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La Palma Research Centre

LPRC attends AGEO 8th Consortium Meeting in Dublin

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La Palma Research Centre (LPRC) attended the AGEO 8th Consortium Meeting, hosted by University College Dublin (UCD) in Dublin, from the 6th to the 8th of October. In this meeting, more than 30 members of the international consortium presented the progress being made in each one of the five pilots that are being developed within the project, conducted collaborative sessions to improve and to share ideas regarding its development and implementation, and harmonized the contents of the book that will be published as an output for AGEO.

The event was divided in three days:

  • On the 6th, we discussed sustainability, the roadmap for the AGEO App for geohazard monitoring, the harmonization of the book chapters and held parallel sessions.
  • A specialized session was held on the 7th to discuss educational contents, usability aspects of the AGEO App, and the crisis management conducted by IGME during the eruption of La Palma.
  • On the 8th, the attendees visited the Causeway Coast and the Carrick-a-Rede pilots in Northern Ireland, hosted by Geological Survey Northern Ireland (GSNI)

As the leaders for the Communication Work Package (WP2), La Palma Research Centre presented the roadmap for communication and the new table of contents for the communications chapter that will be included in the AGEO book.

You can follow this project on the AGEO website and @ageoatlantic on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

AGEO

AGEO presented at the “Future of Science Communication Conference”

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The Future of Science Communication Conference was held on the 24 and 25 June, online. The conference brought together European actors from research and practice of science communication. And LPRC joined to learn and share its views on science communication.

For this event, the LPRC team took the chance to present AGEO. This INTERREG Atlantic project was presented in the poster session of the 25 June, where Ariadna Ortega talked about the project’s tasks and contributions to Science Communication in the Atlantic region and why its results in specific and science communication at large are important.

The AGEO poster for the Future of Science Communication Conference

The presentation can be seen here. AGEO can be discussed until the end of July, so feel free to contribute!

LPRC projects at EGU 2021

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This year, following the company’s tradition to present its projects at the EGU General Assembly – 2017, 2019 and 2020 -, LPRC will present and discuss five projects on this year’s edition. Due to the travel and health restrictions in place the event will be held online.

The EGU 2021 event (#vEGU21) will host presentations in a unique style: each abstract will be given a 2-minute timeslot  to make a quick presentation based on a 1-slide presentation. After that, participants can enter chat rooms to discuss the abstract and the presentations with the authors.

Below you can find the projects and materials that LPRC will present during the EGU 2021 online event:

Feel free to have a look at the projects and materials provided and join the discussion at the given times – science is for everyone!

LPRC during 2020 – a summary

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The past year was an atypical one, there is no denying it. Despite the many problems posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, LPRC still managed to keep up with its work plans. All team activities – where the EU-funded projects are of most importance – ran successfully. Although not without a certain degree of adaptation. A quick summary of our activities on each of our EU projects during 2020 is given below:

INTERMIN: LPRC participated in the project’s main discussions and contributed with dissemination activities. The team’s biggest workshare was done in 2019 regarding WP2 – Raw Materials Sector Skills, Gaps and Needs.

MACARONIGHT: In 2020, LPRC coordinated the second installment of  the MACARONIGHT project after its success in 2o19. Coordination included preparation and monitoring of activities in different islands as well as analysis of the outcomes.

PRO-ACT: For this space project, LPRC contributed with geological information for the preparation of the lunar analogues where the robotic elements shall be tested during 2021. LPRC also presented the project during the EGU 2020 event.

ROBOMINERS: LPRC leads WP8 – Active clustering and roadmapping – and during 2020 the team contributed to the exchange of information with several projects and initiatives, kickstarted Focus Groups discussions and launched the Horizon Scanning activities. LPRC also contributed with the dissemination of the project at several opportunities.

AGEO: Within AGEO, the team leads communication and dissemination efforts. In 2020, besides the outreach efforts, LPRC also contributed to strengthening the impact of the project by leveraging communication with other EU projects and initiatives.

CROWDTHERMAL: During 2020, LPRC’s role was two-fold. First, the team largely contributed to the communication efforts with the management of social media channels and preparation of material such as factsheets. Second, LPRC kickstarted activities for WP4 – Integrated Development Schemes, which it leads.

ENGIE: LPRC started discussions and prepared ENGIE-related activities for the Researchers Night in 2020. For this task, LPRC hosted a high number of (online) workshops. The team also contributed with dissemination of the project, as seen with its participation on the EGU 2020 event.

