The Knowledge Centre Open Data received an Erasmusplus grant for the SPIDER: open SPatial data Infrastructure eDucation nEtwoRk project. In the 3-year project, the Knowledge Centre will collaborate with Bochum University of Applied Sciences, KU Leuven, Lund University and the University of Zagreb. Its overarching objective is to promote and strengthen active learning and teaching towards Open spatial data infrastructures.

In the past 20 years, European public authorities have invested considerable resources in the development of spatial data infrastructures (SDIs). With the European INSPIRE Directive as an important driver, national SDIs were developed throughout Europe to facilitate and coordinate the exchange and sharing of geographic data. These SDIs initially focused on data sharing among public authorities as a closed system. Currently, SDI education around the globe is characterized by single disciplinary or siloed views missing out on opportunities of a holistic, multidisciplinary view on SDIs. In addition, the recent Open SDI trend has not been implemented in any SDI curriculum yet. Moreover, teaching methods are still limited to traditional teaching in the classroom. As a consequence, there is barely an international exchange of educational material and approaches on open SDI among universities. An overview and detailed analysis of existing SDI education is unavailable and an international platform facilitating the SDI education is lacking. The SPIDER project aims to overcome these shortcomings.

Please contact Urbanism’s Bastiaan van Loenen, Frederika Welle Donker or Hendrik Ploeger for more information about the project or visit the website at: http://sdispider.eu/

ERASMUS+ Strategic Partnerships Grant 2019-1-DE01-KA203-005042