In the past 20 years, European public authorities have invested considerable resources in the development of spatial data infrastructures (SDIs). With the European INSPIRE Directive as an important driver, national SDIs were developed throughout Europe to facilitate and coordinate the exchange and sharing of geographic data. These SDIs initially focused on data sharing among public authorities. In the next stage, a more user oriented approach evolved, also including users outside the public sector. In recent years, several countries and public administrations in Europe started with the implementation of open data policy, with the aim of making their government data ‘open’. In addition, some started to make a shift towards the establishment of an ‘open’ SDI, in which also non-government data and actors are considered as key to the performance of the infrastructure.Currently, SDI education around the globe is characterized by single disciplinary or siloed views missing out on opportunities of a holistic, multidisciplinary view on SDI. In addition, the recent Open SDI trend has not been implemented in any SDI curriculum yet. Moreover, teaching methods are still limited to traditional teaching in the classroom. As a consequence, there is barely an international exchange of educational material and approaches on open SDI among universities. An overview and detailed analysis of existing SDI education are unavailable and an international platform facilitating the SDI education is lacking.The overarching objective of the project is to promote and strengthen active learning and teaching towards Open SDI. Subobjectives are:1. To explore, develop and implement the concept of Open SDI as a new paradigm to SDI education 2. To develop and promote active and multidisciplinary learning and teaching on Open SDI 3. To develop a general toolkit for implementing Open SDI in existing curricula in study programs of different disciplines 4. To drive the uptake of Open SDI teaching and learning resources by teachers and students via open online platformsProject participants/ description of activitiesThe project addresses the following target groups and their needs:- Teachers and trainers requiring new teaching and learning approaches and methods, allowing them to teach and train students with state of the art content and means.- Students (BSc, MSc and PhD level) requiring innovative, pro-active teaching and learning approaches to be applied to societal challenges and to allow a kick-start of their professional career.- SDI practitioners and decision makers, requiring insight into new approaches to SDI development and implementation, and employees with the rights skills to adopt these new approaches.The activities will yield 6 project meetings, 8 intellectual outputs, 5 multiplier events and 3 learning/teaching/training actions. Through the project events and activities we have more than 250 participants (ca. 100 teachers in SDI, 50 students and 100 SDI practitioners and decision makers). SPIDER MethodologySPIDER will employ a mixed methodology. Through desk research, and surveys a knowledge base will be drafted. These results are discussed and applied in the Learning and Teaching and Training events, which are focused on academic staff and students. The results are then communicated and discussed with the broader SDI community in the Multiplier Events and presented in events (conferences) that are organised by the associated partners.The envisaged SPIDER's results and impact are:1. A better understanding of existing practices, policies and systems in education, and training across countries in Europe and beyond2. A new holistic perspective on Open SDI3. The central online SPIDER platform facilitating Open SDI education in Europe and beyond4. A new and increased inter-regional and transnational cooperation of five EU universities in the field of Open SDI education5. Inclusion of new, innovative concepts and topics related to Open SDI in SDI education (at participating organizations and other HEIs in Europe)6. An increased digital competence of academic staff in SDI education in Europe7. Improved quality of education and training in Open SDI in Europe8. An education aligned with the future needs of the labour marketPotential longer term benefits1. Increased level of active teaching on SDI beyond the participating organizations and other HEIs in Europe2. Development of higher-order skills by students, through the use of active teaching and learning practices3. Development of knowledge, skills and competencies on new, innovative topics and concepts related to Open SDI by students4. Delivery of better prepared students to the SDI job market5. Increased attention to and awareness on Open SDIs among teachers, researchers, practitioners and decision makers

