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GEO-LDN Programme at UNCCD COP.16
including the Global Dialogue Forum Riadh 2024

The upcoming GEO-LDN Global Dialogue Forum ( GDF 2024_Concept Note.pdf 132.0 KB ) will be held at UNCCD COP16 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from 3rd to 13th December 2024. It will build upon the achievements and insights gained from the previous Global Dialogue Forum held in South Africa in November 2023 and a series of in-person events: Partners4change in Nairobi, Capacity Accelerator Network (CAN) learning workshop in Ghana, Regional Dialogue Forum in Senegal and online support sessions. 

NB: This programme is subject to change - Please check for updates regularly

03.12. / 04.12. / 05.12. / 06.12. / 07.12. // 09.12. / 10.12. / 11.12. / 12.12. / 13.12.


3rd of December

Time

Speaker

Title

Location

10:00-11:15 

Members of intersectoral GEO-LDN country Team Colombia & Peru 

The GEO-LDN country teams Colombia and Peru present their GEO-LDN use cases  

GEO&GEO-LDN pavilion stage, GREEN Zone  

09:00-18:00 

Country Teams Colombia, Nigeria & Peru 

The country teams Colombia, Nigeria and Peru present their GEO-LDN uses cases 

GEO-LDN Booth, GREEN Zone 

4th of December

Time 

Speaker 

Title 

Location 

09:00-09:45 

Navneet Kumar, UNU-EHS 

Innovative Techniques for Mapping and Monitoring Degraded Land Using Earth Observation  

GEO&GEO-LDN pavilion stage, GREEN Zone 

10:00-13:00 

Neil Sims Remote Sensing Research Scientist at Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) 

Anke Schickling, WORLDSOILS Technical Officer at ESA (t.b.d) 

Joint CRIC/CST plenary session: interactive dialogue on "Horizon scanning for the post-2030 UNCCD Monitoring Framework 

BLUE Zone 

Plenary Hall

10:00-11:00 

Cesar Garcia, Co-lead GEO-LDN Working Group “Decision Support”, Apacheta 

Gabriel Daldegan, Co-lead GEO-LDN Working Group “Data Analytics”, Conservation International (C.I.) 

Calvin James, Coordinator of Partnership Initiative for Sustainable Land Management t.b.d. 

Addressing the Lack of Geospatial Data in Small Island Developing States: The Urgent Need for Higher-Resolution Data (t.b.c.) 

GEO&GEO-LDN pavilion stage, GREEN Zone 

13:00-14:15 

Members of intersectoral GEO-LDN country Team Nigeria & Ghana Coastal Erosion (tbc) 

 

The GEO-LDN country teams Nigeria & Ghana Coastal Erosion present their use cases 

GEO&GEO-LDN pavilion stage, GREEN Zone 

15:00-17:30 

Isa Abubakar, Data Scientist at Capacity Accelerator Network (CAN) initiative, Nigeria 

 

Dr. Shomboro Dauda, Remote Sensing Expert, Nigeria 

Kobo Toolbox Training in English language for Spanish speaking GDF participants (country teams Peru & Colombia) 

GEO& GEO-LDN Workshop room/soundproof space, GREEN ZONE 

17:45-18.45 

Yvonne Walz, UNU-EHS 

Karen Sudmeier-Rieux, UNCCD 

A way forward to scale up ecosystem-based approaches for integrating disaster risk reduction, climate, land and biodiversity goals  

GEO&GEO-LDN pavilion stage, GREEN Zone 

09:00-18:00 

Country Teams Colombia, Nigeria & Peru 

The country teams Colombia, Nigeria and Peru present their GEO-LDN uses cases 

GEO-LDN Booth, GREEN Zone 

 

5th of December

Time 

Speaker 

Title 

Location 

09:30-10:30 

Mabel Omotoshowho Emmanuel, Director   Desertification, Land Degradation and   Drought Management Department,   

Federal Ministry of Environment –  

UNCCD/AFR100 National Focal Point, Nigeria 

Zakaria Yakubu, Executive Director at the Centre for African Research and   

Development (CARD), Ghana  

Isa Abubakar, Data Scientist at Capacity Accelerator Network (CAN) initiative, Nigeria 

Dr. Shomboro Dauda, Remote Sensing Expert, Nigeria  

Panel discussion: Leveraging Geodata to Build Resilient Communities Through Sustainable Land Management (t.b.c.) 