UNEXUP: Continuing LPRC’s tasks from UNEXMIN, in UNEXUP the team also leads dissemination efforts. Therefore, LPRC was responsible for the development of all outreach material – both online and physical. Another important task, was the team’s contribution to the market analysis and go-to-market strategy set for the project’s implementation.

MOBI-US: Within this education-based project LPRC had two main tasks. It led outreach efforts during the whole year with the development and implementation of dissemination actions. The other relevant task was the contribution to the major guidelines for the implementation of the MOBI-US network. Here, LPRC contributed with an extensive analysis on the current and future gaps of the raw materials sector.

Besides contributing to EU-projects LPRC was also active in other areas including policy analysis, science communication and use of foresight methodologies.

We hope to have an even better 2021 with more projects and more work!

AGEO

AGEO e-meeting – May 2020

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On the 27th and 28th of May the third Consortium meeting of the Interreg Atlantic Area project AGEO was held online. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemics, the programmed El Hierro Congress and in-person meeting had to be substituted by an online two days meeting, consisting of nine parallel sessions divided in three groups addressing three of the main themes of the project: Citizen Observatories, Citizen Engagement and, Copernicus Products and Services.  A total of 52 people belonging to the 14 partners across 5 countries participated in the discussions held during the two-day event.

AGEO e-meeting – May 2020

LPRC, along with the Portuguese Association of Geologists, led the session on Citizen Engagement. During this session, partners identified the main stakeholders for each of the five pilots in order to update and optimise the capitalisation and communication strategies of the project. New approaches to planned activities and meetings were discussed in the light of the new COVID-19 situation all over the world.

AGEO e-meeting – May 2020

AGEO is a project funded by the Interreg Atlantic Area and it aims to launch several pilots on citizen observatories to highlight how citizen involvement in risk prevention can strengthen regional and national management systems. The outcome of this specific initiative will be used to formulate recommendations for the creation of future permanent observatories in response to the wide range of hazards in the European Atlantic areas – floods, fires, earthquakes, among others.

EGU 2020 online event from LPRC’s eyes

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Last week, the LPRC team presented some of its projects at the EGU General Assembly 2020, an yearly event that brings together geoscientists from all over the world to discuss several geoscientific topics. This is the third time that LPRC participates in this event, following the years of 2017 and 2019.

Due to the current situation and the restrictions in place, the EGU General Assembly of this year was held online. LPRC presented five of its running projects from Monday (4th May) through Friday (8th May). The corresponding presentation materials can still be seen and commented on until the 31st of May – find more here.

During the many online sessions, LPRC presented projects from different geoscientific related areas including new mineral exploration methods, space technology for moon exploration and citizens observatories for geohazards. The interest in the presented projects was showcased by the questions that the audience – through chat-based interaction – had for the team.

Below are the number of users participating in each of the sessions where LPRC presented its projects:

  • PRO-ACT on the session “Open session on experimental and modelling techniques for the exploration and sustainable utilization of the Moon” – 46 users
  • ROBOMINERS on the session “Energy, Resources and the Environment” – 55 users
  • AGEO on the session “Hydrology, Society and Environmental change” – 168 users
  • ENGIE on the session “Enabling Women in Geoscience: Inspiration, Challenges and Best Practice” – 176 users
  • UNEXUP on the session “State-of-the-art in mineral exploration” – 66 users

LPRC was glad to once more be part of the EGU General Assembly event and able to share innovative mining solutions, how to solve challenges in space exploration, helping to monitor geohazards and bring gender equality to the geoscientific fields. The team aims to participate once again next year with new projects and more innovative ideas!

EGU 2020 online – with LPRC participation

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Similarly to the past editions of 2017 and 2019, LPRC is set to participate in this year’s European Geosciences Union with presentation materials on some of the projects where the company participates. This year, due to the restrictions imposed on the COVID-19 situation, the event will be held online.

The EGU 2020 online event will have many activities and discussions running from the 4th to the 8th of May. Posters, talks and other debates will be transformed into online available materials and chat talks will be held to engage in discussion with scientists.

Below you can find the projects and materials that the LPRC members are going to present during next week’s EGU 2020 online event:

Feel free to have a look at the projects and materials provided and join the discussion at the given times – science is for everyone!

