The journey of the Early Warning System for Mosquito-Borne Diseases (EYWA) was presented during the WOAH Regional Seminar on "Vector-Borne Diseases in the European Region," held from 25 to 27 June 2025 in Teramo, Italy.

The event was jointly organized by the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Abruzzo e del Molise “G. Caporale” (IZS Teramo), and supported by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE). It provided a critical platform for discussing the challenges and developments related to vector-borne diseases (VBDs) across Europe and neighboring regions.

BEYOND Centre of Excellence of ISAARS/NOA made a dynamic mark at this year’s Living Planet Symposium 2025, hosted by the European Space Agency (ESA) in Vienna, from the 23rd to the 27th of June. As one of the world’s premier Earth Observation (EO) forums, the event gathered leading scientists, institutions, and space stakeholders to share breakthroughs in environmental monitoring, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and satellite technologies.

Kicking off the Centre’s presence, Dr. Haris Kontoes, Research Director at IAASARS/NOA, presented groundbreaking work on Leveraging Earth Observation Data and Explainable AI for Predicting Mosquito-Borne Disease Outbreaks (Session B.03.06), underscoring the growing role of AI in public health surveillance.

CEMS Activation: Forest fuel mapping and fire hazard in France

We're excited to announce that the successful collaboration between our team from NOA/BEYOND, NTUA, and IDCOM, under the supervision of JRC CEMS, has resulted in valuable scientific insights on forest fire risk assessment in northeastern France.

Structural vegetation layers relevant for fuel mapping were generated using LiDAR and aerial imagery, and fire hazard maps were produced by analyzing meteorological scenarios to assess wildfire risk.

BEYOND/NOA as a EURISY community partner is pleased to see FireHUB, its advanced wildfire management system, mentioned in the latest EURISY Annual Activity Report 2024–2025 as one of the three most visited member websites over the past year. Developed by BEYOND, FireHUB delivers real-time wildfire detection and smoke dispersion forecasts across Greece, Southern Europe, North Africa, Balkans, Black Sea and the Middle East—supporting civil protection and decision-making.

ℹ️Discover FireHUB services: http://beyond-eocenter.eu/index.php/web-services/firehub

An in-person meeting held on May 6, 2025, during the GEO Global Forum in Rome, brought together 27 participants from across the GEO Working Groups (WGs), other GEO Work Programme (GWP) activities, and the wider GEO community to discuss and flesh out details for a potential GEO joint Working Group activity on the Climate-Biodiversity-Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) nexus under the post-2025 GWP enhancing linkage towards Earth intelligence.

Η Επιχειρησιακή Μονάδα BEYOND του Εθνικού Αστεροσκοπείου Αθηνών (ΕΑΑ), σε συνεργασία με το Δίκτυο ΠΡΑΞΗ/ΙΤΕ, διοργάνωσε στις 15 Μαΐου 2025 στην Αλεξανδρούπολη ημερίδα με τίτλο “Εργαλεία Copernicus για τις πλημμύρες του ποταμού Έβρου” (regional workshop «Copernicus tools for the flooding of Evros river»), στο πλαίσιο του ευρωπαϊκού έργου FPCUP (Caroline Herschel Framework Partnership Agreement on Copernicus User Uptake).

Συμμετοχή της Επιχειρησιακής Μονάδας BEYOND του ΙΑΑΔΕΤ/ΕΑΑ στην Πολυεθνική Άσκηση Διαστημικής Συνεργασίας «GLOBAL SENTINEL CAPSTONE 2025» 

Το Εθνικό Αστεροσκοπείο Αθηνών μέσω της Επιχειρησιακής Μονάδας BEYOND του ΙΑΑΔΕΤ συμμετείχε στην άσκηση διαστημικών επιχειρήσεων "Global Sentinel", που διεξήχθη από τη Διοίκηση Διαστήματος των Ηνωμένων Πολιτειών (United States Space Command), στο Vandenberg Space Force Base, στην Καλιφόρνια, μεταξύ 28 Απριλίου και 9 Μαΐου 2025. Η ελληνική αποστολή περιλάμβανε εκπροσώπους από το Γενικό Επιτελείο Εθνικής Άμυνας (ΓΕΕΘΑ), το Ελληνικό Κέντρο Διαστήματος (ΕΛΚΕΔ), το Ίδρυμα Τεχνολογίας και Έρευνας (ΙΤΕ) και το Εθνικό Αστεροσκοπείο Αθηνών / ΙΑΑΔΕΤ / Επιχειρησιακή Μονάδα BEYOND. Τη Μονάδα BEYOND εκπροσώπησε ο ειδικός επιστήμονας Γεώργιος Χούμος, συμβάλλοντας καθοριστικά στην επιχειρησιακή προσομοίωση και στην ανταλλαγή τεχνικής εμπειρίας στο πλαίσιο της συνεργασίας με τα διεθνή κέντρα.

The Greek National Operations Center for Space Surveillance and Tracking (SST), part of the Operational Unit BEYOND/IAASARS of the National Observatory of Athens, is seeking a highly motivated Project Manager to join our team.

BEYOND at the GEO Global Forum 2025 

Rome, May 9, 2025 – The BEYOND Centre, as a committed EuroGEO partner, wrapped up a strong and impactful presence at the GEO Global Forum 2025, held in Rome, where it led three dynamic sessions hosted at the EU Booth. During the Sessions,BEYOND played a pivotal role in the conversation on how Earth Observation (EO) is shaping informed, data-driven decisions across critical sectors.

From disaster resilience and public health to skills development and EO market engagement, BEYOND’s contributions underscored the transformative potential of EO technologies in building a more sustainable and resilient world.

BEYOND Showcases Cutting-Edge Earth Observation Solutions at EGU 2025

BEYOND Centre of Excellence of ISAARS/NOA proudly participated in the European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly 2025, held in Vienna, Austria, from 27 April to 2 May 2025. The EGU General Assembly is one of the most prestigious international events for Earth, planetary, and space sciences, bringing together geoscientists from around the world to share their latest research and innovations.

This year, BEYOND team contributed with 4 presentations, highlighting how Earth Observation (EO) technologies can address real-world challenges like wildfires, floods, and disaster preparedness.