The momentum is increasing around international land monitoring initiatives, together with an unprecedented demand for free, accessible, and usable land data and information. The land sector must find ways to seize opportunities presented by open data innovations while negotiating a rapidly changing data environment. 

The Land Portal and Open Data Charter have been working with the Government of Senegal to open up land data, following the guidance set forth in the Open Up Guide for Land Governance. The Open Up Guide is a practical guide for governments who are seeking to better collect, publish, and use land data for the public good. As Phase 1 of this project, the team has published the State of Land Information in Senegal (SOLI) Report. SOLI reports are research-driven analyses of the current state of land data that assess the available land information against open data standards. 

The webinar will:

• Share latest results from the Open Up Guide implementation pilot in Senegal and findings from the SOLI Senegal report 

• Ask and discuss questions concerning the interest in and maturity of open data in Senegal as it relates to land 

• Hear perspectives from the government of Senegal (ANAT, PROCASEF), donors (GIZ, World Bank), local community members, using specific case studies on data and land initiatives

NASA’s Applied Remote Sensing Training Program (ARSET) has opened a new open, online introductory webinar series: Connecting Citizen Science with Remote Sensing. This 3-part training, delivered in English and Spanish, will provide attendees an overview of citizen science efforts that use Earth Observations combined with ground-based information in the fields of climate change, sustainable development, ecosystem monitoring and characterization, drought, and land cover or land-use change, and will highlight case-study examples of successful citizen science projects, with some examples from NASA supported projects and activities.