Implementation of the Training Strategy in support of the Monitoring for Environment and Security in Africa (MESA) Programme MESA Training Program Ben Maathuis / Tesfaye Korme GEO-XIII Plenary Side Event 08-11-2016 St. Petersburg, Russian Federation

AU-MESA Monitoring for Environment and Security in Africa MESA program was proposed through the Ouagadougou Declaration signed in September 2010 by the African Union Commission, the ACP Secretariat and the African Regional Economic Communities. The aim of the program is to ensure continuity of past investments on the use of EO data in Africa (e.g. PUMA and AMESD) and to provide an initial contribution to the GMES and Africa Initiative. Beneficiary countries of MESA program are 48 African countries of the five African regional communities, namely CEMAC, ECOWAS, IGAD, IOC and SADC. The contracting authority of MESA is the African Union Commission (AUC). Funding is obtained from the 10th EDF of the European Union, with a budget of 37 million Euros, implementation timeframe is from 2013 to 2017.

MESA and MESA Training Programme Purpose of the MESA program is to increase the capacity of African institutions in information management, decision making and planning by enhancing access to and exploitation of EO applications in Africa. MESA training focuses on making operational use of advanced techniques, especially in the field of EO and computer science in a sustainable manner: Derivation of information from Remote Sensing data at continental, regional and national levels; Use of such information in policy formulation and decision making.

MESA Training Programme Office MESA-Training HQ TAT AUC EC

MESA Training Programme Result Areas

Course Design and Implementation TNA Common needs identified / Training strategy Specific needs RICs/CIC identified Courses proposed (existing/ new) Tentative training plan established Training Plan Classification of courses into Blocks Designing and development of the courses Assessments of existing training materials Detailed 12 months training plan Execution of Training plan Selection and registration of candidates Logistics in place Execution of training (DE/Class room) Evaluation and Monitoring Approved Approved Ongoing

Implementation Strategy/ Approach The main implementation strategy is to follow a hybrid training offering system that is composed of: Distance Education (at different levels): Generic Continental Courses Selected Thematic Courses Communication, Outreach, Service Delivery Support and Policy Dialog Courses Classroom: Thematic courses (system admin & applications) Blended Distance Education and Classroom type: PUMA and MESA stations operation and thematic application training

Implementation Strategy Cont… Learning Management System (LMS) is based on Moodle (Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment) and is a free software e-learning platform (https://moodle.org), latest stable version 2.9: Dual language (English/French) LMS; Administrated at the local project office in Addis Ababa; A Learning Management System Administrator manages the provision of the content (full time); Supports generic functionality, such as contact service, blog, upcoming events, calendar, download area, additional resources, mailing list and forum, wiki, demos search, function, archive, etc.; Can also be accessed from website (http://training4mesa.org/).

Infrastructure developed http://www.training4mesa.org

Infrastructure developed cont… lms.training4mesa.org

EUMETCast Training Channel

DE Courses developed / approved Block 1 Block 2 Block 3 Block 4 Block 5 Block 6 1: EUMETCast 3: Basic GIS 6: System Administration for AMESD Station Operations 12: Application of RS/GIS FOSS Tools 16: Introduction Python and Scripting 20: Advanced RS/GIS (2) 2: Communication PR and Outreach(1) 4: Basic RS 7:Advanced RS/GIS (1) 13: Processing Low to Medium Resolution Online Time Series 17: Running Operational Thematic Services 21: Advanced Python Scripting and Automation   5: Introduction to LINUX–CentOS 8: Communication PR and Outreach(2) 14: Building Operational Thematic Services 18:Provision of Thematic Products 22: Communication PR and Outreach(3) 9: EUMETCast Product Visualization 15: Supporting MESA Station Mobilization & Operation 19: Processing of Medium to High Resolution Online Images 23: Policy Dialog (1) 10: Supporting continued AMESD station operations 11:Thematic EO Service Development  24: Policy Dialog (2) EUMETCast AMESD Heritage Communication GIS focus Service related From Supply-Lot 1 RS focus OS-Program. focus

Learning Pathways: from DE to On-site training Example new system administrator: Block 1 1 2 EUMETCast in Block 1 Basic Introduction Linux-CentOS in Block2 Block 2 3 4 5 System Administration in Block4 Block 3 6 7 8 9 10 11 Intermed. Block 4 12 13 14 15 Example from application domain: Advanced RS/GIS in Block 3 Block 5 16 17 18 19 Apply FOSS tools in Block 4 Advanced Block 6 20 21 22 23 Intro Python / scripting in Block 5 Station training during system setup Advanced Python / scripting in Block 6 In support of the various MESA Services Station and Administrator training Environmental Application training Meteorological Application training DE based DE based + on-site On-site

On-Site training Training courses and procedures are developed with a common focus on system administration training and PUMA / MESA thematic applications offered by the systems (to be) deployed using a Training of Trainer approach; Execution training in sync with station deployment; Required training materials are available through LMS; Using new infrastructure at WMO Regional Training Centres: École Africaine de la Météorologie et de l'Aviation Civile (Niamey), Institute for Meteorological Training and Research / Regional Training Centre (Nairobi), South Africa Weather Services (Pretoria) and Mauritius Meteorological Services (Vacoas); For blended training courses a number of on-site events have been conducted on Communication, PR and Outreach, as well as a Policy Dialog event

Concluding remarks Already large number of DE based courses conducted (>50) and some courses are offered multiple times, > 650 trainees participated; Started with DE courses in English, after review also in French, > 20 courses both in EN and FR; Sustainability, also incorporate African Trainers and African collaborating Universities within the RICs/CIC in the training effort; Fully operational Learning Management System in Addis Ababa; On-site training using Training of Trainer approach, > 130 persons trained from 40 organizations; Currently onsite “user” training ongoing, > 260 persons trained; Further engage with RICs/CIC and their selected universities; After MESA, good starting point to continue CB activities in GMES and Africa: as component of Pan African University Space Science Hub or of other continental EO related initiatives.

Thanks for your attention Pointing of antenna, part of the system administration training using spare antenna at KMD Participants reporting on weather forecasts (group assignment conducted each day) in training room Thanks for your attention