MAXQDA Workshop

On December 8 and 19, 2023, as part of the HES-GEO project, were held workshops entitled: "Introduction to qualitative data analysis using MAXQDA" organized by CAQDAS TM Lab at the Institute of Geography and Spatial Management of the Jagiellonian University at Gronostajowa 7 in Krakow. Two meetings of 8 training hours each brought together a dozen of young researchers who acquired knowledge and skills in four thematic modules:

• Module 1: Introduction to qualitative data analysis

• Module 2: Coding qualitative data

• Module 3: Techniques for analyzing and discovering knowledge

• Module 4: Comparative analysis and data visualization

EUSO Stakeholders Forum

Dr. Anita Bernatek-Jakiel the leader of HES-GEO research team "Soil erosion" on November 15, 2023, during the Third EUSO Stakeholders Forum, (the Technical Working Group "Soil erosion") delivered a speach titled: "A piping erosion susceptibility map of Europe - preliminary results".

12th National Conference of Young Researchers

During the 12th National Conference of Young Researchers organized on October 20-22, 2023 at IGiGP UJ, Dawid Piątek, a member of the "Soil erosion" research team in the HES-GEO project, delivered a paper entitled "How does ski infrastructure change the intensity of soil erosion?".

The conference Centrality in the Age of Dispersion

The Research Team "Social processes and urban resilience" (Dr. Łukasz Fiedeń, Dr. Katarzyna Gorczyca, Magdalena Miśkowiec, Agnieszka Świgost-Kapocsi) in the HES-GEO project prepared a speech entitled "How stakeholders' involvement could build resilient urban communities" during the international conference "Centrality in the Age of Dispersion" organized in Wrocław on September 28-29, 2023 by the Wrocław University of Science and Technology.

HES-GEO Partnership Workshop, 26th September 2023, Kraków

We would like to invite you to the HES-GEO Partnership Workshop, 26th September 2023, Kraków, organized by the Human-Environment Systems Research Centre at the Faculty of Geography and Geology of Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland.

The HES-GEO Partnership Workshop will be a meeting and networking event of the representatives of educational and research institutions, nongovernmental organizations, and stakeholders working in the domain of human-environmental systems (HES) of the Anthropocene with Earth observation (EO) and geospatial technologies. The main goal of the Workshop is to exchange expertise and join forces to pursue various research and collaboration opportunities offered through European research programmes.

More information is available here.

HES-GEO Podcasts: "Ground Under Your Feet" and "City is People"

As part of the project, we made two podcasts - in the first entitled "The ground under your feet" Dr. Anita Bernatek-Jakiel, Dr. Dominik Kaim and Dr. Łukasz Musielok talk about land use. The second episode "City is People", attended by Dr. Katarzyna Gorczyca, Dr. Magdalena Kubal-Czerwińska, Dr. Agnieszka Nowak-Olejnik, concerns the problems of cities. The interviews were conducted by Dr. Ewa Górska from Reorient.

You can listen to us here:

https://www.youtube.com/@HES-GEO

https://open.spotify.com/show/0PQ3khcO4i59Sifx2KIB8z?si=782dcee032cd4b49

https://podcasts.apple.com/pl/podcast/01-ground-pod-nogami/id1695706606?i=1000619246805&l=pl

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/hes-geo-uj

https://castbox.fm/channel/HES-GEO-id5501953?country=us

EGU 2023 General Assembly (Vienna, Austria), 24–28 Apr 2023

The teams "Soil erosion" and "Carbon sequestration in soils of mountain ecosystems" took part in the EGU General Assembly conference on April 23-28, 2023 in Vienna. Dr. Anita Bernatek-Jakiel, leader of the "Soil Erosion" team, gave a speech entitled "A European database of soil piping-related features: a major step towards producing a piping erosion susceptibility map of Europe". Dr. Łukasz Musielok, leader of the team "Carbon sequestration in the soils of mountain ecosystems" and Magdalena Gus-Stolarczyk, MSc, Anna Bartos, MSc and Agata Gołąb, MSc, presented on the poster the first results of their research on changing SOC content in European mountain forests based on LUCAS soil databases.

