Farming by Satellite Prize 2020 is open for applications

The Farming by Satellite Prize is designed to encourage young professionals, farmers and students in Europe to create new, sustainable, and environmentally friendly solutions using Copernicus, EGNOS and Galileo. The 2020 edition of the Farming by Satellite Prize includes the Special Africa Prize, which aims to encourage young Africans to also seek satellite-based solutions for their agricultural needs.

“It is clear that we need to make food production much more sustainable and lessen its impacts on the environment and climate. Satellite data, technology and innovation can support this change, which is why partnering with this initiative aligns well with the EEA’s commitment to protecting our nature, climate and human health.”, said Hans Bruyninckx, Executive Director of the European Environment Agency.

"Who would have thought that Galileo and Copernicus would have convinced the young farmers to become tech savvy entrepreneurs bringing innovation gained by Space data to improve quality of life. We need young farmers to be innovative to develop a competitive and yet sustainable agriculture. Of course, they take advantage of what is available thanks to Space technologies and our objective with this competition is to support them to reach the best possible solution," said Pascal Claudel, Acting Executive Director of the GSA.

Applicants can take part as individuals or as a team and are invited to register online between 16 March and 14 June 2020, with the top 20 teams selected as finalists to enter the deep dive phase.

The 2020 edition of the Farming by Satellite Prize is supported by industry partners with the sponsorship of CLAAS, a manufacturer of agricultural engineering equipment.

Full details on the competition are available at www.farmingbysatellite.eu.

About the European GNSS Agency (GSA)

The GSA’s mission is to support European Union objectives and achieve the highest return on European GNSS investment, in terms of benefits to users and economic growth and competitiveness, by:

• Designing and enabling services that fully respond to user needs, while continuously improving the European GNSS services and Infrastructure;
• Managing the provision of quality services that ensure user satisfaction in the most cost-efficient manner;
• Engaging market stakeholders to develop innovative and effective applications, value-added services and user technology that promote the achievement of full European GNSS adoption;
• Ensuring that European GNSS services and operations are thoroughly secure, safe and accessible.

Visit www.gsa.europa.eu to find out more.

About the European Environment Agency (EEA)

The EEA is an agency of the European Union tasked with providing sound, independent information on the environment. It is a major information source for those involved in developing, adopting, implementing and evaluating environmental policy, and also for the general public. Read more about the EEA.

Proper management of the environment and supporting long-term transition to a sustainable society requires timely and accurate information on the state and changes in land cover and land use.  This is why the EEA is also in charge of the implementation of the Copernicus Land Monitoring Service (CLMS), and of the Copernicus in situ data coordination.