rgeo beim 45. EARSeL Symposium in Athen
From 29 September to 2 October 2026, the 45th EARSeL Symposium took place at Harokopio University in Athens. The Department of Geography at Heidelberg University of Education was represented on site by Tobias Gehrig and Nils Schorndorf.
Our contributions
Tobias Gehrig and Nils Schorndorf gave talks in the Special Session "EO Education, Training & User Uptake". In this session, Tobias Gehrig stood in for Prof. Alexander Siegmund as chair and co-chaired it with Prof. Premysl Štych (Charles University, Prague).
KI:EO(Presenter: Nils Schorndorf; co-authors: Christian Plass, Johannes Keller, Julian Stolz, Alexander Siegmund): The talk presented the current state of the project. At its centre is a Socratic AI tutor that does not give students ready-made answers when they work with satellite images, but offers prompts for thought and follow-up questions. The prototype is nearly fully developed. Next, it will be integrated into our e-learning platforms geospektiv.de and BLIF.de and tested there. After that, we will try out and evaluate its use in the classroom together with partner schools.
DiGeo:BBNE (Presenter: Tobias Gehrig; co-author: Alexander Siegmund): The presentation showed how Earth observation data, GIS and mobile geotools can be used in vocational education and training to link sustainability-related questions with real occupational contexts. The results so far from the scientifically monitored dissertation study, with more than 600 learners and more than 100 teachers, show that such learning activities foster digital competencies, spatial thinking and job-related action competencies, and that both teachers and learners rate them positively.
After the Special Session (from left to right): Jan Svoboda (Charles University, Prague), Premysl Štych (Charles University, Prague), Tobias Gehrig (Heidelberg University of Education) and Nils Schorndorf (Heidelberg University of Education).
What is EARSeL?
EARSeL (European Association of Remote Sensing Laboratories) is a scientific network of European remote sensing institutes from research and industry. It was founded in 1977 and has around 250 member laboratories. The annual symposium is the network's most important meeting and showcases current trends in remote sensing. It is complemented by thematic workshops of the Special Interest Groups (SIGs).
