Leehu Loon
Associate Professor
University of
Oklahoma USA



ABSTRACT
Teaching GIS Through a Landscape Architecture Service Learning Project
Geospatial technologies are becoming a growing facet of the landscape architecture curriculum at the University of Oklahoma. Service learning is a unique, dynamic, and powerful framework for student learning and landscape architecture is a diverse profession which requires a multi-faceted educational approach. Utilizing GIS software along with service learning techniques have proven to be a successful way to introduce graduate students to GIS while concurrently teaching principles of landscape architectural design. This presentation will illustrate the importance of a recent service learning project that was conducted by graduate students and faculty utilizing GIS at the Kessler Atmospheric and Ecological Field Station (KAEFS) in Oklahoma. KAEFS is a 350-acre site that was donated to the University of Oklahoma for research and teaching. As the KAEFS's research areas continue to unfold, a master plan for the site was needed to manage current and future research. This project provided the KAEFS with a variety of master plan options that could be implemented in phases over time. The results of this project show that introducing GIS concurrently with principles of design had beneficial outcomes for the KAEFS and the students involved. Highlights of the project will be discussed and shown as well as projections for future projects that incorporate GIS, service learning, and landscape architecture.

Morishige Ota
Fellow Kokusai Kogyo
Japan




ABSTRACT
Package for Learning Fundamental Knowledge on Geospatial Technology
Today, we can easily reuse and exchange geo-data, as long as it is in compliance with the Geospatial Information Standards. However, The education environment to learn geospatial knowledge based on Object Oriented Modeling and formal languages is still not sufficient in Japan; despite they are prerequisites to understand GI Standards and to construct SDI. This is the reason to develop educational package for the Introductory Course on Geospatial Technology. A package consists of a series of slides and software for exercises. 15 sets of slides are prepared for the semester course. And a software called GeoPack is prepared for exercises that students can learn fundamental knowledge of Geospatial Technology. The structure of GeoPack follows the Body of Knowledge on Geospatial Technology. It comprises modeling, acquisition, management, analysis, exchange and representation of geospatial data. Students design application schemas on the modeling windows. The acquisition window enables digitizing the geo-data. Students input geospatial metadata and select a dataset on the management window. Fundamental spatial analysis can be run on the analysis window. The exchange window provides functions to encode/decode geo-data, application schema, metadata, symbol styles, etc. Finally, symbol style design and map representation are possible on the representation window.

Hendrik Westerbeek
Director
Labourmarket Geo Foundation
The Netherlands



ABSTRACT
Next Generation Geo-professionals Will Change the World
Geo spatial information and geo spatial information technology are going to be embbedded. Bio, Nano and Geo are often seen as an important future challenge. All kinds of disciplines and areas in society will benefit from the geo spatial possibilities. A new generation of geo specialists is in the class rooms of universities and institutes of professional education. Other scientists and professionals are getting well-known with the geo spatial possiblities in their area of attention from health care to the creative industry. Business intelligence, customer intelligence and location intelligence are integrated. The next generation is preparing itselve to replace the baby boom generation which was responsible for the past huge digitalization programmes. They built the motor, the next generation will drive the vehicle!

Paula Dijkstra
Kadaster
The Netherlands




ABSTRACT
Where to Find the Young Ones?
Location based information and spatial thinking has become part of our daily lives. The new possibilities and opportunities of this development requires new skills for companies and organisations. These skills are often provided by young professionals, but they are not easy to find. To fully exploit the potential of location based services we need to find the young ones! All over the world capacity building initiatives are started to attract young professionals to the geospatial profession: to raise the number of students, to adapt the curricula to demands of the market and to close the gap between students and the labour market. In this presentation initiatives of FIG Young Surveyors, CLGE, EuroGeo and EU programmes are explored as well as other capacity building programmes outside Europe. Insight in outreach, objectives and characteristics of this initiatives will be given. Based on this, it can be concluded where there is high potential or possible shortage of young professionals in the geospatial sector world wide. This will help the participants in getting the human resources in place, to answer the demands of a spatial thinking society in the near future.

Dr. Shahnawaz
Director (S & SE Asia)
UNIGIS International Department for Geoinformatics - Z_GIS University of Salzburg
Austria



BIO
Dr. Shahnawaz has an MA in Geography and Ph.D in Regional Development. He started teaching at the University of Salzburg, Austria in 2000 and assumed the position of Director (S & SE Asia),UNIGIS International in 2002. He has established internaional cooperation for GIScience education with numerous leading universities in Southeast Asia and started UNIGIS joint-study programmes with many of them. He is also adjunct / visiting faculty at 4 reputed universities in the region. Among other activities, his aim is to integrate all the major countries of Southeast Asia in the UNIGIS International network.

ABSTRACT
UNIGIS is the world’s premier distance education initiative offering masters and diploma programs in Geographical Information Science and Systems. Initially conceived by European universities in Manchester, Salzburg and Amsterdam, its study programs now are accessible in multiple languages through partner universities worldwide - sharing curricula, online learning platforms and the didactic approach to distance education.Since the inception of UNIGIS, more than 5,000 alumni have graduated from programs at partner universities with MSc degrees or postgraduate diplomas - making this the largest GIS program worldwide.The UNIGIS alumni “community of practice” has grown into a professional network sharing experiences, leads and skills, and collaborating in all things geospatial.