GEO&GEO-LDN pavilion stage, GREEN Zone 

10:30-12:30 

Cesar Garcia, Co-lead GEO-LDN Working Group “Decision Support”, Apacheta  

 

GEE Apps Training for Spanish speaking GDF participants (country teams Peru & Colombia) 

GEO&GEO-LDN pavilion stage, GREEN Zone 

13:00-14:15  

Members of intersectoral GEO-LDN country Team Ghana CAP & Georgia 

The GEO-LDN country teams Ghana CAP & Georgia present their use cases 

GEO&GEO-LDN pavilion stage, GREEN Zone 

15:00-17:30 

Isa Abubakar, Data Scientist at  Capacity Accelerator Network (CAN) Initiative, Nigeria 

 

 

Dr. Shomboro Dauda, Remote Sensing Expert, Nigeria 

Kobo Toolbox Training for English speaking GDF participants (country teams from Nigeria, Ghana CAP, Ghana Costal Erosion, Kenia, Georgia) 

GEO&GEO-LDN Workshop room/soundproof space, GREEN ZONE 

15.30- 17.00 

Cesar Garcia, Co-lead GEO-LDN Working Group “Decision Support”, Apacheta  

Olga Lucia Ospina, Ministry of  Environment and Sustainable  Development (MINAM), Colombia and others 

Ecuador proposal: Ecoregional Approach for Mapping Land Degradation and estimating SDG indicator 15.3.1 in Highly Diverse Countries 

BLUE Zone, MET 03 

15:30-17:00 

Maurille Elégbédé, Focal Point of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), Benin 

Harish Daware, Director, WOTR in India  

Dr. Tatenda Lemann, World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies (WOCAT) / Centre for Development and Environment (CDE))  

Stephanie Katsir, Representative of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH (ProSoil) 

Representative of CGIAR (TBC) 

Sustainable Land Management and Agroecology in Synergy: Evidence, Good Practices and Lessons Learnt for Scaling 

BLUE Zone, MET 04 

09:00-18:00 

Country Teams Nigeria, Ghana Costal Erosion, Ghana CAP & Kenia 

The Country Teams Nigeria, Ghana Coastal Erosion, Ghana CAP & Kenia  

present their GEO-LDN uses cases 

GEO-LDN Booth, GREEN Zone 

6th of December

Time 

Speaker

Title

Location 

09:00-12:00 

Cesar Garcia, Co-lead GEO-LDN Working Group
“Decision Support”, Apacheta (tbc) 

 

GEE apps training for English and French speaking GDF participants (country teams from Nigeria, Ghana Coastal Erosion, Ghana CAP, Kenia, DRC, Senegal, Benin, Mongolia) 

GEO& GEO-LDN Workshop room/soundproof space, GREEN ZONE 

13:00-14:15 

 

Members of intersectoral Team Kenya
& the Democratic Republic of Congo 

 

The GEO-LDN country teams Kenya and DRC present their use cases. 

 

GEO&GEO-LDN pavilion stage, GREEN Zone 

13:00-14:30 

Ms. Nino Chikovani, UNCCD NFP, Georgia 

Ms. Maka Manjavidze, TSP II leading expert, Georgia 

Mr. Jorge Miguel Leal Pinedo, Ministry of Environment of Peru  

Ms Maurille Elégbédé, UNCCD NFP, Benin  

Mr. Elie Antoine Padonou, National University of Agriculture of Benin 

Cesar Garcia, Co-lead GEO-LDN Working Group “Decision Support”, Apacheta  

Gabriel Daldegan, Co-lead GEO-LDN Working Group “Data Analytics”, Conservation International (C.I.)

Strengthening Land Restoration Targets and Commitments with Geospatial Data  

BLUE Zone, MET 02 

15:00-17:00 

Gabriel Daldegan, Co-lead GEO-LDN Working Group “Data Analytics, Conservation International (C.I.) 

