GeoServices-4-Sustainability (GeoS4S) - An International Collaboration Framework for Geospatial Education

Abstract

The applications of Geospatial science are expanding rapidly and increasing demand of high quality Geospatial education is exerting pressures on educational institutionsfor producing fit-for-job graduates. It is not easy for individual institutions to change their curricula and teaching materialsfrequently to keep up the pace with the fast changing dynamics ofjob markets. International collaboration provides opportunities ofpooling resources and sharing know-how which help in tackling these ever emerging challenges efficiently and effectively. GeoS4S project presents aframework for enhancing the role of international collaboration to serve educational needs of the students in various fields of Geospatial sciences. The project consortium is composed of ten universities located in Europe, China and Thailand. The experts involved in the project have a range of disciplinary backgrounds adding strength to the consortium. The major objectives of project are to develop teaching/learning materials of 20 interdisciplinary modules, organise international summer schoolsfor testing the quality and applicability of these modules and integrate these in an eLearning platform facilitating worldwide open and free access for benefitting the potential learners internationally. A number of activities have been designed for achieving the objectives as well as for quality assessment and dissemination of the project outcomes. The consortium will complete the activities in a duration of 3 years of the GeoS4S project.