Team "Cultural ecosystem services” at the PAEK conference

On April 20-23, 2023, Dr. Agnieszka Nowak-Olejnik, leader of the Cultural Ecosystem Services team, took part in the National Scientific Conference entitled INTERDISCIPLINARITY IN LANDSCAPE RESEARCH organized in Czajowice by the Polish Association of Landscape Ecology (PAEK), the Institute of Geography and Spatial Management of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow and the Institute of Geography of the Pedagogical University of Krakow. Her presentation, showing the results of the research conducted by the HES-GEO project team, was entitled "Benefits and disadvantages related to cultural ecosystem services of green areas".

Science Communication and Outreach training (online event) on 21th December 2022 and 17th January 2023

Another training, this time on Science Communication and Outreach organized within the HES-GEO project by the project partner KU Leuven was intended for researchers and communication officers in the Institute of Geography and Spatial Management. Toon Verlinden (The Floor is Yours, thefloorisyours.be) shared with us his knowledge and practice in the field of science communication explaining how to define our audience, specify our goals when communicating science and where to begin. We had also the chance to practice new skills - to write a pitch and get some feedback from other training participants and the instructor.

Project Management training (online event) on 20th December 2022

In December several employees of the Institute of Geography and Spatial Management took part in a Project Management training organized by the KU Leuven – one of the project partners. Katia Van Belle (Propellor Changing Projects, https://www.propellor.be/) gave us some advice how to start, plan, do and close projects. We were learning about doing the right things, gaining confidence and commitment, creating results that matter and finally making space for new beginnings, when the project is already in a closing phase.

Meeting of Stakeholders on 1st-2nd December 2022

In December 2022 Human-Environment Systems Research Center, created as part of the HES-GEO project within the Faculty of Geography and Geology at the Jagiellonian University, has organized an information and partnership meeting entitled "What can the Jagiellonian University do for you? Research on human-environment relations in practice". The meeting took place at the Institute of Geography and Spatial Management (IGSM) of the Jagiellonian University at 7 Gronostajowa Street in Krakow.

Visitors to the event could get answers to the following questions:

• why is it worth to cooperate with IGSM?
• what technological facilities do we have?
• what do we offer as experts?
• what research and implementation projects are carried out by the Faculty of Geography and Geology?
• why is the Jagiellonian University the best place to get information?
• how to start the cooperation with us?
• and most importantly: what can we do for you?

During the event, there were a number of lectures and our employees presented ongoing projects and their latest research. There was also a unique opportunity to see our work behind the scenes, because we opened our laboratories for the visitors.

More details are available on the event page: https://hes.geo.uj.edu.pl/interesariusze

HES-GEO helpful in obtaining the Biodiversa+ grant

The Research Team "Land use and biodiversity" obtained funding for research under the European Partnership for Biodiversity (Biodiversa+) competition. The award-winning project, G4B: Grasslands for Biodiversity: supporting the protection of the biodiversity-rich grasslands and related management practices in the Alps and Carpathians, will be conducted in cooperation with partners from Germany (our HES-GEO partner - UBER), Romania, Slovakia, Switzerland, Ukraine and Italy.

Grasslands in the mountains of Europe are disappearing and losing their biodiversity due to two main factors - the abandonment of agricultural activities in unfavorable mountain conditions (resulting in secondary forest succession) and, in some areas, too intensive use, which also has a negative impact on biodiversity itself. The project will answer the questions of which agricultural practices over the years have been optimal for biodiversity, where such valuable grasslands are located in the Alps and the Carpathians, and how they should be protected in future?

10th IAG International conference on Geomorphology, 12-16 September 2022

In September 2022 Joanna Hałys and Anita Bernatek-Jakiel were taking part in the 10th International Conference of the International Association of Geomorphologists (IAG) "Geomorphology and Global Change" in Coimbra, Portugal. They presented the first results of sub-project that is conducted within the SOIL EROSION team. The study aims to identify the relationships of soil piping with geological structure at regional scale, which is an important step to incorporate piping erosion to regional and global soil erosion models. This issue is of crucial significance in the sustainable soil management.

