As part of its activities to increase the uptake of free and open Earth Observation (EO) data from Copernicus across Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), the CopernicusLAC Panama Centre launched an ambitious training programme in 2024. These activities were designed to strengthen regional capacities, promote institutional collaboration, and facilitate the use of satellite-based tools for disaster risk reduction.
The ongoing CopernicusLAC initiative has received consistent institutional support, with European Union representatives attending nearly all inaugural sessions of the trainings, including the EU Ambassador to Panama, Izabela Matusz, the EU Ambassador to Barbados, Malgorzata Wasilewska, the EU Ambassador to Guatemala, Thomas Peyker, as well as the EU Ambassador to Colombia, Gilles Bertrand, who contributed a dedicated video message for the occasion. This supports the political relevance of the Centre and its work.
At the center: H.E. Izabela Matusz, Ambassador of the European Union to Panama, together with national authorities and participants during the training course held in Panama City on 1 July 2025.
In addition, for the training held in Guatemala City, the Vice President of Guatemala, Karin Herrera, attended its opening session highlighting the high-level engagement and shared commitment to advancing Earth Observation for disaster risk reduction across the LAC region.
From left to right: H.E. Thomas Peyker, Ambassador of the European Union to Guatemala; Karin Herrera, Vice President of Guatemala; and Dr. Claudinne Ogaldes, Executive Secretary of National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction of Guatemala (CONRED), during the inaugural session of the training in Guatemala on 4 November 2024.
As we reached the programme’s one-year milestone, this article provides a retrospective look at the first year of CopernicusLAC Panama Centre training activities, highlighting key achievements.
Our Capacity Building Activities in Numbers
Since the first training took place in Panama City on 8 July 2024, over 900 participants from more than 23 countries across the LAC region have participated in the trainings organised by the CopernicusLAC Panama Centre. These sessions increased participants’ understanding of Copernicus EO data and tools. The trainings covered a broad range of topics, including:
- Remote sensing fundamentals and Copernicus EO data access
- Optical and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery processing
- Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR): wildfires and floods
- Land use, land cover, and forest monitoring
- Practical tools: JupyterLab, open-source platforms, automation techniques
Through six in-person training sessions held across Panama, Guatemala, Colombia, Barbados, and Mexico, along with three online sessions, the programme focused on improving the regional capacity to leverage EO data for environmental monitoring, emergency response, and sustainable development. As the programme moves forward, the Centre remains committed to expanding training opportunities, advancing digital inclusion, and strengthening regional resilience through data-driven approaches to DRR.
The training activities from July 2024 to July 2025 have been held as follows.
Access to Training Resources: CopernicusLAC Panama Centre Digital Campus
The CopernicusLAC Panama Centre Digital Campus is an online platform which provides open access to a growing repository of past training materials and recorded sessions. Designed to foster continuous learning and broaden regional access to Earth Observation knowledge, the platform empowers professionals across Latin America and the Caribbean to contribute to a more sustainable and resilient future. With over 1,800 users already registered, it is becoming a hub for the region’s EO community. If you have not joined yet, register today and start exploring valuable content at your own pace.
📝 Register to the digital campus here:
Outlook to upcoming activities
Looking ahead, the Centre is preparing a new round of capacity-building activities for the second half of 2025. Plans include an in-person training in Chile and two sessions in Ecuador, one of which will be dedicated to engaging young participants, marking the first youth-focused training within the programme. Additional online training opportunities are also considered, including an advanced-level session aimed at deepening participants’ technical skills in Earth Observation data processing to be held this fall.
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Background Information
The activities of the Centre fall within the overall context of the EU-LAC Digital Alliance, which is a strategic framework to promote cooperation between the European Union (EU) and the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region on digital and space issues under the umbrella of the EU Global Gateway strategy. In this context, the European Space Agency (ESA) coordinates the implementation of the Centre on the basis of a Contribution Agreement with the Directorate General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA) of the European Commission, and in close collaboration with the Government of Panama, the MIRE (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and the SENACYT (National Secretariat for Science, Technology and Innovation).