Coimbra to host National Earth Observation Conference in 2026

The third edition of the National Earth Observation Conference will take place in Coimbra in 2026. The University of Coimbra will support the next edition through eoLab, the Intermunicipal Community of the Region of Coimbra and the latter’s Competence Centre for Geospatial Information. The announcement was made by the executive director of the Portuguese Space Agency, Hugo Costa, at the closing session of Terra em Foco, which this year has established itself as the benchmark event for the meeting of the national community linked to Earth Observation, including companies, academia and public administration institutions.

Hugo Costa also recalled that the Earth Observation area is one of the “pillars of the creation” of the Portuguese Space Agency, which has promoted the use of satellite data from the outset, arguing that only democratising access to it can guarantee socio-economic development, the well-being of populations and the fight against and mitigation of climate change.

Arguing that the Agency will strengthen its role as a promoter of Earth Observation technologies, Hugo Costa also highlighted the role of Carolina Sá, the Agency’s Earth Observation programme manager, in coordinating and fostering partnerships and collaboration between the organisation and institutions, companies and academia.

In this regard, the president of the University of Minho’s School of Engineering, Pedro Arezes, reiterated the need for “greater involvement” between organisations to promote this and other areas.

The closing session of Terra em Foco was also marked by the awarding prizes to students from the National Earth Observation Conference – Terra em Foco. Cátia Almeida, from the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Porto, and Rui Mota, from the Institute for Research in Volcanology and Risk Assessment at the University of the Azores, were the big winners. The researcher from the University of Porto received the prize for Best Communication, awarded by the Portuguese Space Agency and Geosat. At the same time, the student from the University of the Azores won Best Poster, a joint prize awarded by the Agency and Esri Portugal.

Before the closing session, the cycle of thematic sessions was summarised in a round table that brought together representatives from various companies and educational and government institutions. This comprehensive discussion highlighted the need for coordination and the creation of synergies between sectors, areas of knowledge and organisations. Carolina Sá, who moderated the debate, emphasized the importance of such conversations in advancing the field of Earth Observation. “This conference endeavours to do that. It will be beneficial for the community to get to know each other, communicate with each other, and find out what has been done regarding Earth Observation in Portugal,” she added. The session was attended by João Bentes Jesus from Geosat, Daniel Wiesmann from Development Seed, Mário Caetano from DGT, João Catalão from the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon, and Colonel Rui Teodoro from the Army’s Geospatial Information Centre (CiGEOe).

The last day of the conference also emphasised topics as diverse as Artificial Intelligence in Earth Observation, with a presentation by Daniel Wiesmann, or SMOS, an application from the Directorate-General for Territory (DGT) for monitoring land occupation using cartographic information. In addition, the event sought to stimulate entrepreneurship through a session dedicated to the funding, competitiveness and internationalisation opportunities available to the Portuguese community in the area. The conference ended with several themed workshops, which allowed for the practical application of the knowledge gathered over the two days.