BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) — The European Union (EU) Ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, Malgorzata Wasilewska, on Monday welcomed a new regional training initiative aimed at supporting disaster management professionals to improve how they prepare for and respond to intensified climate-related threats.

“This training takes place during the European Union’s Europe Month. In the Caribbean, it’s a chance to celebrate the strong and evolving partnership between the EU and the region, particularly in areas like strengthening resilience, where cooperation continues to deepen,” she told the participants from the 13 Caribbean countries participating in the five-day course focused on harnessing satellite data to strengthen emergency planning and resilience.

“By providing public institutions with access to reliable data and the skills to use it effectively, this initiative is contributing to a stronger, more prepared Caribbean, better equipped to anticipate risk and protect communities,” she added.

The event introduces participants to accessible, free European Union Copernicus tools for analysing Earth observation (EO) data and satellite imagery and turning this information into practical insights for real-world decision-making in the event of a disaster.

The course, titled “Earth Observation: Principles and Tools”, also allows participants to explore the free and open-source software programme to explore how Copernicus products can support their daily work.

Copernicus is the EU’s Earth observation programme, offering services based on satellite and ground-based data that are freely available to all.

Executive director of the Barbados-based Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), Elizabeth Riley, said that the value of earth observation data is not theoretical and that it has already proven impactful in operational settings.

“In 2024 alone, Copernicus services were leveraged by the regional response mechanism coordinated by CDEMA to support decision-making and response during Hurricane Beryl and the unprecedented wildfires in Belize. These examples demonstrate the power of geospatial intelligence in enhancing situational awareness and coordination during crises,” she added.

Participants from Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, The Bahamas, Belize, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, St Kitts-Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago are attending the event gaining hands-on skills that can help civil protection agencies, meteorological services, and planning offices assess risk exposure, monitor environmental changes, and respond more effectively to emergencies.

The course is led by Dr Caterina Peris Ferrús and Dr Akram Elghouat, experts in EO services development, and the sessions are designed to build confidence in using EO tools for disaster preparedness and risk reduction planning.

It is organised by the EU’s Copernicus Regional Centre for Latin America and the Caribbean (CopernicusLAC) Panama Centre, on behalf of the European Space Agency (ESA) in close partnership with the European Union Delegation to Barbados, the Eastern Caribbean States, the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), the Caribbean Community (Caricom), the Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM), CDEMA, as well as the Barbados-based Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH) and the Caribbean-EU Cooperation Facility project.

It is part of a broader effort under the European Union Global Gateway strategy and the EU-LAC Digital Alliance to support technical knowledge-sharing and digital cooperation between Europe and the Caribbean.

The activity is part of broader, cross-cutting and continuous cooperation on disaster risk reduction between the European Union and Latin America and the Caribbean.

Stakeholder Engagement Officer at the CopernicusLAC Panama Centre, Claudia Herrera, noted that “at the CopernicusLAC Centre in Panama, we are firmly committed to supporting Caribbean nations in building stronger resilience to disasters”.

“There is clear evidence that the use of Earth observation data not only increases response efforts in the face of extreme events but also plays a crucial role in strengthening disaster preparedness policies and systems.

“Training programmes such as the one we are launching today provide essential tools to the dedicated professionals who are at the forefront of building disaster resilience across the Caribbean,” Herrera said.