Trends.earth training for Spanish speaking GDF participants (country teams Colombia and Peru) 

GEO&GEO-LDN pavilion stage, GREEN Zone 

15:00-16:30 

GEO-LDN Leads 

First preliminary GEO-LDN Leads Group Meeting 

GEO& GEO-LDN Workshop room/soundproof space, GREEN ZONE 

17:15-18:45 

Isa Abubakar, Data Scientist at Capacity Accelerator Network (CAN) initiative, Nigeria 

Dr. Shomboro Dauda, Remote Sensing Expert, Nigeria 

Kobo Toolbox training for French speaking GDF participants (DRC, Benin, Senegal) 

GEO&GEO-LDN pavilion stage, GREEN Zone 

 

 

 

 

16:00-17:00 

Olga Lucia Ospina, Ministry of   

Environment and Sustainable   

Development (MINAM), Colombia 

Maka Manjavidze, Chief Specialist in Land  Resources Protection and Mineral  Resources Service, Ministry of  Environment Protection and Natural  Resources, Georgia 

Ebenezer Ntsiful, Head of Unit Geographic  Information System (GIS), Land Use &  Spatial Planning Authority, Ghana  

Panel Discussion: Acting on COP Decisions – How Integrated Land Use Planning (ILUP) uses Geodata for Evidence-Based Decision-Making (Decision 8 and 27/COP 15 

Science Stage, GREEN Zone 

17:30-18:30 

Fatima Denton (UNU) 

Thelma Arko (UNU-INRA) 

Safeguarding Africa’s Carbon Sinks: Leveraging Carbon Markets, Local Governance, and Community Agency for Sustainable Land Restoration and Climate Mitigation  

GEO&GEO-LDN pavilion stage, GREEN Zone 

18:00-20:00 

Olga Lucia Ospina Arango, Professional Especializada de la Dirección de Bosques, Biodiversidad Y Servicios Ecosistémicos, MINAMBIENTE (Ministry of Environment) 

Mabel Okiriguo-Emmanuel, Director DLDD, Federal Ministry of Environment, Nigeria  

Dr Amadou Sall, Centre de Suivi Ecologique, Senegal  

Ermias Betemariam (ICRAF)  

Feras Ziadat Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)  

Neil Sims Remote Sensing Research Scientist at Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) 

& others 

How Integrated Land Use Planning (ILUP) contributes to LDN, food and tenure security and multiple environmental goals – Country examples and an overview of the progress since COP.15 

BLUE Zone 

MET-24

18:00 – 20:00  

UNCCD, FAO & others 

 

Recognizing shared lands, rights, knowledge and institutions in a changing world 

BLUE Zone, Action Dome 

09:00-18:00 

Country teams Ghana Costal Erosion, Ghana CAP, Kenia

Eunice Wangui Mwangi (RCMRD)

The country teams Ghana Costal Erosion, Ghana CAP, Kenia present their use cases 

Helpdesk presented at one Booth 

GEO-LDN Booth, GREEN Zone 

 

7th of December

Time 

Titel 

Location  

Entire day (Agenda coming soon) 

Global Dialogue Forum (GDF) 2024 with 60-70 participants from 10 countries and experts invited by GEO-LDN  

MET-09, BLUE Zone

8th of December

No official program, time for recovery and networking  

9th of December

Time 

Speaker 

Title 

Location 

09:30-11:00 

Yana Gevorgyan, Director GEO Secretariat 

Launch of the GEO Global Ecosystem Atlas  

BLUE Zone  

13:00-15:00 

Lissong Diop, Geospatial Data Analysist at Centre de Suivi Ecologique (CSE), Senegal 

DEA Training for French speaking countries (DRC, Benin, Senegal) 

GEO&GEO-LDN pavilion stage, GREEN Zone 

13:00-15:00 

Edward Boamah, Technical Manager at Digital Earth Africa (DEA) 

DEA training for English speaking countries (Nigeria, Ghana CAP, Ghana CE, Georgia, Kenya, Mongolia) 

