From May 27–29, 2025, BioDT partners Senckenberg – Society for Nature Research (SGN), GBIF, and the Natural History Museum at the University of Oslo will host the AgroClim / EUMETSAT Demonstration Workshop and Stakeholder Meeting in Rabat, Morocco, in collaboration with the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA). This international workshop is designed to showcase the Crop Wild Relatives (CWR) use case developed within the BioDT project and its integration into the Destination Earth (DestinE) initiative. The programme includes live demonstrations of how to access climate data via EUMETSAT and DestinE, as well as a hands-on session allowing participants to explore the CWR digital twin resources in action.
BioDT at the AgroClim/EUMETSAT workshop
The BioDT consortium will collectively contribute to discussions and technical sessions, highlighting how digital twin technologies are being developed and applied to simulate and monitor biodiversity. The full agenda is available here. The workshop offers an opportunity to showcase the project’s role in delivering advanced modelling, simulation, and predictive tools that address the increasing need for sustainable solutions in agrobiodiversity and climate adaptation in particular will introduce crop wild relatives prototype digital twin. These contributions will be central to the event’s focus on demonstrating the practical applications of digital twin technologies in environmental research and data-driven decision-making.
A central theme of the event is the importance of research infrastructures like GBIF in enabling these advancements. Sessions will explore how taxonomic data, including sub-species crop categories, can be enhanced and integrated into broader digital ecosystems. The workshop aims to foster future collaboration by building on current achievements and exploring new project ideas, with BioDT actively contributing to the development of innovative solutions at the intersection of biodiversity, agriculture, and climate resilience.
Agenda (tentative)
Day 1: Tuesday, 27 May 2025
09:30 - 10:00 Registration, Coffee, and Mingling
10:00 - 10:05 Welcome and Practical Information, Zakaria Kehel (ICARDA, Morocco)
10:05 - 10:10 Workshop overview, Desalegn Chala (University of Oslo, Norway)
10:10 – 10:20 BioDT: Developing prototype digital twins of biodiversity for Advanced Modelling, Simulation and Prediction Capabilities, Gabriela Zuquim (Scientific Coordinator, BioDT, CSC - IT Center for Science, Finland)
10:20 – 10:30 The Crop Wild Relatives Use Case, Desalegn Chala (University of Oslo, Norway)
10:30 – 10:50 Introduction to Destination Earth and EUMETSAT, Danaele Puechmaille (EUMETSAT; Germany)
10:50 – 11:10 The AgroClim Project: Deploying the Crop Wild Relatives Use Case to the Destination Earth Data Lake, Claus Weiland (Scientific IT, Senckenberg Nature Research Society; Germany)
11:10 – 11:30 Coffee Break
11:30 - 11:50 Demonstration of Access to EUMETSAT/Destination Earth Climate Resources, Danaele Puechmaille (EUMETSAT; Germany)
11:50 - 12:20 Demonstration of Access to the CWR DT Resources, Daniel Bauer (Scientific IT, Senckenberg Nature Research Society)
12:20 - 14:00 Lunch Break
14:00 - 15:00 Hands-On Session: Testing the Service Together
15:00 - 15:20: Global Hotspots of Crop Wild relatives With Potential Novel Genetic Resources, Barnabas Daru (Stanford University, USA)
15:20 - 16:00 Coffee Break and Networking and Informal Discussions
Day 2: Wednesday, 28 May 2025
09:30 - 10:00 Registration, Coffee, and Mingling
10:00 - 10:20 Introduction to GBIF and GBIF Resources, Dag Endresen (GBIF Node Manager, University of Oslo; Norway) & Dmitry Schigel (GBIF Scientific Officer, Denmark)
10:20 - 10:40 Integration of sub-species crop categories to a taxon backbone in GBIF, Kaue de Sousa (CIAT, France)
10:40 - 11:30 GBIF Agrobiodiversity — restarting thematic priority Project - discussion facilitator: Dmitry Schigel and Dag Endresen
10:40-11:00 GBIF presentation
11:00 - 11:20 Discussion
11:20 - 11:30 Forming breakout groups (e..g cataloging metadata level resources, agro names, and GBIF, spatiotemporal evidence - points; spatiotemporal evidence - systematic surveys; spatiotemporal evidence - DNA; complex data - interactions, etc.)
11:30 - 12:00 Coffee Break
12:00 - 13:30 Breakout Group Discussions on GBIF Applications and GBIF Agrobiodiversity Project
12:30 - 13:00 Back together: reporting from breakout groups, summaries and action points
13:00 - 14:00 Lunch Break
14:00 - 16:30 Visit to ICARDA Resources
Day 3: Thursday, 29 May 2025
09:30 - 10:00 Registration, Coffee, and Mingling
10:00 - 11:00 Project Ideas Brainstorming and Collaboration Opportunities
11:00 - 12:00 Breakout Group Discussions on project ideas and collaboration plus presentation of findings
Please register before the 10th May 2025. The full agenda is available here.