AGEO meeting, Lisbon

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The partners of the AGEO Interreg Atlantic Area project met in Lisbon during the 11th and the 12th of November in the Instituto Técnico de Lisboa, the coordinator of the project, to discuss the development of the AGEO Citizen Observatories and complementary actions.

Entities from the UK, Ireland, France, Lisbon and Spain – representing the European Atlantic region – met to discuss the needs for the creation of a tool to evaluate geohazards risks and the pilots that will engage civil society in the prevention, protection and management of geohazards relevant to the Atlantic Area and the participant countries specific regions.

During the first day a review of the progress of all Work Packages and the state-of-the-art of the five pilots were presented followed by an active group discussion. LPRC presented their Work Package (Communications) state and future plans as well as participating in the presentation of the Canary Islands rock-falls and rock-fall triggers pilot, in which LPRC participates actively.

On the second day, the members of the Advisory Board – an entity formed by experts in the areas covered by AGEO –  attended to the meeting and offered valuable inputs for the best possible functioning of the project. These inputs are gladly received by the project partners and the AGEO consortium will follow them whenever possible.

On Wednesday the 13th, partner LNEG (member of Copernicus Academy) organized a workshop on the use of Copernicus for Geohazards, an essential part of AGEO, as the project has a strong commitment to encourage the regional-level uptake and use of products and services provided by European spatial data infrastructures, such as Copernicus or EGDI. During the workshop, the AGEO pilots were once again presented by the partners and the upcoming El Hierro workshop, organized by partners IGME, ULL and LPRC was officially announced for April 2020.

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LPRC presented at Congress for Social Communication of Science, Burgos

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LPRC presented three posters and one oral presentation in the Congress for Social Communication of Science in the University of Burgos organized by AECC (Spanish Science Communication Association) on the 10th and 11th of October.

The two-day congress included roundtables, lectures, comedy stand-ups and a scientific social program focused on three main themes:

  • Receivers of science communication.
  • Strategies for science communication.
  • Channels for science communication.

These teams are very much inline with LPRC’s line of work and, therefore, this was a perfect place for LPRC to present its work and get connected to other stakeholders and interested parties within the same field.

LPRC presented two ongoing projects, MacaroNight and AGEO, and one upcoming one, ENGIE, each having a dedicated poster. The MacaroNight project’s poster and communication were enclosed in the “Receivers of science communication” theme, and were titled “Communicating science for islanders”, where the importance of the regional focus of MacaroNight was stressed. MacaroNight gathers parties from the archipelagos of Canarias, Madeira, Açores and Cape Verde.

AGEO targeted the way Citizen Observatories create a new channel to reach general society by making them part of the actual research and how the Interreg Atlantic Area funded would achieve this goal, while ENGIE tackles the strategies to close the gender gap in geo-sciences.

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AGEO

AGEO Kick-off meeting, Lisbon

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The AGEO project kick-off meeting was held in Lisbon, at Instituto Superior Técnico, home of the project’s coordinator institution, on the 4th and 5th of July, with a field trip to showcase some examples of possible risks to be reported by the Lisbon multihazards pilot on the 6th. AGEO – Platform for Atlantic Geohazard Risk Management – will be launching several Citizens’ Observatory pilots on geohazards according to regional priorities. To do this, the project brings together partner institutions from 5 countries of the Atlantic area: Portugal, Spain, France, UK and Ireland. LPRC is one of the representatives from Spain and is leading WP2 – Communication.

The two days meeting started with an overview of the objectives and the roadmap to fulfill those; a review of each WP got the partners on the same page. Discussions on Citizens’ Observatories, Copernicus services and the Pilots within AGEO, crucial for the project development and goals, marked the remaining discussions of Day 1. Ariadna Ortega presented LPRC’s view for the Communication work package.

During the second day, a detailed overview and discussion on each WP’s activities and planning allowed the participants to know what to to, where to contribute and when to do it. Again, Ariadna Ortega, introduced LPRC’s ideas to the consortium. It is important that every partner contributes to the project development in every aspect – and the AGEO team understands that.

Besides the two-days discussion, a field visit was organised on Saturday by the Municipality, to show Lisbon’s most vulnerable spot that served as an example of the risks that could be reported by the citizens during the Observatory. This site showcased the project’s potential to the consortium and stakeholders alike.

LPRC is glad to be part of this consortium and will do their best to help the project achieve its objectives!

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