Linkage with Development Agents

As part of the outreach program, Geographic Information System (GIS) and remote sensing training was provided to 23 Development Agents (DAs). The core of the training was the application of geo-information and earth observation techniques in support of natural resources management (NRM). The training provided participants with knowledge and skills needed for the collection, interpretation, and management of spatial information, using remote sensing and geographic information systems, to support planning and decision-making processes in natural resources management. The training concentrated on methods for assessing the state of the resource base and the changes that occur and progresses to the assessment of impacts and societal response.

The training incorporated the following topics:

• Introduction to GIS and Remote sensing and its relation to NRM
• Working with ArcGIS environment
• Extracting geographic features from Google Earth for NRM
• Collecting data using GPS for ground verification & displaying in ArcGIS
• Integrating spatial with non-spatial data
• Analysis of the data collected
• Watershed delineation for development planning

Tegegn Molla, who is one of the PhD candidates of the EENSAT project, provided a public lecture for the academic staff and postgraduate students of Bahir Dar University. The title of his presentation was “GIS Solutions for Community Development”. In his presentation, he addressed how the GIS technology evolved trough time, how it transforms from a niche technology used by specialists to an integrated information technology used throughout an organization, and how the community development professionals are rapidly embracing GIS as a basic tool for doing their duties.