ data) with socioeconomic data to derive information (indicators) for decision-makers in support of the Sustainable Development Goals. The organisers have selected two major topics to focus on: 1) Making urban areas more resilient in face of extreme environmental effects in Southeast Asia; 2) Assessing the challenges of urban air pollution in Asia.

To register for this event, fill out the form here. Space is limited, and not all who register may be able to attend.