The region of the Eastern Mediterranean has experienced increasing economic development over the past few decades. Along with the rapid population growth and climate change, this development, however, has caused many problems in Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan. The aftermath of the war in Syria has added more complexity and exacerbated the negative effects in all of these countries across multiple sectors.

The meeting of these challenges requires constructive cooperation between different levels of planning and execution. This can be facilitated through improving the use of geoinformatics, which offers an adequate resource to provide important up-to-date spatial information on an area. This technology further offers valuable instruments for protecting resources and making decisions more transparent. Based on the integration of data from different disciplines, geoinformatics can facilitate planning and decision-making on different spatial levels be they local, regional, national, or international. In addition, the data of geoinformatics make a significant contribution to the coordination of emergency aid in crisis-ridden areas like Syria. In such a situation, the satellite data provides comprehensive, neutral, and objective information. They can be used for documentation and for verifying information from local sources.

In this proposed project, a network of different universities and scientists from Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria is to be formed, so that expertise from various disciplines can be brought together to set up a strong collaboration in the field of geoinformatics. In particular, this project aims to support Syrian researchers and enrich their academic and scientific qualifications. The project offers participants the opportunity to update and further improve their skills and knowledge in the field of geoinformatics. If required, furthermore, curricula can be developed in a research-oriented teaching strategy.