Edu4GEO2 | Report on 2nd project year

The armed conflict in the Amhara region continued to affect the second year of the project. The situation there remains unstable, and the Austrian Ministry of European and International Affairs has not lifted its travel warning for the region. Even travelling within the area is dangerous for our Ethiopian colleagues and can only be done at short notice depending on the security situation. Consequently, some of the planned on-site project activities have not yet been carried out.

In October 2024, the Amhara region's universities reopened and the Master's programme in Geomatics at Debre Markos University began accepting first-year students. However, due to the security situation and a lack of financial resources, interest in the programme was low, as was the number of registrations. Ultimately, six students (including one woman) were admitted.

Austrian lecturers delivered joint lectures online via Zoom, supported by Ethiopian colleagues who guided students through practical sessions on site. Various training courses for land administration experts and local farmers were also held at the DMU campus.

As part of the project, teaching and research equipment will be provided to universities in Debre Markos and Bahir Dar. This includes UAVs (with accessories such as GNSS), equipment for online teaching (360° cameras, microphones and whiteboards) and PCs for DMU, which are currently being shipped to Ethiopia.

As part of another project (ERASMUS+), a short-term project meeting was held in Addis Ababa, attended by all project managers. Problems with the planned activities and potential solutions were discussed, and the next steps were outlined.

Edu4GEO2 project website