The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) invites interested individuals to register for its hybrid 2023 UN/Austria Symposium, themed “Space for climate action: space applications and technologies for sustainability on Earth”, between 12 – 14 September 2023, in Graz, Austria.
About the 2023 UN/Austria Symposium
This year’s symposium is part of a series to discuss the crucial contributions of space applications and technologies in tackling the challenges of climate change. The focus of the symposium is to showcase the most recent initiatives, experiences and best practices in mitigating and adapting to climate change and supporting sustainability on Earth.
Furthermore, one of the symposium’s objectives is to create awareness of how Member States use space technologies and highlight how the space sector is being adapted to reduce its own impact on the climate crisis.
In addition, the symposium will feature government officials, the diplomatic community, UN and international agencies, private companies, academia, and NGOs to raise awareness of relevant space-related activities, services and cooperation programmes among different user groups.
Objectives
The symposium has the following objectives:
- To promote the exchange of best practices and solutions to meet the demand and needs of developing countries in mitigating and adapting to climate change;
- To demonstrate how initiatives based on space applications have been successfully developed and implemented in different countries;
- To share experiences and explore how space-based services can comply with or support policies about climate action according to national priorities and how sustainability policies are being applied in the space sector;
- To present available toolboxes that have already been implemented through case studies or pilot projects at a country level to comply with regulations related to climate action to encourage the adoption of tested tools and approaches;
- To raise awareness of relevant space-related activities, services and cooperation programmes among different user groups, in particular government officials, the diplomatic community, UN and international agencies and NGOs; and
- To report to the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space through the Scientific and Technical Sub-committee.
Programme Details
- Keynote presentations: Given by invited speakers;
- Sessions: Presenters will make a 15-minute presentation followed by a Question and Answer (Q&A) with the audience;
- Panels: Roundtables during which speakers give short introductory statements, followed by a moderated discussion among speakers and Q&A with the audience;
- Pitches: Short presentations introducing specific projects or initiatives in less than 5 minutes.
- Posters: Physical poster presentations introducing specific projects or initiatives;
- Interactive session: Moderated discussions in small groups to enable audience members representing various stakeholder groups to discuss and debate on a specific topic. Each group will synthesise their conclusions for presentation to all in the plenary;
- Social events: Two evening receptions hosted by the Mayor of Graz and the Governor of Styria and a guided tour of Graz.
- Before or after the symposium, a series of training will be planned for participants; and
- There will also be networking opportunities for participants;
Additional Note
- A detailed programme will be released in July 2023.
Call for Abstracts
Interested individuals are encouraged to submit abstracts for the symposium with the following criteria:
- Presentation of concrete case studies, pilot projects and lessons learnt;
- Abstracts reporting activities that have already taken place will be given preference over those primarily focused on theories, concepts and plans for the future; and
- Abstracts covering topics/activities presented at a prior UN/Austria Symposium must state this explicitly and detail the additional information to be delivered and the added value that this represents.
Furthermore, in the application form, interested individuals must indicate which of the following topics applies to their presentation:
- Case studies on using space applications for adaptation to the climate crisis, ideally at the country level in Slovenia, Egypt and/or Brazil;
- Specific recent innovative use of space applications to mitigate the impact of the climate crisis in the areas of transport, energy production, and food production; or
- Changes in space engineering practices and innovations reduce the contribution of space activities to the climate crisis, as well as regulatory incentives for their adoption.
How to Apply
Interested individuals must submit the registration form and abstract before 11 June 2023. Late submissions will not be considered.
For more information, click here.
For further enquires, contact unoosa-events@un.org.
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