Eurisy’s Members’ day: a reflection on the success of 2024 and an ambitious way forward
As 2024 is coming to an end, Eurisy’s annual Members’ Day marks a crucial moment for reflection on the success of the past year, and contemplation and collaborative shaping of the association’s future. Taking place on 16 December 2024, this year’s Members’ Day was a great opportunity for Eurisy’s members and partners to engage in collaborative discussions, learn from each other and explore strategic next steps.
Dominique Tilmans welcoming Eurisy’s members and partners.
Dominique Tilmans (Eurisy President) gave a warmly welcome to everybody and acknowledged the association’s growth in 2024 and many great things on the horizon that are yet to come in the following years. Ms. Tilmans thanked Annalisa Donati (Eurisy interim Secretary General), as she embarks on an exciting new journey, for her hard work and dedication she showed to Eurisy. In her farewell address to the members and partners of Eurisy, Ms. Donati stressed the importance of collaborative work with Eurisy’s members for going forward and highlighted the great work the association carried following its mission to bridge space and society. In 2024, Eurisy kicked–off 3 new projects, SpaceSUITE, UDENE and Geospatial Tools for Cities Focus Group: Smart Cities Marketplace, published 8 publications, and organised 8 events.
Annalisa Donati giving a farewell address.
A special welcome was given to Dr. Graham Turnock, who will take on the role of Eurisy Secretary General in 2025 and take Eurisy towards new achievements. Dr. Turnock presented the vision of Eurisy’s future evolution, strengthening Eurisy’s activities in education and skills development in the space downstream sector, and acknowledging Eurisy’s growing role in providing support on user engagement. As a physicist, Dr. Turnock brings ample experience to Eurisy from his role as a CEO of the UK Space Agency and as a special advisor at the European Space Agency. He has also worked in the European Commission and held several other posts in the UK Civil Service with a strong European element.
Dr. Graham Turnock giving a speech on Eurisy’s vision in the next years.
The importance of looking forward was further emphasised by Heriberto Saldivar (Head of ESA Strategy Department), who presented the 2040 ESA Strategy, which is based on the need to position ESA to address key challenges in a rapidly changing space landscape such as sustainability of life on Earth, Europe’s leadership in science and technology, resilience of Europe’s society and economy and European cohesion and global reach. In line with this, the five pillars of the 2040 ESA Strategy were developed, namely, to protect our planet, explore and discover, strengthen European resilience and autonomy, boost European growth and competitiveness, and inspire Europe.
Heriberto Saldivar presenting the 2040 ESA Strategy.
Recognising the above challenges, Eurisy’s committed to contributing to sustainability of life on Earth, also reflected in its Hubert Curien Award, honouring groundbreaking achievements that transcend barriers, fostering innovative approaches to the interconnected human, cultural, and environmental systems that shape our world. The winner of the 11th edition of the Hubert Curien Award in 2024 is Space for Climate Observatory (SCO), an international initiative that uses satellite data to monitor and understand the impacts of climate change. The Members’ Day participants had the opportunity to hear from Frédéric Bretar (Head of SCO) and the SCO’s goal to provide high-quality, real-time data to track environmental changes helping policymakers and scientists address climate challenges more effectively. Read more about the 11th edition of the Award here.
Members’ day was also a great opportunity not only to reflect on the success of the association in 2024, but also to discuss way forward. During the workshop dedicated to Engagement and Thematic areas, members expressed their satisfaction with the format of the Members’ Corner, Eurisy’s initiative, enabling its members to share knowledge and experiences through webinars and reach new audiences. Eurisy’s partners and members expressed their enthusiasm for strengthening cooperation and collaboration between them in years to come. Instinctively, partners’ thematic areas of interest reflected current concerns at the global level, in particular resilience and security. Through discussion, other priorities emerged and, in line with Eurisy’s current activities, skills and education and agriculture were highlighted. During the workshop dedicated to Communication and Materials, members emphasised the importance of communicating Eurisy’s activities on LinkedIn, and the benefits of use cases Eurisy develops. All in all, the workshop was a valuable source of input for Eurisy to reflect on and build the future together.
Discussing Eurisy’s thematic areas of work and engagement with its members.
Eurisy also committed to contributing towards disaster risk management and made it one of its core activities. Isabelle Duvaux-Bechon (Civil Security Programme senior advisor) further discussed civil security from space (CSS), and highlighted Europe’s needs to be better equipped to monitor, mitigate and respond to such events, as there are many devastating events which are escalating with higher impact, among other things. To do so, ESA developed National Portals, which link space to users and operators, and she further highlighted the development opportunities on technologies and products such as enhanced sectors, secure connectivity solutions and testbeds and simulators. As a specific opportunity in CSS, Isabelle addressed Serenity, a ground network of interconnected hubs that offer seamless access to space and ground resources for enhanced crisis response and invited the members to take part as participating states.
Eurisy also substantiated its initiative by developing an interactive dashboard that leverages the outcomes and data collected through national workshops across Europe, organised in collaboration with EUSPA, focused on Disaster Risk Management (DRM), bringing together experts in space technologies and emergency management to address challenges and share insights within this critical domain. The dashboard offers a unique tool for comparing DRM needs and trends across countries, and it includes customizable maps and graphs, allowing users to visualize data dynamically based on adjustable filters and criteria. In addition, the dashboard integrates a catalog of space-based services and solutions, featuring a directory of companies offering relevant tools and technologies, and designed to simplify access to information and facilitate connections between stakeholders across various sectors.
Eurisy’s commitment to contributing to sustainability on Earth is further reflected in the new initiative it kicked-off in 2024: Focus Group on Geospatial Tools for Cities. As urbanisation trends continue to shape contemporary societal organisations, and digital technologies are becoming increasingly crucial for understanding and managing modern urban communities, ICLEI Europe and Eurisy are co-chairing the Focus Group to provide a new platform for local decision-makers, industries, investors, researchers, and other city stakeholders to collaborate, prioritise needs, and leverage geospatial data to create accessible and innovative solutions for sustainable urban development. An in-depth article on the launch event of the Focus Group is available at this link.
A panel on sustainable cities.
Members’ Day therefore represented a great opportunity to engage with our colleagues and friends, sharing memories and strengthening our community. We engaged in fruitful discussions with our members, listening to their perspectives and collaboratively shaping new chapters for Eurisy. While some farewells and big changes are on the horizon, we are confident that this will only strengthen the association and are excited for the new developments to come!