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2024 Dragon Symposium
16-18 September 2024 ESA-ESRIN

URBIS24

URBan Insights from Space

Background

The URBIS24 Workshop will gather a diverse community of urban policymakers, Earth Observation researchers, service providers and various end-users. Taking place at ESA/ESRIN in Frascati, Italy, during September 16–18, 2024, this event will offer an insightful exploration of urban challenges and innovative EO-integrated solutions. URBIS24 will consist of presentations from invited speakers addressing key urban challenges and insights on latest results from experts leveraging Earth Observation for urban problem-solving and monitoring. The workshop is designed to be dynamic and participatory, featuring interactive sessions to identify the pressing needs and priorities of urban experts and decision-makers. Through collaborative discussions, the goal is to map existing innovative methodologies and technological solutions while exploring new applications for further development. The workshop will also include a poster session, providing a platform for participants to showcase their projects and use cases, fostering networking and exchange of ideas.  Join us at URBIS24 to stay informed about the latest developments in urban monitoring and innovation from space and contribute to shaping the next steps.

Objectives

  • Gather participants from different sectors, including urban experts, policy makers, remote sensing experts, academia and NGOs, in sharing knowledge, expertise and opportunities of using EO in addressing urban challenges, hence fostering new collaborations among participants; 
  • Identify challenges and priorities of urban experts and decision-makers in the context of urban planning, urban adaptation, increasing livability, which can strongly benefit from using up-to-date EO-integrated solutions; 
  • Explore up to date results from Remote Sensing scientists and experts and delineate new applications and R&D activities. 

Topics

 Topics of interest of the workshop include, but are not limited to: 

Methodology/DataApplications
Remote sensing methods for characterising urban areas (multispectral, hyperspectral, SAR/InSAR, TIR, LiDAR)  
Detailed LULC classification and change detection 
Multi-sensor and multi-scale synergies  
Multi-temporal approaches 
Global urban layers 
Cost-effective use of commercial data  
Downscaling (e.g., super-resolution)   
AI for urban  
3D/4D mapping  
Night-lights applications 
UAVs/drones, aerial platforms  
Capacity building, education, citizen science, crowdsource data and tools for urban applications
EO integration in urban social science and policy 
Urban planning and modelling of urban growth 
Health, well-being and liveability 
Urban ecology   
Nature-based solutions  
Urban energy infrastructure and renewables (demand, access, smart grids)  
Urban climate (Urban Heat Islands, pollution/air quality) 
Urban green and blue infrastructures  
Transport, Infrastructure and Sustainable Mobility  
Natural hazards, risk reduction and urban resilience  
Urban subsidence  
Informal settlements  
Population distribution  
Delineation of functional urban areas  

Abstract Submissions

The Abstract submission interface is open for technical and scientific contributions. We invite you to submit your abstract along with the selection of the topic and type of presentation (oral or poster) proposed.
Note: Abstract length should be maximum 300 words. Information about the co-authors (name, last name, affiliation, contact email) is required.

SUBMIT YOUR ABSTRACT HERE (CLOSED).

End-user Submissions

The interface for end-user contributions is now open. We invite you (city practitioners, urban experts, decision and policy makers, end-users at large) to submit your contribution and topics of interest you would like to address during the event. Please also select your preferred format (oral, poster or round table).

What kinds of contributions are sought? 

  • Examples of data/information/monitoring challenges you face that current or future EO services/tools may be able to support you with  
  • Your experiences in using EO to date, whether successful or otherwise 
  • How you would like EO user interfaces to be designed to ensure accessibility and usability for you, your teams and your communities. 

SUBMIT YOUR END-USER CONTRIBUTION HERE (CLOSED).

Registration

The registration is now closed.

The online registration for participation to the workshop will open on 30 June 2024, following the acceptance of the contributions.

Registration fee: 30€ (for 2 complete meal vouchers for lunch in the ESA canteen on 17-18/09/2024)

Ticket for the social dinner (optional) at Casale Marchese: 50€

Programme

The workshop programme is available👉 HERE.

Scientific Committee

Daniel Arribas-Bel

The Alan Turing Institute, UK

Yifang Ban

KTH, Sweden

Alexandre Banquet

OECD, France

Benjamin Bechtel

Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany

Ingunn Burud

NMBU Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Norway

Constantinos Cartalis

National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece

Tzu-Hsin Karen Chen

University of Washington, US

Nektarios Chrysoulakis

FORTH, Greece

Fabio Del Frate

University Tor Vergata, Italy

Sébastien Delbour

CLS, France

Tahia Devisscher

University of British Columbia, Canada

Thomas Esch

DLR, Germany

Martin Fleischman

Prague University, Czech Republic

Dilek Fraisl

IIASA & CSGP, Austria

Paolo Gamba

University of Pavia, Italy

Iphigenia Keramitsoglou

National Observatory of Athens, Greece

Monika Kuffer

University of Twente, The Netherlands

Nicholas Longepe

ESA

Mattia Marconcini

DLR, Germany

Paolo Mazzanti

NHAZCA, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy

Annekatrin Metz-Marconcini

DLR, Germany

Zina Mitraka

FORTH, Greece

Ana Oliveira

CoLAB +ATLANTIC, Portugal

Mattias Roth

National University of Singapore

Christophe Sannier

GAF, France

Katja Schechtner

Urbanistin die u.a. für MIT / OECD arbeitet, Austria

Tomáš Soukup

GISAT, Czech Republic

Iacopo Testi

Expert, Italy/USA

Matilda van den Bosch

ISGlobal, Spain / EFI Biocities, Italy

Jasper van Vliet

VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Qihao Weng

Hong Kong Polytechnic University, HK

Maria Zaretskaya

ESA

Programme Committee

Claudia Baranzelli

OECD

Beatrice Barresi

ESA

Zoltan Bartalis

ESA

David Corbett

ICLEI

Thomas Kemper

EC/JRC

Francesca Elisa Leonelli

ESA

Sabrina Lodadio

Serco c/o ESA

Stefanie Lumnitz

ESA

Federica Marando

ESA

Dennis Mwaniki

UN Habitat

Robert Ndugwa

UN Habitat

Marc Paganini

ESA

Petya Pishmisheva

Covenant of Mayors Europe

Irene Renis

Serco c/o ESA

Pourya Salehi

ICLEI, GCoM

Schedule and Deadlines

Abstract submission opening15 January 2024
Abstract submission closure30 March 2024 extended to 15 April 2024
Notification of acceptance5 July 2024
Registration Opening30 June 2024
Issue of Preliminary Programme30 June 2024
Registration closing30 August 2024 extended to 9 September 2024
Issue of Final Programme2 September 2024
Workshop16-18 September 2024

Contacts

For information regarding the submissions, author instructions, scientific committee related inquiries please contact
EO4Society.Conf@esa.int
For information regarding the logistics of the venue place, support with logistics booking and registration please contact
events.organisation@esa.int