Second GIS DAY FOR EDUCATION

First English Language School, Sofia, Bulgaria
13 December 2018

The second GIS Day for Education on the occasion of the International GIS Day Initiative was held on 13 December 2018 at the First English Language School in Sofia. The event is organized under the Space School Educational Initiative, joint initiative of Space Research and Technology Institute – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (SRTI-BAS), SCGIS Chapter Bulgaria and Bulgarian Astronautical Society (BAS) in partnership with First English Language School, ESRI Bulgaria, ESRI Education team, DigitalGlobe Foundation, Society for Conservation GIS (SCGIS), European Association of Remote Sensing Laboratories (EARSeL), “Remote sensing for UN SDG” SIG of EARSeL, International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS), European Association of Geographers (EuroGeo), Geomentors Initiative and Zoomify.
The event was attended by students, teachers and educational experts. Students and teachers from six schools in Sofia Municipality – First English Language School, NHSMS “Acad. L. Chakalov”, 3rd High School “Marin Drinov”, 88 High School “Dimitar Popnikolov”, 138 High School “prof. Vassil Zlatarski”, 203 Language School “Sveti Metodii” took part in the GIS Day for Education.
The event was opened by Metodi Nikolov on behalf of the Director of the First English Language School, followed by a greeting address from the Director of the Space Research and Technology Institute at the BAS, Prof. Dr. Roumen Nedkov. Greeting addresses on behalf of the Dr. Joseph Kerski, Education Manager at ESRI Inc., Devon Libby, Manager at DigitalGlobe Foundation, prof. Karl Donert, President of EuroGeo, Dr. Lena Halounova, General Secretary of ISRPS, and David Urbanic, President of Zoomify Inc. were presented.
During the GIS for education event six presentations about the application of geoinformation technologies and GIS and earth observation educational resources according to the event program.

PROGRAM

14:00 – 14:20
Opening and Welcomes, Greeting addresses
  • Welcome speech by Metodi Nikolov, First English Language School
  • Prof. Dr. Roumen Nedkov, Director of Space Research and Technology Institute – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
  • Greeting video message from Dr. Joseph Kerski, Education Manager at ESRI Inc., USA and lecturer at the University of Denver, USA – video message
  • Greeting message from Devon Libby, Manager at DigitalGlobe Foundation
    (see here)
  • Greeting message from prof. Karl Donert, President of  EuroGeo – European Association of Geographers (see here)
  • Greeting message from Dr. Lena Halounova, General Secretary of the International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS) (see here)
  • Greeting message, David Urbanic, President of Zoomify Inc. (see here)
14:20 – 15:30
Presentations
14:20 – 14:25
Space School Educational Initiative, Dr. Vanya Stamenova, Dr. Stefan Stamenov, SRTI-BAS (5 min.)
14:25 – 14:40
Information system of the cadastre in Bulgaria, Dr. Eng. Stefan Petrov, Director of Directorate “Information Technologies and Spatial Data”, Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre Agency (15 min.)
14:40 – 15:00
Application of ESRI GIS technologies for the needs of education, Ivo Ihtimanski, GIS consultant, ESRI Bulgaria(20 min.)
15:00– 15:15
Drop by drop – GIS, Milko Velichkov, Gergana Nikolova, GIS Department, Sofiyska voda, part of Veolia(15 min.)
15:15 – 15:25
Sustainable development goals of UN and the application of GIS technologies, Dr. Vanya Stamenova, Dr. Stefan Stamenov, Dr. Lena Halounova. Special Interest Group “Remote sensing for UN SDG”, EARSeL (10 min.)
15:25 – 15:40
Break
15:40 – 16:00
Geoinformation technologies in secondary education – educational resources, Dr. Stefan Stamenov, Dr. Vanya Stamenova, SRTI-BAS (20 min)
16:00 – 17:00
Discussion (60 min.)

Organizers and partners