Bridging ICTs and Environment - Spatial Planning and Environmental Assessment for Decision Making in Europe 2014

Course dates: July 7-11, 2014
Venue: 
Central European University, Budapest, Hungary

Workshop Information

Human activities play a key role in shaping our landscape and environment. These activities result in unprecedented land use changes with ecological, socio-economic impacts. As the awareness about these effects is rapidly rising, we see a need to increase the link between spatial planning science and meaningful collaborative engagement with social actors. As a cross-disciplinary tool spatial planning combines research and policy making at different levels. It identifies shortcomings in nature and landscape management and shapes the way to further improvements.

The objective of course is to provide students with theoretical backgrounds and up-to date developments in term of spatial planning and landscape sustainability, with some examples from the South Caucasian and other regions of the world, taken from recently completed and ongoing research projects. It aims at facilitating the integration of researchers from EU neighbors into the European research scene on ICT and spatial planning in environmental management and decision-making. The potential cooperation paths will be presented to prospective collaborators from the target countries. A series of recently completed and ongoing research projects in the area of geospatial based decision making will be presented and discussed. The Summer School will also establish initial contacts and foster collaborative ties between young researchers from both the EU and neighboring countries to initiate and develop successful geospatial projects.  Participants had to complete a series of exercises for successful course completion.

Workshop Directors: 

Viktor Lagutov, Central European University, Hungary

Nicolas Ray, University of Geneva, Carouge, Switzerland

Armen Saghatelyan, Center for Ecological-Noosphere Studies (CENS), Yerevan, Armenia

Workshop Faculty: 

Shushanik Asmaryan, Center for Ecological Studies, Yerevan, Armenia

Sheila Convery, School of Geography, Planning & Environmental Policy, University College, Dublin, Ireland

Yaniss Guigoz, University of Geneva, Carouge, Switzerland

Mamuka Gvilava, Geographic GIS&RS Consulting Center, Georgia

Zorica Nedovic-Budic, School of Geography, Planning & Environmental Policy, University College Dublin, Ireland

Lilit Sahakyan, Environmental Geochemistry Department, Center for Ecological-Noosphere Studies, Yerevan, Armenia

Harutyun Shahumyan, School of Geography, Planning & Environmental Policy, University College Dublin, Ireland

Additional Information

This course is a part of the ISEPEI project workshop series. It is being run in cooperation with EU/FP7 project EcoArm2ERA (UNIGE, UCD, CENS). See photos from the event hereFind more information at http://www.summer.ceu.hu/planning-2014

ISEPEI Course Director Viktor Lagutov leading the Bridging ICTs and Environment Plenary Session at CEU