Podkarpackie dives into the work with its RSG

In the framework of SATSDIFACTION project’s activities, Podkarpackie region organized two meetings with the members of its Regional Stakeholder Group.

The first one took place on 26 April. It included presentations on the activities carried out within the framework of the NEREUS Association, the general principles of the Interreg Europe 2021-2027 programme, the objectives and milestones of the SATSDIFACTON project and a presentation on the Regional Programme for Prevention of Climate Change and its Effects with Renewable Energy Sources and Circular Economy.

On the 22nd of September, the second meeting of the participants of the Regional Stakeholders Working Group of the SATSDIFACTION project took place. The participants of the meeting were welcomed by Mrs. Danuta Cichoń - Director of the Department of Regional Economy, who introduced the theme of the event and emphasised the great importance of this sector for the further development of innovation in the region.

Mrs Olga Janocha - Regional Coordinator of the Project (Marshal's Office of the Podkarpackie Region - UMWP) began by recalling basic information about the project, its purpose and partners. She then discussed the tasks to be carried out during the implementation, before presenting the results of the kick-off meeting held in Venice on 28-30 June this year and the good practices of the project leader - the Veneto region. Next, Ms Sylwia Łukawska-Sudoł (Department of Regional Development UMWP) presented her experiences and observations from participating in this meeting.

Another point of the meeting was a presentation on the National Satellite Information System, i.e. the national system for receiving, storing, processing and sharing satellite data, given by Mr Michal Pilecki - Director of the Polish Space Agency (POLSA) Branch in Rzeszów and Mr Wojciech Cyran - Senior Specialist in the Earth Observation Department (POLSA).

After the above-mentioned presentation, the participants of the meeting started to discuss the so-called "baseline context analysis" in the region, as the project has to prepare a short document that objectively presents the current state of development of the Podkarpackie region in the use of satellite data, including the institutional awareness that such solutions (data and tools) exist and are largely available for free, and can significantly facilitate (e.g. shorten or make cheaper) the current implementation of the tasks of some units. During this part of the meeting, a lively and substantive discussion took place, from which many important conclusions were drawn, which can be used in the document under development.

The next item of the meeting was a discussion on the preliminary identification of "good practices" in the use of spatial and satellite data in the Podkarpackie region.

At the end of the meeting, Ms Olga Janocha presented information on the interregional workshop to be held in Rzeszów in February 2024, while Mr Paweł Oczoś - Project Communication Manager - presented and discussed the benefits of using the Policy Learning Platform of the Interreg Europe 2021-2027 Programme, as well as the current project activities in the first semester in terms of promotion, communication and social media.

The meeting was summarised and closed by Director Danuta Cichoń, who thanked the stakeholders for their active participation, valuable guidance and submission of conclusions to the baseline analysis.

The implementation of the SATSDIFACTION project is a challenging task that requires continuous learning and skills development. Recently, two members of the project staff participated in the Earth Observation Forum - an annual event organised by the Polish Space Agency. These two days (8-9 November) were a great opportunity to meet top Polish experts in the field of Earth observation - scientists, entrepreneurs and public officials. Among the speakers was Roya Ayazi - Secretary General of NEREUS. The Forum was an area for networking, learning and strengthening relationships.