From September 11 to 24, Landau’s Institute for Environmental Sciences is hosting its two-week “International Summer Academy on Spatial Ecotoxicology and Ecotoxicological Risk Assessment – Using an Open Community Approach”.

Participants of a past International Summer Academy in a vineyard (photo by N. Mwangi)

An increasing number of chemical substances are released into our environment, while particularly developing countries often have inadequate control mechanisms and insufficient resources for risk assessment. Thanks to the growing Open Community Approach, spatial analysis tools are readily available, offering various applications for ecological risk assessment.

During Landau’s Summer Academy, experts of various disciplines from national and international institutions will combine basic concepts of ecotoxicology with methods of geographic information system (GIS) analysis. The course program will give an overview of ecotoxicological risk assessment with focus on the use of freely available methods and resources for remote sensing and spatial analysis using GIS – an approach that allows for an application in both developing and developed countries.

In addition to the academic courses, a social program will be organized that offers networking activities and excursions to get to know historical, cultural and nature aspects of Germany.

The application deadline for the Summer Academy is May 1, 2017. Participants from developing countries can be supported with scholarships, thanks to funding by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) with financial support of the Federal Foreign Office.

For more information, please see the flyer and the official website.