BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – The European Union Ambassador to Barbados and the Jap Caribbean, Malgorzata Wasilewska, Monday welcomed a brand new regional coaching initiative geared toward supporting catastrophe administration professionals to enhance how they put together for and reply to intensified climate-related threats
“This coaching takes place through the European Union’s Europe Month. Within the Caribbean, it’s an opportunity to rejoice the sturdy and evolving partnership between the EU and the area, significantly in areas like strengthening resilience, the place cooperation continues to deepen,” she advised the members from the 13 Caribbean nations collaborating within the five-day course targeted on harnessing satellite tv for pc knowledge to strengthen emergency planning and resilience.
“By offering public establishments with entry to dependable knowledge and the abilities to make use of it successfully, this initiative is contributing to a stronger, extra ready Caribbean, higher geared up to anticipate threat and defend communities,” she added.
The occasion introduces members to accessible, free European Union Copernicus instruments for analyzing Earth Statement (EO) knowledge and satellite tv for pc imagery, turning this info into sensible insights for real-world decision-making throughout a catastrophe.
The “Earth Statement: Ideas and Instruments” course permits members to discover free and open-source software program packages and find out how Copernicus merchandise can help their every day work.
Copernicus is the EU’s Earth commentary program, providing providers primarily based on satellite tv for pc and ground-based knowledge which might be freely out there to all.
Elizabeth Riley, govt director of the Barbados-based Caribbean Catastrophe Emergency Administration Company (CDEMA), mentioned that the worth of Earth Statement knowledge will not be theoretical and that it has already confirmed impactful in operational settings.
“In 2024 alone, Copernicus providers had been leveraged by the Regional Response Mechanism coordinated by CDEMA to help decision-making and response throughout Hurricane Beryl and the unprecedented wildfires in Belize. These examples show the ability of geospatial intelligence in enhancing situational consciousness and coordination throughout crises,” she added.
Contributors from Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Bahamas, Belize, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, St. Kitts-Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago are attending the occasion to achieve hands-on abilities that may assist civil safety companies, meteorological providers, and planning workplaces assess threat publicity, monitor environmental adjustments, and reply extra successfully to emergencies.
The course is led by Dr Caterina Peris Ferrús and Dr Akram Elghouat, consultants in EO providers improvement. The periods are designed to construct confidence in utilizing EO instruments for catastrophe preparedness and threat discount planning.
It’s organized by the EU’s CopernicusLAC Panama Centre on behalf of the European House Company (ESA) in shut partnership with the European Union Delegation to Barbados, the Jap Caribbean States, the Organisation of Jap Caribbean States (OECS), the Caribbean Neighborhood (Caricom) the Caribbean Discussion board (CARIFORUM) CDEMA, in addition to The Barbados-based Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH) and the Caribbean-EU Cooperation Facility challenge.
It’s a part of a broader effort underneath the European Union International Gateway technique and the EU-LAC Digital Alliance to help technical knowledge-sharing and digital cooperation between Europe and the Caribbean.
The exercise is a part of broader, cross-cutting, and steady cooperation on catastrophe threat discount between the European Union, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
Claudia Herrera, Stakeholder Engagement Officer on the CopernicusLAC Panama Centre, famous that “on the CopernicusLAC Centre in Panama, we’re firmly dedicated to supporting Caribbean nations in constructing stronger resilience to disasters.
“There may be clear proof that utilizing Earth commentary knowledge not solely will increase response efforts within the face of utmost occasions but in addition performs a vital position in strengthening catastrophe preparedness insurance policies and techniques.
“Coaching packages such because the one we’re launching immediately present important instruments to the devoted professionals on the forefront of constructing catastrophe resilience throughout the Caribbean,” Herrera mentioned.
CIMG chief meteorologist Kathy-Anne Caesar emphasised the significance of integrating Earth commentary instruments into regional catastrophe planning, encouraging us to study and share past this workshop in order that we are able to develop collectively within the problem of catastrophe