During the conference the team leader Anita Bernatek-Jakiel received the IAG Early Career Medal funded by the International Association of Geomorphologists IAG. The prize is awarded in recognition of scientific excellence in geomorphological research and service provided in geomorphological associations with a particular emphasis on international cooperation.

 

Centre of Excellence Brainstorming Event in Leuven on 29th-30th August 2022

On 29th - 30th August 2022 a brainstorming meeting on the Center of Excellence (CoE) was held in Leuven, Belgium. The emergence of CoE at the Institute of Geography and Spatial Management of the Jagiellonian University (JU) is one of the goals of the HES-GEO project. Apart from the representatives of the Jagiellonian University, the meeting was attended by partners from KU Leuven, the University of Salzburg and members of the Project Advisory Board, 19 people in total.

The meeting was aimed at:
-    typology and SWOT-analysis of CoE’s at European level (separate units versus embedded in research groups),
-    overview of activities offered by CoE’s at European level and assessment of their relevance,
-    overview of funding possible schemes for CoE’s: advantages and disadvantages,
-    state-of-the-art regarding training and support of (young) researchers at JU and ambitions,
-    conceptualization of a CoE at JU.

An important and inspiring part of the first day were presentations by managers of two centers of excellence operating in Leuven: Leen Cuypers (Arenberg Doctor School) and Gert-Jan Put (Leuven Urban Studies Institute), who presented the goals, structure and development of both institutions. In the second part of the day there was a group work on the matrix of activities offered by CoEs and the assessment of their advantages and disadvantages. The next day was devoted to free exchange of ideas during a short trip to the Dijle Valley south of Leuven, concluded with a summary of possible concepts and good practices to be implemented.

First funding received as a result of HES-GEO activities!

Research Team "LAND USE AND BIODIVERSITY" received funding for a 2-year project "The impact of depopulation on ecosystem services in Europe. A pilot study in France, Czech Republic and Poland", as a result of Central Europe Leuven Strategic Alliance (CELSA) network project call. The project will be realized by the partners from KU Leuven, Czech Technical University in Prague and geographers from the Jagiellonian University in Krakow.

World Urban Forum on 27th June 2022

One of the HES-GEO teams "SOCIAL PROCESSES AND URBAN RESILIENCE" (Katarzyna Gorczyca, Łukasz Fiedeń, Magdalena Miśkowiec, Agnieszka Świgost Kapocsi) co-organized a poster session at the World Urban Forum "WUF".  It is the largest and most important event all over the world devoted to the development of cities, co-organized by UN Habitat, Polish Ministry of Regional Funds and Policy and the city of Katowice.

The poster session, co-organized by the HES-GEO team concerned the subject of Green Cities and was one of the blocks of events implemented as part of the European track (European Track of WUF 11, Transforming European Cities: for a Better Europe, for a Better World). During the poster session, 39 posters related to the subject of green cities were presented. The topics of the posters referred to the issues of spatial planning in the creation of green cities, the use of architecture in greening cities, referring in city planning to the development of urban blue and green infrastructure, and involving stakeholders in creating green cities.

The HES-GEO team also presented the results of research on the involvement of local communities in the processes of shaping green areas on the example of Zakrzówek. On the poster entitled “Butterfly effect for environmental justice in urban areas. Case study of Zakrzówek in Kraków, Poland” the team presented how the development of green areas can involve local stakeholders in the fight to maintain the existing green use of naturally valuable areas.

Geospatial training in Berlin on 22nd-24th June 2022

The second part of geospatial training for the HES-GEO Research Teams took place at the Humboldt University Berlin and was prepared by the team of the Geography Department: Dagmar Haase, Tobias Kuemmerle, Tobia Lakes, Benjamin Bleyhl, Bakhtiar Feizizadeh, Julian Oeser and Sebastian Scheuer. Again, 15 young researchers from the Institute of Geography and Spatial Management (Jagiellonian University, Poland) took part in the three-day workshop.

