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The main objective of the Belspo-funded LIMAMAL project was to support archaeologists in creating 3D terrain visualizations based on Lidar data and Pléiades stereoscopic imagery, and a combination or “fusion” thereof. A case study was developed to demonstrate the application of Pléiades imagery and light detection and ranging (lidar) technologies for prospection and visualization of the Mesoamerican archaeological landscape. Based on this case study, guidelines in English and Spanish have been developed to explain the technical processing. The project involved a stakeholder: the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), a Mexican federal government institution responsible for research, conservation, protection and spreading of knowledge on Mexican cultural heritage. The case study and guidelines were presented to the stakeholder and other interested parties during several meetings held during a short mission to Yucatan, Mexico in the spring of 2022.

Advances in close-range and remote sensing technologies drive innovations in forest resource assessments and monitoring at varying scales. Data acquired with airborne and spaceborne platforms provide us with higher spatial resolution, more frequent coverage and increased spectral information. Recent developments in ground-based sensors have advanced three dimensional (3D) measurements, low-cost permanent systems and community-based monitoring of forests. The REDD+ mechanism has moved the remote sensing community in advancing and developing forest geospatial products which can be used by countries for the international reporting and national forest monitoring. However, there still is an urgent need to better understand the options and limitations of remote and close-range sensing techniques in the field of degradation and forest change assessment. This Special Issue contains 12 studies that provided insight into new advances in the field of remote sensing for forest management and REDD+. This includes developments into algorithm development using satellite data; synthetic aperture radar (SAR); airborne and terrestrial LiDAR; as well as forest reference emissions level (FREL) frameworks.

Characterizing the terrestrial carbon, water, and energy cycles depends strongly on a capacity to accurately reproduce the spatial and temporal dynamics of land surface evaporation. For this, and many other reasons, monitoring terrestrial evaporation across multiple space and time scales has been an area of focused research for a number of decades. Much of this activity has been supported by developments in satellite remote sensing, which have been leveraged to deliver new process insights, model development and methodological improvements. In this Special Issue, published contributions explored a range of research topics directed towards the enhanced estimation of terrestrial evaporation. Here we summarize these cutting-edge efforts and provide an overview of some of the state-of-the-art approaches for retrieving this key variable. Some perspectives on outstanding challenges, issues, and opportunities are also presented.

The twenty six papers in this special issue focus on the technologies of hyperspectral remote sensing (HRS)and imaging spectroscopy. HRS has emerged as a powerful tool to understand phenomena at local and global scales by virtue of imaging through a diverse range of platforms, including terrestrial in-situ imaging platforms, unmanned and manned aerial vehicles, and satellite platforms. By virtue of imaging over a wide range of spectral wavelengths, it is possible to characterize object specific properties very accurately. As a result, hyperspectral imaging (also known as imaging spectroscopy) has gained popularity for a wide variety of applications, including environment monitoring, precision agriculture, mineralogy, forestry, urban planning, and defense applications. The increased analysis capability comes at a cost—there are a variety of challenges that must be overcome for robust image analysis of such data, including high dimensionality, limited sample size for training supervised models, noise and atmospheric affects, mixed pixels, etc. The papers in this issue represent some of the recent developments in image analysis algorithms and unique applications of hyperspectral imaging data.

European Union (EU) trade policy has become increasingly contested and politicised. Citizens and politicians have become more and more concerned about the human rights and sustainable development implications of free trade. The European Commission in its ‘Trade for All’ Strategy has recognized the need for a more value-based trade policy. In the same vein, the EU has included a chapter on Trade and Sustainable Development in recent free trade agreements. However, there is still much uncertainty about the specifics of these legal commitments and about their implementation in practice. In this study, we aim to assess the labour rights commitments in the EU-Peru-Colombia agreement, with a specific focus on Peru and the agricultural sector. Based on an analytical framework that summarises the labour-related commitments of the sustainable development Title into three categories – upholding ILO Core Labour Standards, non-lowering domestic labour law, and promoting civil society dialogue – we conclude that Peru has failed to comply in a number of areas. We also make recommendations for the EU and civil society and suggestions for more profound and systematic research.

In order to fully operationalize efforts and advance progresses that have been made by the government related to DRM policy and practice, the role of universities has become critical. Ethiopia needs to focus on strengthening universities’ capacity to be an effective local and global knowledge base for addressing both local and regional issues on environmental and disaster management. Recognizing universities’ capacity for strong and effective collaboration with other development partners is vital to mainstream and build disaster risk reduction capacity for sustainable and resilient agricultural development throughout Ethiopia.

Interview with Trudi Noordermeer, Demmy Verbeke, Sally Chambers and Saskia Scheltjens about digital humanities and academic libraries in Flanders, Belgium