7th European Space Weather Week Conference 15th November 2010 Bruges, Belgium

Welcome from the SSA PP INTRODUCTION Current Objectives ESA, through its SSA Preparatory Programme, is proud to support the ESWW7 Conference in Brugges and welcomes all its participants. It is an important and already traditional yearly event that brings together the Space Weather community of Europe. The participation of our colleagues from outside Europe is also warmly welcomed. It underlines the importance of international cooperation in the domain of Space Weather.

Space Weather in Europe INTRODUCTION Current Objectives In the area of Space Weather, Europe is benefiting from a vast amount of expertise at the highest scientific level, as well as from a variety of assets. Space Weather in Europe is characterized by its decentralized status, the expertise and assets being distributed between National Institutions and European organizations such as ESA. It is the challenge and the objective of the ESA SSA PP, launched in November 2008, to build on the existing European competencies and assets in order to form a coherent Space Weather system

ESA’s SSA PP – Two main threads INTRODUCTION Current Objectives The ESA SSA PP pursues two main threads applicable to Space Weather in Europe: Design the overall architecture of the SSA Space Weather Segment Develop Precursor Services based on existing competencies and assets (federative approach). The latter will be performed in successive steps, progressively allowing the access to Space Weather Services from a central location, initially selected in Uccle, Belgium.

Space Weather in Europe – a multilayer approach INTRODUCTION Current Objectives There is a strong demand from the European Space Weather community to implement a multilayer approach allowing: Different players to provide different services Various User communities to express their requirements through a well defined channel. International dimension of Space Weather to be properly taken into account through a well established governance and data policy. The SSA Programme, supported by its Participating States, is fully dedicated to implement this approach in the future European SSA Space Weather System.

Thank you for your attention Have a great conference