The training started with learning the basics in theory and application of a PPGIS. Mix of theoretical background and hands-on (test) sessions was supported by the App MyDynamicCity software. Next topic of the day - System analysis and modelling included such issues as system theory, system setup, system modelling (components, functions) and respective applications and examples, with the use of VenSim PLE and Simile software.

Broad-scale habitat modelling was the topic of the second day. The participants were learning about ecological theory, methodological tools for building, evaluating, and analyzing habitat models, analyses and mapping of habitat using semi-automated methods (Google Earth Engine, R). Finally, multi-criteria analysis (MCA) and index development were introduced, supported by GIS software (ArcGIS, QGIS). Such topics as setting up a multi-criteria analysis and integrated indicators, workflow for indicator development, spatial and geospatial analysis and respective applications and examples were covered.

With this workshop the training programme for the HES-GEO Research Teams was completed.

Scientific writing training in Leuven on 6th-7th June 2022

At the beginning of June 15 young scientists from the Institute of Geography and Spatial Management (Jagiellonian University, Poland) went to Leuven to take part in the two-day workshop on scientific writing organized by the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences (Catholic University Leuven, Belgium).

The training was led by Anton Froeyman. He advised the participants how to pick a journal and how to write a paper (in theory and practice), how to write an abstract. Then he put some attention to published papers: how to get read, get cited and how to turn a paper into a conference presentation. Some differences in publishing books and publishing papers were also highlighted.

More detailed relation of the event and the accompanying field trip is available on the HES-GEO blog.

 

EGU 2022 General Assembly (Vienna, Austria), 23-27 May 2022

Anita Bernatek-Jakiel presented the first results of joint project conducted within the HES-GEO Research Team SUBSURFACE EROSION BY SOIL PIPING on European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2022 in Vienna. The presentation under the title “Soil pipe collapses in Europe: towards a continent-wide assessment” took place within the Session SSS2.3: Soil Erosion, Land Degradation and Conservation. The abstract can be found at: CO Meeting Organizer EGU22 (copernicus.org)

Geospatial training in Salzburg on 20th-22nd April 2022

The first of two planned geospatial training for the HES-GEO Research Teams was prepared by the team of the Department of Geoinformatics Z_GIS at the Paris Lodron University in Salzburg. 15 young scientists from the Institute of Geography and Spatial Management (Jagiellonian University, Poland) took part in the three-day workshop.

First day topics included Copernicus and big Earth observation data sources led by Martin Sudmanns and Stefan Lang and Google Earth Engine led by Christina Zorenböhmer. Next day of the workshop was intended for Python and the ArcPy site package with Dirk Tiede, Martin Sudmanns, and Hannah Augustin. On the last day specialists from Z_GIS: Thomas Strasser, Bernd Resch and Martin Loidl gave a brief review of their current research and again Martin Sudmanns introduced workshop participants into the topic of Spatial Databases. More detailed relation of the event is available on the HES-GEO blog.

The next training on geospatial issues within the HES-GEO project is planned already in June in the Geography Department at the Humboldt University in Berlin.

Grant-writing training (online event) on 10th-11th February 2022

The grant-writing skills training for the HES-GEO Research Teams was prepared on behalf of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven by Dr. Julia Staykova-McKinnon, consultant in grant writing, in a form of podcasts series for self-study and live online instruction. 27 participants from the Institute of Geography and Spatial Management (Jagiellonian University, Poland) took part in the two-day workshop.

First day topics included the following issues: the art of persuasion in a funding context, essential elements in the scientific proposal, CV and the personal statement. The sessions of second day were focused on two case studies in EU funding for early-career researchers: the ERC Starting grant application form and evaluation criteria, the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoc Fellowship application form and analysis of funded samples for both actions. An important part of each day was a question-and-answer session. Then young scientists could inquire about the details of EU calls requirements for research funding.

The next trainings foreseen in the project, this time on the subject of scientific writing skills and geospatial technologies, will take place already in April and June this year.

Leadership and teambuilding training (online event) on 7th-9th February 2022

The training for young researchers in the Institute of Geography and Spatial Management (Jagiellonian University, Poland) was conducted by Erika Blaschke, leadership consultant, from the Paris-Lodron University in Salzburg. 28 young scientists were taking part in three-day online event to increase their competences in effective leadership and team building.

