Technical meeting held at the premises of Kerkini Lake Protected Area in Greece.

On 10 June 2019, colleagues from the Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH) visited the premises of Kerkini Lake Protected Area in Northern Greece following an invitation of the responsible Management Authority (MA). In the framework of this meeting, a round table discussion took place between the E-SPACE/ CERTH team and the MA personnel, including the director, the main forester environmental consultant, the GIS and RS responsible on site, and two more technical team members. A first introduction about the H2020 E-SHAPE project, its myEcosystem showcase and especially its mySpace Pilot was presented. Α brief presentation by the MA followed, providing general information about conditions on the lake, main challenges for the local ecosystems, existing data sets (e.g. depth data) and infrastructures, requirements / functions of the authority (e.g. flood protection, irrigation, energy production, sediment trapping, fisheries, livestock) as well as ongoing activities to address existing challenges (e.g. platforms’ construction for biodiversity protection). Ways for cooperation within the framework of the E-SHAPE project were extensively discussed, and a first draft storyline for the Protected Area was developed with the working title ‘Conservation of dynamic wetlands’ ecosystem services in response to combined regional and local stressors’. Issue of main interest is the exploitation of EO data (especially the Sentinel ones) and existing EO based products (e.g. existing modules for the provision of inundation maps) to support monitoring of changes and management of the area. Initial action steps towards this direction were further discussed and prioritized.