Dear colleagues,
The Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition (GODAN) Capacity Development Working Group aims to promote capacity development initiatives in agriculture and nutrition globally . It is with this aim GODAN, The University of Nottingham , the Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources for Development (RCMRD) , and Crops for the Future (CFF) are joining efforts to organise the AgriGIS Workshop and Think Tank meetings [1] to be held RCMRD, Nairobi, October 27-28, 2016. Geospatial science has a major role to play in securing both food and nutritional security in agricultural systems, particularly to address the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 to 'End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture. Collaborative, open and global action needs to be taken to address SDG2. The GRASP prototype developed at the University of Nottingham through BBSRC funding will be used as the basis for the workshop. The aim of the workshop is to introduce African researchers in key aspects of the approach, to develop a future network for further development and also to begin interactions with African agricultural researchers about how to focus the potential of this approach into a tool which is of direct use to them. The goal of the proposed event is to provide a forum for stakeholders in agricultural research organizations in Africa to share knowledge and propose strategies on improving the use of free and open geospatial software, open data, open educational resources . This will also aim to expand Capacity Building and Training in AgriGIS to support Global Food Security in partnership with GODAN. The participants at the workshop and think-tank meetings will be policy makers, senior research scientists, academics and students. Activities for the two-day workshop and think-tank meetings will be bringing together all participants on discussions, group work, presentations, demonstrations and discussions. We have received huge interest (over 160 registrations for this workshop for 40 places). We will be making all the workshop presentations available at the event website for the benifit of all. We also request all interested to follow us on Twitter at #agrigisNR2016 I will also be sharing many of the resources available including the online materials produced by GeoForAll colleagues at GeoAcademy. Thier FOSS4G Academy Curriculum with comprehensive QGIS tutorials are at http://spatialquerylab.com/foss4g-academy-curriculum/ Open principles in education (open educational resources, free and open software, open data, open standards etc) are key for true empowerment of staff and students globally and making education and opportunities accessible to all . We look forward to working and building collaborations with all interested in this education mission. Access to quality education and opportunities is key for getting rid of extreme poverty and enabling broadly shared prosperity for all. Best wishes, Suchith [1] http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/grace/events/eventsarticles/agrigis-workshop-and-think-tank-kenya.aspx This message and any attachment are intended solely for the addressee and may contain confidential information. If you have received this message in error, please send it back to me, and immediately delete it. Please do not use, copy or disclose the information contained in this message or in any attachment. Any views or opinions expressed by the author of this email do not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Nottingham. This message has been checked for viruses but the contents of an attachment may still contain software viruses which could damage your computer system, you are advised to perform your own checks. Email communications with the University of Nottingham may be monitored as permitted by UK legislation.
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