Tracasa Global and KU Leuven University organise a training course in Pamplona for the European spatial information sector, as part of the European SpaceSUITE project
Last week, Tracasa Global—a public company of the Government of Navarre attached to the Department of Universities, Innovation and Digital Transformation, and part of the Public Business Corporation of Navarre (CPEN)—and KU Leuven University (Belgium) organised a training course focused on the European spatial information management sector.
Leveraging its expertise in remote sensing and geospatial data management, Tracasa Global hosted this training event at its Sarriguren offices. The company coordinates a team of Navarrese entities collaborating on the ERASMUS+ SpaceSUITE project (www.spacesuite-project.eu). This initiative, involving 37 organisations from 11 countries, aims to boost the skills and educational pathways of individuals working with spatial data, services, and applications within the European space industry.
Specifically, the training, in which the Lycée Augustin Hébert (France) also participated, allowed students to acquire a more thorough understanding of image processing for building management. In this regard, the course demonstrated how buildings can play a positive role in developing resilience to climate change.
Consisting of five online sessions and four in-person ones, the training covered the use of geospatial information technology and digital twins. It also introduced the fundamentals of Earth Observation (EO) and the image processing techniques necessary to apply these methods to improve building management. In this context, specific Copernicus data products and services were showcased, along with advanced datasets such as hyperspectral and thermal imagery. The course also covered basic machine learning techniques for automating image processing.
In Navarre, the ecosystem of entities collaborating with SpaceSUITE is coordinated by Tracasa Global and Tracasa Instrumental, with support from the Public University of Navarre, the Navarrese Employment Service (Nafar Lansare), the Government of Navarre’s Vocational Training Service, and the College of Graduate Engineers and Industrial Engineers of Navarre (CITI Navarre). Within SpaceSUITE, Tracasa Global coordinates the task entitled “Implementation, Deployment, and Impact” to create an effective development space for all training and reinforcement actions within the sector, ensuring their implementation and regional impact across the European Union.
At the European level, the SpaceSUITE project, funded by the EC’s ERASMUS+ program, is a strategic alliance of sectoral capabilities for the European Union. Slated to last four years (2024-2027) and with a total budget of 3.9 million euros, it is driven by the importance of the EU’s space strategy for defence and security, and by Europe’s commitment to training and enhancing citizens’ skills to meet the needs and expectations of European industry.
SpaceSUITE encompasses the entire downstream space ecosystem, focused on managing all the information generated by aerospace activities. This includes Earth observation, positioning, navigation, and satellite communication, and, more broadly, all the competencies needed to implement current and future European policies.
Within this scope, SpaceSUITE aims to assess the gaps and mismatches between the skills needed in the downstream space sector and the educational offerings within the European Union. It also seeks to address these by designing, developing, implementing new curricula and training programs for higher education and vocational training. Finally, it aims to promote collaboration and the exchange of knowledge and practices within downstream space industry ecosystems.