Through a detailed analysis of very high-energy particle observations from the most important heliophysics missions combined with ground based measurements, SPEARHEAD will provide answers to three science questions: 1) How are protons accelerated beyond 100 MeV and electrons beyond 1 MeV in solar eruptions? 2) What are the release times and spectral characteristics of near-relativistic particles from solar eruptions? 3) How do coronal and interplanetary structures affect the transport processes of very high energetic particles? To enable the scientific data analysis SPEARHEAD has three technical objectives: 1) Determining the response functions of a large number of spacecraft instruments to derive high-energy particle fluxes from observations at unprecedented accuracy releasing revised and completely new datasets 2) Performing cross-calibration of datasets measured by science-grade and monitoring instruments to enable the use of monitoring data for scientific analyses 3) Combining high-energy particle and context observations together with modeling of plasma structures for easier in-depth analysis of solar eruptions, quantifying their effect and delivering them to the community. SPEARHEAD combines eight partners possessing the best European resources (in terms of data, models and infrastructure) in very high-energy particle research into a consortium that will deliver answers to the three science questions and consolidated datasets, methodology and open access tools to the community enabling breakthrough science on these open problems. The work is organized efficiently in 8 work packages with carefully picked top European expertise in each of them. SPEARHEAD will also facilitate the future application of its results through dedicated and comprehensive user engagement, direct provision through open access infrastructures as ESA datalabs, while strongly promotes its results and the value-added datasets and tools for the future heliophysics missions.

The project "Twinning Open Data Operational" (TODO) aims to leverage the interdisciplinary scientific excellence and innovation capacity of the University of Zagreb (UNIZG) in the field of open data to boost the supply and use of open government data in Croatia and beyond. Open data initiatives have resulted in greater availability of data, thereby realising ambitions such as improved efficiency and effectiveness of public services, increased transparency, accountability and citizen participation, and economic and social value creation. Open data research is a crucial component in creating and accelerating sustainable and innovative open data ecosystems. However, open data and open data research in Croatia are still in its infancy. With the support of key organizations in the Croatian open data ecosystem and esteemed national and international experts, TODO will enhance the research capacity and research excellence in open data research of UNIZG and its staff through the partnership with two leading universities in the open data domain, University of the Aegean (UAEGEAN) and Delft University of Technology (TUDELFT). TODO will develop and implement an interdisciplinary multi-domain open data research approach to increase the maturity of the concept and impact of the open data ecosystem in Croatia and beyond. The activities directed at training, knowledge exchange, collaboration, outreach and long-term sustainability should establish an internationally leading open data research ecosystem at the UNIZG. Through research, TODO will explore the gaps between supply and demand of open data and build understanding of an open data ecosystem in Croatia. Participation in existing international networks, together with the newly built scientific excellence and innovation capacity and increased mobility of UNIZG staff, will stimulate success in attracting research and education funding and the establishment of a sustainable academic open data research ecosystem in the UNIZG.

The proposed four-year project connects solar physics, solar-terrestrial physics, heliospheric physics, space weather & climate, geophysics, and stellar physics. It is based on empirical/interpretative, theoretical/analytical, and theoretical/numerical approach, and concerns all astrophysical problems currently in focus of the research at the Hvar Observatory (HO) of the Faculty of Geodesy of the University of Zagreb. Thus, the proposed program is in a great deal determined by, and directed towards, effective exploitation of the observational capacities and manpower of HO. The project is divided into five thematic topics: 1) solar activity and eruptive phenomena in the solar atmosphere; 2) solar-activity impact on the Earth; 3) stellar eruptive activity; 4) radiation processes in solar and stellar atmospheres; 5) exoplanets and substellar companions. In the first topic special attention is devoted to the research of the physics of coronal mass ejections and solar flares, since they drive the most intense geomagnetic storms, as well as changes of radiation belts and ionosphere. The central issue of the second topic is the influence of the solar variability on the Earth climate. The third topic is devoted to stellar eruptive magnetic-field activity, aiming to provide a better understanding of the long-term evolutionary aspect of the solar activity. The fourth topic is an important subject not only for astrophysics, but also for plasma physics in general, since it provides an alternative view on plasma instabilities and emission processes. The fifth topic is a timely astrophysical theme, since it provides new insights into physics of planetary systems, and is very important subject for understanding of the solar-system formation and evolution.