GEO& GEO-LDN Workshop room/soundproof space, GREEN ZONE 

13:00-15:00 

Yana Gevorgyan, Director of Secretariat, Group on Earth Observations – GEO 

Maurille Elégbédé, National UNCCD Focal Point of Benin 

Neil Sims GEO-LDN Co-Chair,   

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSRIO)  

Healing our land through science and Earth Intelligence  

BLUE Zone, Action Dome 

15:00-16:30 

Lissong Diop, Geospatial Data Analysist at Centre de Suivi Ecologique (CSE), Senegal 

Trends.earth Training for French speaking GDF participants (DRC, Benin, Senegal) 

GEO& GEO-LDN Workshop room/soundproof space, GREEN ZONE 

15:00-16:00 

Members of intersectoral GEO-LDN country teams in Senegal, Benin and Mongolia 

The GEO-LDN country teams Senegal & Benin & Mongolia present their use cases 

GEO&GEO-LDN pavilion stage, GREEN Zone 

15:30 to 17:00 

Members of UNDP and WOCAT 

Launch of the GEF Project on Scaling Capacity for Inclusive Decision Support in Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) 

BLUE Zone 

15:30-16:30 

Zoltan Szantoi, European Space Agency (ESA) 

Andreas Brink, Senior Scientific and Technical Project Officer, Joint Research Centre (JRC) of European Commission 

Xiaosong Li, Prof., International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals, Chinese Academy of Sciences 

Cesar Garcia, Co-lead GEO-LDN Working Group “Decision Support”, Apacheta 

Gabriel Daldegan, Co-lead GEO-LDN Working Group “Data Analytics”, Conservation International (C.I.) 

 

Panel Discussion: Acting on COP- Decisions - Advancing High-Resolution Geodata and Facilitating Access to Earth Observation Tools for National LDN Targets 

Science Stage, GREEN Zone 

16:30-17:30 

Alex Zvoleff, Co-lead GEO-LDN Working Group “Data Analytics”, Conservation International (C.I.);  

Neil Sims, GEO-LDN Co-Chair,   

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSRIO)  

Acting on COP decisions: Mapping Land Degradation Vulnerability under Climate Change Scenarios (Dec 20/COP 15) (t.b.c.) 

GEO&GEO-LDN pavilion stage, GREEN Zone 

17:00-18:00  

Global Project Soil Protection & Rehabilitation, GIZ 

Decision-support systems for Land Degradation Neutrality: Innovative technologies to support soil protection and rehabilitation efforts in Kenya and Ethiopia (ProSoil) Concept Note available 

GEO&GEO-LDN pavilion stage, GREEN Zone 

17:00-18:30 

GEO-LDN meeting with UNU and UNOOSA on Coordination of EO in SIDS for LDN

GEO& GEO-LDN Workshop room/soundproof space, GREEN ZONE 

18:00-19:30 

Mandakh Nyamtseren, Institute of Geography and Geoecology, MAS  

Cesar Garcia, Co-lead GEO-LDN Working Group “Decision Support”, Apacheta (tbc) 

Amos Kabo-Bah, GEO-LDN Co-Chair, University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR) 

Antje Hecheltjen, GEO-LDN project manager at GIZ t.b.d. 

Sara Minelli, Programme Officer at the UNCCD secretariat t.b.c. 

Neil Sims, GEO-LDN Co-Chair,   

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial   Research Organization (CSRIO) t.b.d. 

Big Data in Support of Land Degradation Neutrality  

BLUE Zone, China Pavilion 

18:00-19:30 

Dr. Abdul-Wadood Moomen, GEO-LDN Coordinator  

Sustainable Land Management - the Role of Youth   

BLUE Zone, MET-03 

09:00-18:00 

Country teams Georgia, Kenia, DRC 

Eunice Wangui Mwangi (RCMRD)

The country teams Georgia, Kenia, DRC present their use cases. 

Helpdesk presented at one booth 

GEO-LDN Booth, GREEN Zone 

 

10th of December

Time 

Speaker 

Title 

Location 

09:00-11:00 

Gabriel Dalgedan, Co-lead GEO-LDN Working Group “Data Analytics, Conservation International (C.I.) 