First day of the workshop was intended for leaders of research teams in the HES-GEO project. They have learnt about the leadership development in the teams, groups and organizations, role of leaders in academia, personalities of leaders and resulting from them leadership styles. Next two days were dedicated to intensive all-day work in teams on team building issues including phases of team development, models of communication and conflict management.

As developing team building and leadership competencies is a long and complex process, further consultations between team leaders and Erika Blaschke from Salzburg University will continue in the coming months. To learn more about leadership in academia read the interview with Erika Blaschke on the HES-GEO blog.

2nd Brainstorming Event for Research Teams on 4th-5th November 2021

The second Brainstorming Event for Research Teams (RT) on 4th-5th November 2021 was planned and performed in the hybrid format: the research team members met together at the Jagiellonian University (Institute of Geography and Spatial Management, Gronostajowa 7, Kraków, Poland) and project partners from Germany (as a main facilitator), Austria, and Belgium joined online.

The meeting started with the reporting round with two main questions: What has happened in the RT in the last months? What will be the next steps? Then six break-out groups (one for every RT) were established. Before lunch break team members and their supervisors defined research design and methods, identified data needs and possible data sources as well as discussed their training needs. After lunch each research team focused on sub-projects (individual PhD projects) and their alignment with the overall RT project. They have planned also research collaboration and long stays of RT members in partner institutions in 2022. Publication strategy and conference visits were discussed as well. The first day finished with the report-back and feedback from the break-out groups. The next day started with stocktaking and goals for the day followed by break-out groups session in the same composition as a day before. This time the RT members tried to identify possible funding calls, possible consortium partners and risks and coping strategies. Report-back and feedback of the second day closed the event.

As a result of the 2nd Brainstorming Event, about 30 members of the RTs within the HES-GEO project are now looking forward to their training participation, long stays in partner institutions and conference visits in 2022.

1st Brainstorming Event for Research Teams (online event) on 30th June 2021

At the end of June 2021, 30 representatives of the HES-GEO project consortium from Poland, Austria, Germany and Belgium met together again. During several hours spent online and with the help of the digital whiteboard they worked to establish 6 Research Teams (RT) and to advance the development of their research proposals. The research proposals focus on the following themes:
· Cultural Ecosystem Services,
· Soil Erosion,
· Land Use and Biodiversity,
· Social Processes and Urban Resilience,
· Carbon Sequestration in Soils of Mountain Ecosystems,
· Food Waste.
 
At the beginning of the meeting team leaders presented their RT profile (defined leaders, members and supervisors) and research questions. Then, the meeting participants focused on improving match between research questions and research design/methods, identifying main data needs, setting timeline for development of project proposals (with milestones) and clarifying roles for all RT members. They have prepared SWOT analyses, which helped to identify potential strengths and weaknesses of each team, as well as opportunities and threats in their surroundings. 2nd Brainstorming Event for Research Teams is planned in November this year, hopefully in the face-to-face format.

Kick-off meeting (online event) on 4-5th February 2021

In February 4-5 2021, the kick-off meeting of the European project HES-GEO (Building excellence in research of human-environmental systems with geospatial and Earth observation technologies), funded by the European Union from the Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, took place online. Consortium representatives from Poland, Austria, Germany and Belgium gathered together and discussed the most important issues to be done during the 36-month project period.

The event started with an official ceremony, presentations of the partners and the idea of the project. Further part of the meeting contained a detailed examination of all project activities, objectives, work packages (WP) and expected results. Also the leaders’ ideas on how to manage and proceed with particular work packages were presented and discussed:

• Paris-Lodron University of Salzburg is responsible for WP2 Training,
• Humboldt-University of Berlin for WP3 Research Teams,
• Katholieke Universiteit Leuven for WP4 Excellence Centre and
• Jagiellonian University for WP5 Dissemination and Communication.

Financial and administrative issues were also mentioned as well as the plan for the activities of the first year during the Project Management Board Meeting.