Completed Summer School on “Geospatial Foundations of Integrated Administration and Control Systems (IACS)”

10 October 2024

From September 15 to 21, 2024, IAMO and the Agricultural University of Tirana organized a summer school in Vora, Albania, in the frame of the project “Establishing a Geoinformation Centre for the Western Balkans” (GEO-WB6). 

Integrated Administration and Control Systems (IACS) are an important basis for the disbursement of subsidy payments to farmers in the European Union. The development of IACS is therefore an important pillar for the Western Balkans countries in their accession process to the European Union. In the summer school, 19 participants from five Western Balkan countries (Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia) came together to learn about the principles and main challenges of setting up IACS and LPIS (Land Parcel Identification Systems). They learnt about the key aspects and technical requirements of such systems and collected own GPS data in the field that they analyzed in a Geographic Information System to map field boundaries and agricultural parcels. The summer school was kindly facilitated by Nataša Luketić and Guido Lemoine, two leading international experts in IACS and LPIS, and the GIS experts Clemens Jänicke (IAMO) and Florian Wolf. 

The project GEO-WB6 is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) and aims to improve the continuing education and scientific exchange of university and government employees from the six Western Balkan countries in the field of geospatial data analysis. In 2025, IAMO and the Agricultural University of Tirana will organize another summer school in the Western Balkans. For further information about the project, please visit www.geo-wb6.net