Trends.earth - Training for English speaking countries (Nigeria, Ghana CAP, Ghana CE, Georgia, Kenya)  

GEO& GEO-LDN Workshop room/soundproof space, GREEN ZONE 

11:00-12:00 

Amos Kabo-Bah, GEO-LDN Co-Chair, University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR)  

Postgraduate Programmes at University of Energy and Natural Resources in Ghana  (t.b.c.) 

GEO&GEO-LDN pavilion stage, GREEN Zone 

13:00-14:00 

Edith Karwitha, Trainer, Nyeri National Polytechnic 

Ebenezer Ntsiful, Head of Unit Geographic   Information System (GIS), Land Use &   

Spatial Planning Authority, Ghana  

 

Cross-Sectoral Collaboration in Ghana: Using Geodata for Coastal Protection and Integrated Land Degradation Monitoring (t.b.c) 

GEO&GEO-LDN pavilion stage, GREEN Zone 

14:15-15:15 

Participants of the hyperarid workshop   

Including (t.b.c): 

Barron J. Orr, Chief Scientist, UNCCD 

Fernando T. Maestre Gil, Professor, King   Abdullah University of Science and Technology 

Neil Sims, GEO-LDN Co-Chair,   

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial   Research Organisation (CSRIO) 

Advancing a Global Monitoring System for Hyper-Arid Ecosystems: Follow-Up on the International Workshop on Land Degradation Monitoring in Saudi Arabia 2024 (t.b.c.) 

GEO&GEO-LDN pavilion stage, GREEN Zone 

16:45-17:45 

Tantenda Lemann, Senior Research Scientist / WOCAT Executive Team member at Centre for Development and Environment (CDE), University of Bern) 

Dr. Claudio Zucca, Università degli Studi di Sassari, Italy 

LUP4LDN Presentation 

GEO&GEO-LDN pavilion stage, GREEN Zone 

17:45-18:45 

Lisa Hartmann, (UNU-EHS) 

Yvonne Walz, (UNU-EHS) 

Tantenda Lemann, Senior Research Scientist / WOCAT Executive Team member at Centre for Development and Environment (CDE), University of Bern (tbd) 

The contribution of land and water management approaches to Sustainable Land Management and achieving Land Degradation Neutrality  

GEO&GEO-LDN pavilion stage, GREEN Zone 

09:00-18:00 

Country teams DRC, Senegal, Georgia

Eunice Wangui Mwangi (RCMRD)

The country teams DRC, Senegal, and Georgia present their use cases 

Helpdesk presented at one booth 

GEO-LDN Booth, GREEN Zone 

 

11th of December

Time 

Speaker 

Title 

Location 

09:30-10:30  

Nils Hempelmann, Project Manager,   

Collaborative Solutions and Innovation   

Program Germany, Open Geospatial   

Consortium (OGC)  

Climate Intelligence - Enhancing Climate Services with Artificial Intelligence  

GEO&GEO-LDN pavilion stage, GREEN Zone 

11:00-12:00 

GEO-LDN was asked for one speaker t.b.d. 

Financing Land Restoration – Joint Action Across Conventions 

BLUE Zone 

13:00-14:00 

Suneetha Subramanian, UNU-IAS 

Leveraging Landscape approaches towards Policy Coherence  

GEO&GEO-LDN pavilion stage, GREEN Zone 

09:00-18:00 

Country teams Senegal, Benin, Mongolia, and Helpdesk 

The country teams Senegal, Benin and Mongolia present their use cases 

GEO-LDN Booth, GREEN Zone 

 

12th of December

Time 

Speaker 

Title 

Location 

10:00 – 11:00 

Nils Hempelmann, Project Manager,   

Collaborative Solutions and Innovation   

Program Germany, Open Geospatial   

Consortium (OGC)  

FAIR Services - Interoperability for data pipelines from raw data to information and knowledge 

GEO&GEO-LDN pavilion stage, GREEN Zone 

09:00-18:00 

Country teams Senegal, Benin and    Mongolia 

The country teams Senegal, Benin, Mongolia present their use cases 

GEO-LDN Booth, GREEN Zone 

 

 

GEOLDN_Leporello_COP16_+3mm (1).pdf

GEO-LDN Blue Zone Activities Week 1