Bahir Dar University visits CUAS Campus Villach

CoMON
Fotocredit: FH Kärnten

The development of workflows for collaborative monitoring of the invasive water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) in Lake Tana, Ethiopia, is at the core of our project "CoMon - Collaborative Monitoring for Sustainable Development of Lake Tana UNESCO Biosphere Reserve". In early June, we hosted two researchers from our project partner Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia, at CUAS campus Villach.

Daniel Ayalew Mengistu, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Geography and Environmental Studies and Director of the Geospatial Data and Technology Center and Tirusew Ayisheshim Ebistu, Faculty of Civil and Water Resource Engineering, spent several days with us at CUAS from June 6 to 18, 2022. Together with the CoMon team at CUAS, they advanced the development of the workflows for monitoring the water hyacinth using Sentinel satellites and SMART technology, and explored ways to incorporate the knowledge and capacities of non-scientific actors and stakeholders into the research process. Stakeholder involvement enables better, more widely accepted, and "socially robust" results. For a transparent and effective presentation of the project and results to date, the CoMon project team chose an ArcGIS Story Map (Story Map Link: https://arcg.is/1biKmb0), which was developed by students of the study programme "Information Technology - Geoinformation and Environment". During the research stay they worked on possibilities for the further development of the CoMon Story Map. The stay was also used to deepen the cooperation between CUAS and Bahir Dar University and to explore possibilities for a long-term cooperation. In their free time, Daniel and Tirusew had the opportunity to gain impressions of Carinthia - a walk through the old town of Villach and a visit to Lake Wörthersee and the UNESCO Nockberge Biosphere Reserve. It was a great pleasure to have Daniel and Tirusew as our guests.