Buildings, cities and population: for over 20 years, the Joint Research Centre has been mapping the human presence on earth from space. This crucial data has recently been integrated into the Copernicus Emergency Management Service, enabling more effective management and response to emergencies.
This new edition of the Atlas of the Human Planet offers an unprecedented 50-year perspective on population growth and urbanisation trends across the world.
Join our launch event via webstreaming to
- Unveil the atlas' main findings. These include new insights on population growth, city development predictions, and the challenges of urbanisation and sustainable development
- Explore how the atlas can inform security, environmental and socio-economic policies. We will explore the spatial dynamics of demography, identify areas of concentration for people and resources, and uncover opportunities and challenges for the EU
Follow the live via web streaming or on LinkedIn.
- sustainable development | population dynamics | urban habitat | man-made disaster | natural disaster | humanitarian aid | disaster risk reduction | urbanisation
- Wednesday 30 October 2024, 10:00 - 12:00 (CET)
- Online only
- Live streaming available
Programme
- 30 Oct 2024, 10:00 - 10:10 (CET)Opening
Matthias Oel, Director of Directorate E - Societal Resilience and Security, Joint Research Centre
- 10:10 - 11:00 (CET)Session 1: Findings from the Atlas
Moderator: Tom De Groeve, Head of Unit E.1 - Disaster Risk Management, Joint Research Centre
10:10-10:25 Why the Atlas and what are the main findings
Daniele Ehrlich, Joint Research Centre10:25-10:30 The spatial patterns of cities
Thomas Kemper, Joint Research Centre10:30-10:40 Geography matters
Daniele Ehrlich, Joint Research Centre10:40-11:00 Exposure to hazards
Thomas Kemper, Joint Research Centre - 11:00 - 11:50 (CET)Session 2: Policy context for the Atlas of the Human Planet 2024
Moderator: Matthias Oel, Director of Directorate E - Societal Resilience and Security, Joint Research Centre
European/global urban development agenda
Peter Berkowitz, Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO)EU Space Programme
Elisabeth Hamdouch, Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space (DG DEFIS)Disaster risk management
Hans Ulrich Goessl, Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO)Research and Innovation
Joanna Drake, Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD)International partnerships
Sergio Oliete Josa, Directorate-General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA)Climate and environment
Johannes Klumpers, Directorate-General for Climate Action (DG CLIMA) - 11:50 - 12:00 (CET)Closing remarks
Tom De Groeve, Head of Unit E.1 - Disaster Risk Management, Joint Research Centre
Practical information
- When
- Wednesday 30 October 2024, 10:00 - 12:00 (CET)
- Where
- Online only
- Who should attend
- Researchers and academics; data providers; national and international public authorities addressing population, regional and urban policies; NGOs and anyone interested in the analysis of human settlements and its population.
- Languages
- English
Description
We live today in an age of fast societal transformation, where humans are having far-reaching impacts on planet earth.
At the eve of a new Commission, the launch event of the Atlas of the Human Planet 2024 will be an occasion to discuss the tensions between the need for sustainable development of the Global South while staying within the planetary boundaries.
The geography of humans on the planet defines many issues of security, environment, economics and equality. The diversity of cities and rural areas also offers models for the change necessary to adapt to a changing climate and geopolitical landscape.
Knowing where people live and work is of key importance for efforts to address major current and future societal challenges. Realising these efforts presupposes that we have access to detailed information on human settlements and population, and that information must be global.
This demand for information is addressed by the JRC's Global Human Settlement Layer (GHSL) spatial database, which includes the key variables of population density, built-up surface, and settlement types, the latter including cities, towns and semi-dense areas, and rural areas.
