From 19th until 23th September 2023 the 62nd German Congress for Geography (DKG) and Young Congress for Geography (JGK) will take place at the Goethe-Universität Frankfurt. The congress under the motto “Planetary Futures” aims to become a lively and vibrant place for scientific exchange on current issues, important research questions and societal problems.
HeiGIT will contribute with one session for each, the DKG and the JKG.
Sven Lautenbach, Chief Scientist at HeiGIT, will join Kathrin Foshag, Johannes Fürle and Nicole Aeschbach to talk about the HEAL project, a joint effort between HeiGIT, GIScience and TdLab at Heidelberg University on Thursday, 21st September from 6:15 pm – 7:45 pm.
The HEAL project (Heat Adaptation for Vulnerable Populations) aims to expand the knowledge base on the impact of heat events on human health, to explore individual adaptation strategies based on the evaluation of sensor data and indicators, and to develop heat mitigation measures together with the city administration. The talk offers insights into initial results on the location of heat hotspots, the evaluation of sensor data, and reflections on the inter- and transdisciplinary set of methods.
On Friday, HeiGITs Benjamin Herfort and Celina Thomé will host a Mapathon in an open session of the JKG. The mapathon will offer an opportunity to provide urgently necessary up-to-date map data for one of the many areas of the global south that are currently affected by natural disasters and consequent humanitarian crises. An effort will be made to map as many of the areas impacted by the recent 6.8 magnitude earthquake in Morocco as possible. You can already observe the current mapping efforts in the region which have been made by more than 1,600 individual mappers in the last week on HeiGITs ohsomeNow Stats website. OhsomeNow Stats provides real time updates about mapping activity in OpenStreetMap (OSM). Generally, up-to-date maps can provide key information for Humanitarian Relief organizations such as Red Cross and Red Crescent to allocate their limited resources like time, supplies and personnel as best as possible.
Furthermore, challenges and opportunities of Mapathons will be discussed with initiatives from other locations to make those events more accessible and present. Join Benjamin and Celina on Friday, 22nd 11am at the JKG.
Sven, Benjamin and Celina will be joined by a number of student assistants from HeiGIT who are eager to meet fellow students and researchers and learn about, e.g. the Ethics of Geoinformation.