The Australasian Hydrographic Society’s HydroSpatial2021 Conference will focus on how hydrography will develop in the future, noting the development of ‘digital twinning’ and the emerging name variants for hydrography such as ‘hydrospatial’ or ‘hydrogeomatics’.

The conference theme, Hydrography of the Future, morphs two modern yet wide-ranging aspects of the hydrographic surveying profession, and should draw papers from relevant scientific, technological, operational and environmental communities. The aim is to provide delegates with valuable insights, creative ideas and inspiration on how to harness current and future technologies, systems and processes so that they can deal with present challenges and prepare for a more sustainable future.

During GEO Week 2021, the Group on Earth Observations will present the multidisciplinary activities of the GEO Work Programme that address policy agendas involved in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) COP26, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) COP15, the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development and the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration.

The online event will include the GEO-17 plenary, plus anchor and side events. Time will be scheduled each day for virtual networking. On Monday, November 22, the 56th Executive Committee will be held as a closed meeting.

Of particular importance will be the anchor events: These are the main events designed by GEO week 2021 organisers to explain the multidisciplinary nature of GEO through the concept of nexus thinking. Working on multiple topics simultaneously is essential in today’s rapidly changing environmental and social conditions. For example, work in one area will have a knock-on effect or impact in another area, such as the water, energy and food nexus. These events are linked to the global policy agendas that underpin most of GEO’s work.

Image credit: NASA

As Australasia’s premier annual industry event, the Disaster & Emergency Management Conference attracts a passionate crowd of leaders and change-makers from government, private, and volunteer agencies working in disaster and emergency management.

Over two days, you will connect with emergency management professionals and subject matter experts offering insight, reflection, understanding and motivation across a wide range of topics and emergency management incidents.

Enjoy an impressive line-up of keynote speakers, presenters, and panel discussions, and leave with practical tools and techniques to ensure your team is best supported to better plan, prepare, and respond to emergencies, disasters, and rescue operations.

• Connect with emergency management personnel from state and local government, NGOs, and other recovery agencies.
• Explore and engage with exhibitor displays featuring the latest equipment, technologies, and agency services.
• Discover what is happening across multi-sectors via a program of renowned keynote speakers, sector representatives and lived-experience presenters.
• Gain practical tips, techniques, and strategies to incorporate into your organisation to improve the way you approach disaster and emergency planning, response & prevention.

The 15th International Conference on Spatial Information Theory, COSIT 2022, will be held in Kobe, Japan, 5 to 9 September, 2022. Established in 1993, the Conference on Spatial Information Theory (COSIT) is a biennial international conference series concerned with theoretical aspects of space and spatial information, aimed at advancing geographic information science and its emerging research frontiers.

The conference offers three (refereed) submission tracks with double-blind reviews: vision papers, full papers, and short papers. Embedded in the conference will also be an on-site mentoring program for doctoral students.

Contributions can cover a broad set of conference-relevant themes such as (but not limited to):

• activity-based models of spatial knowledge
• cognitive aspects of geographic information
• cognitive-behavioural geography, naive geography
• data-driven spatial information theory
• geo-ethics and geo-privacy
• events and processes in geographic space and time
• geographic information visualisation and geovisual analytics
• knowledge representation for space and time
• navigation and wayfinding of sentient beings and robots
• ontology of space and time
• place
• quality and interoperability of geographic information
• social and cultural organisation of space
• spatial and temporal language
• spatial aspects of social networks
• spatial decision support, impact of model design
• spatial (digital) humanities
• theory-driven spatial machine learning, artificial intelligence of space
• theories on volunteered geographic information
• theory and practice of spatial and temporal reasoning
• user interfaces, virtual spaces and collaborative spaces

Hydrographers and all those with an interest in hydrography and related disciplines, are invited to attend a World Hydrography Day 2023 Seminar in Suva, Fiji, on 22 and 23 June.

The seminar will be held jointly by the Australasian Hydrographic Society and the Fiji Hydrographic Service. The venue will be the Moana Anglican Services and Teaching Centre at St John the Baptist Theological College.

The organisers are calling for potential sponsors and presenters to get in touch.

The theme for World Hydrography Day 2023 is ‘Hydrography: Contributing to the United Nations Ocean Decade’.

The seminar comes after a two-year pause due to the COVID pandemic and associated travel restrictions. It will provide an opportunity for professionals to network and share hydrospatial knowledge through presentations and discussion.

It is also intended that the presentations will highlight the empowerment of women within the hydrography field.

Registration is free but places are limited. Registrations must be secured by close of business, Tuesday, 20 June 2023.