On 21 November, we hosted our first Online Workshop with almost 100 participants.
The workshop presented the progress of the CENTAUR Horizon Europe project, the challenges faced by the team, and the next steps. It also provided a platform for key stakeholders to engage in panel discussions on urban flooding and food and water security.
Iulia Simion, Project Advisor at the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA), which oversees the CENTAUR project from initiation to completion, opened the workshop. She gave an overview of the project and emphasised that Horizon Europe-funded projects such as CENTAUR are the foundation for the next generation of Copernicus evolution services.
3 Main Takeaways
Valerio Botteghelli, Project Coordinator of CENTAUR, followed with a detailed presentation on the preliminary results of the project, outlining key milestones from the past two years and future directions.
Three of the main takeaways included:
- Development of Innovative Indicators
CENTAUR has developed 33 innovative indicators which address urban flooding and food and water security. These indicators integrate a range of datasets, such as meteorological conditions, social fragility, resilience, and economic stability, to provide essential information for early warning systems.
One index highlighted was the Drought Conflict Prediction Index, which combines drought data, fragility and resilience metrics, and conflict data to more accurately forecast risks. This tool is strengthened by incorporating resilience factors such as international and national aid. This allows users to predict where and when impacts are likely to occur.
- Release of the CENTAUR Service Platform Architecture
Another key achievement highlighted by Botteghelli was the release of the CENTAUR Service Platform architecture, which was demonstrated during the workshop. He emphasised that the platform already has more than 1,000 products included. The platform will allow authorised users to access a wide range of data and indicators.
Key features include customisable visualisation options, the ability for users to adjust opacity to view map overlays, filter by keywords or use cases, and view detailed metadata. In addition, interactive maps and dashboards will enable the visualisation of indicators, including the ability to add charts, tables, or text. The platform will support key stakeholders in their decision making.
- Moving Towards the ‘Hot Phase’
CENTAUR is now entering the ‘hot phase’, which focuses on testing the functionality of the tools, models, and platforms based on real-world scenarios to ensure their accuracy, robustness, and usability.
The objective will be to validate our tools for urban flooding and food and water insecurity, as well as demonstrate the value for the identified target stakeholders.
Presentation from Valerio Botteghelli during the Keynote Presentation at the CENTAUR 1st End-Users Workshop.
Panel Discussions
The workshop also featured two insightful panel sessions. The first one focused on urban floods, with experts from the Joint Research Centre/Copernicus Emergency Management Service, Italian Civil Protection Department, iCube-SERTIT, the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), and ICEYE sharing their perspectives on how urban flooding is becoming an increasingly pressing issue and how innovative solutions are key improving prevention and response phases.
The second panel discussed how climate change exacerbates security risks, particularly through increased resource competition, food and water security issues, and political instability. Panellists from SatCen/Copernicus Service on Support to EU External and Security Actions (CSS-SESA), Adelphi, and NASA Harvest shared insights on developing early warning systems and tools to predict and mitigate these challenges, particularly in relation to food and water insecurity.
Conclusion
The workshop highlighted the importance of collaboration, innovation, and stakeholder engagement throughout the course of the project. It also underscored the need for innovative solutions which integrate Earth Observation, AI, and machine learning to address climate change challenges. Stakeholder cross-fertilisation has been identified as an essential element for achieving this, integrating different perspectives to ensure a clear understanding of needs and priorities. In this context, feedback from end-users plays a central role in shaping the products and services needed to drive uptake and ensure full exploitation of the early warning systems solutions being developed.
We would like to thank all participants and attendees for their contributions during this first Online Workshop. The recordings of the event can be found here.
The next Workshop will be held in November 2025 to present the final products.
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