Building synergies with other initiatives is an important step to boosting the success of OBSGESSION. Earlier this month, partnering institutions from the project’s consortium - University of Zurich, UNEP-WCMC, Brockmann Consult, and VITO - joined an online meeting with the B-Cubed project to foster collaboration.

The B-Cubed project, (B3 - Biodiversity Building Blocks for Policy) is a Horizon Europe project, aiming to make biodiversity monitoring more agile and responsive by working with existing initiatives to meet policy needs. Using data cubes based on Essential Biodiversity Variables, it standardises biodiversity data access and supports real-time, on-demand modelling in the cloud. 

The meeting allowed participants on both sides to exchange know-how and learn from each other. The presenters from the B-cubed project shared their experience with biodiversity data managing (GBIF) and using tools like Bon-in-a-box, created by the GEO BON project, to process that data. Going forward, regular meetings and aligned approaches are planned to strengthen collaboration.

OBSGESSION’s objectives and key messages were presented by Eline Vanuytrecht, VITO, the leader of EO networks for biodiversity and ecosystems work package.