One-day thematic workshop at ASI Headquarters in Rome focused on science, operational workflows and best practices in the use of Earth Observation data to support Disaster Risk Management
The Italian Space Agency (ASI) and the Working Group on Disasters (WGD) of the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) jointly organise a one-day International Workshop focused on Earth Observation (EO) for Disaster Risk Management (DRM).
Location: ASI Headquarters in Rome, Italy
Date: Wednesday 16 September 2026
Format: Hybrid, i.e. both in-presence and from remote connection
Language: English
Context
EO technologies and data are nowadays established resources to support civil protection activities during emergencies due to natural hazards (e.g. earthquakes, landslides, floods, volcanic eruptions, wildfires) and address all DRM phases (prevention, preparedness, recovery and reconstruction).
Several organisations and initiatives, at both country and international levels, exploit EO for DRM purposes. To name a few: national services and systems of civil protection, the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UN DRR) and the Satellite Centre (UNOSAT), Copernicus Emergency Management Service (CEMS), The International Charter: Space and Major Disasters.
Furthermore, researchers and private companies are continuously developing and demonstrating novel methods and algorithms, prototype thematic products, exploitation platforms and Digital Twins, to help improving current capabilities for dealing with natural disasters. These developments are frequently achieved in the framework of programs run by space agencies, such as the European Space Agency (ESA)’s Global Development Assistance (GDA) and Earth Observation for Sustainable Development (EO4SD), and ASI’s national downstream programmes.
International cooperation is crucial for DRM and DRR, also to enable more countries and communities in benefitting of EO-based solutions and services.
In this context, CEOS WGD plays a key role, given its mandate of sustained coordination of disaster-related activities undertaken by the CEOS Agencies, and as an interface between CEOS and the community of stakeholders and users involved in DRM and DRR.
Scope
Taking the chance that ASI will host the 26th CEOS WGD meeting in the week 14-18 September 2026, ASI and WGD organise a one-day international workshop open to national and international institutional, scientific and industrial communities.
The workshop will provide a forum for:
- Presenting the state of the art of scientific research, algorithms development, prototype products and pre-operational demonstrations in the use of EO data for each DRM phase;
- Discussing the impact, benefits and limitations of novel technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Deep Learning;
- Sharing lessons learnt, best practices and recommendations from the most recent activations, pilot and demonstration projects run by the CEOS WGD;
- Showcasing experiences and use-cases from programmes run by space agencies, also in partnership with international financial institutions, stakeholders and final users;
- Sharing models and best practices from institutions in charge of DRM/DRR and civil protection activities;
- Identifying current gaps and user needs that EO may address in future.
Call for abstract
The technical programme will include oral presentations and a poster session.
The national and international institutional, scientific and industrial communities, as well as space agencies and organisations in charge of DRM/DRR/civil protection activities, are therefore invited to submit abstracts in response to the Call for Abstracts according to the following deadlines:
- Registration with abstract submission: 7 August 2026.
- Registration without abstract submission: 4 September 2026.
- Authors will be notified about the acceptance of their abstracts and assignment as either oral or poster by 14 August 2026.
Registration
In order to participate in the workshop, delegates must register using the registration form available at the link.
For any further information please do send an email to: eo@asi.it