Eurisy’s Position Paper 2012 recommends that operational satellite solutions whose benefits are proven through end-users’ experience, and which help fulfil European policy obligations, should be referenced in European Directives and Regulations, as well as in European transversal funding schemes.

This publication presents an overview of and the lessons learnt from Eurisy's three case-studies with regional authorities, involved in three interregional projects: MORE4NRG, ARCH and Coast Alive.

Satellites Going Local is a collection of non-technical examples of pioneering cities, regions and SMEs who use satellite services operationally. Following the success of the first edition of the publication, over the first half of the year, we have been working to find fresh examples for an entirely new edition 2012.

Eurisy contributed to event, namely to the session dedicated to “Space for Transport and Mobility”, presenting operational applications used in urban mobility by city administrations. In line with its scopes and mandate, Eurisy stressed the crucial role played by cities in addressing the challenges of urban mobility and urban sustainability.

How will GMES benefit New Member States?

The EC-ESA-Eurisy-ROSA conference GMES: New Opportunities for Eastern Europe, held in Bucharest on 3-4 May, discussed the opportunities that New Members States can obtain from their involvement in GMES, in particular through the development of the downstream sector and value-added services.

This April, in response to its 2010 communication “Europe, the world’s N°1 tourist destination – a new political framework for tourism in Europe”, the European Commission launched a public consultation on the establishment of a European Charter for Sustainable and Responsible Tourism, addressing all stakeholders including tourism SMEs and local/regional authorities.

The draft Charter outlines key principles for sustainable and responsible tourism and concrete lines of action for stakeholders to follow, including environmental monitoring and protection, climate change mitigation, resource efficiency, conservation of natural and cultural heritage.

Based on work with the the Interreg VIB Consortium of regional authorities Coast Alive in the area of sustainable coastal management and responsible tourism, and on the conclusions of the workshop “Tourism, leisure and sustainable development on the coast: the added value of satellite services”, held on 20 October 2011 in Bergen/Norway, Eurisy made the following comments and recommendations:

On 8 December 2011, Eurisy organised a Members’ Day as an exclusive forum for representatives of its member organisations to exchange ideas and experiences on the means and objectives of their (end-)user programmes. The meeting was diverse in contributions, rich in debate and appreciated by the participants.

Eurisy has prepared the attached executive summary on discussions on the day and providing an analysis of responses to the following questions Eurisy and its members seek to address:

• How to increase and improve end-user involvement in the development of satellite services?
• How to stimulate the take-up of operational satellite services by professional end-user communities?

For any questions, comments or suggestions, or if you would like to consult the full version of the report, please contact the Eurisy Secretariat.

“Satellites Going Local – 30 Regions, Cities and SMEs share good practice” is a collection of selected success stories of pioneering local or regional authorities and SMEs who have put satellite applications to work in delivering their professional goals in variety of fields such as environment, transport, health, urban and rural development, and others

These practical, down-to-earth examples, may give you helpful and transferable ideas on alternative routes, complementary tools, and new solutions to confronting professional challenges.

COAST ALIVE (CA!) is a project between several North Sea coastal regions concerned with promoting healthy living and mitigating climate change in coastal areas.

Eurisy has worked with Norfolk County Council, one of the project partners, in producing a tailored report on the County needs and challenges, with experts' recommendations on using satellite applications to meet them. Norfolk is currently looking at how to include satellite data in their current geographical information system, following some of these recommendations.

This report evaluates the  added value of satellite broadband in achieving 100% broadband coverage of the territory of Hampshire County. It is the outcome of a Eurisy case-study workshop hosted by the Hampshire County Council in Winchester, early 2011. The event brought together stakeholders from Hampshire County Council and satellite broadband experts from the European Satellite Operators Association (ESOA).

Eurisy, with the support of remote sensing and forestry experts, has produced an introduction highlighting the added value of satellite applications for forestry inventories and biomass assessments as part of sustainable energy strategies on a local and regional level.

The report provides new ideas to local and regional authorities actively seeking to leverage innovation in their projects related to forestry and biomass. It includes recommendations for local and regional authorities considering such solutions.

The report is Eurisy’s contribution to a toolkit on innovative approaches and tools for improving local energy strategies – the final output of the INTERREG project MORE4NRG.

There is currently a great opportunity for the diffusion of the use of satellite information and services. Potential users are keen to innovate and innovation is recognised as the key to economic recovery. Pioneering public and private organisations have already adopted satellite information and services. Rapid and sustainable measures are necessary to incentivise and support more end-users to follow suit. This will allow the formation of a well-developed core user pool with a critical size to trigger the emergence of a market for satellite services, and ensure Galileo and GMES services fully deliver the expected benefits to society.

Abstract
Satellite services benefit civil society by helping tackle challenges such as climate change, the digital divide, etc. They have the potential to deliver concrete benefits to European society through innovative services supporting economic, societal and environmental policies. Such benefits can trigger increased public support for space in Europe. However, this potential has yet to be achieved.

Abstract

This Paper argues that it is necessary to make efficient use of public investment in research and development by supporting the transition of the results into the final operational service/product.

Abstract

Eurisy acts as a facilitator in shaping new relationships between the space community and emergent final-user communities within society, with significant benefits for both. On the one hand, society will benefit from implementing the innovative solutions space has to offer for dealing with the challenges of today and tomorrow, and for ensuring its sustainable development. On the other hand, developing a wide user pool will reinforce the support of society to the whole space chain, from service providers to research sectors.