Call for Participation in the Training Course: “Introduction to Remote Sensing and Google Earth Engine” November 17-21, 2025, Campus of the Agricultural University of Tirana 

The Agricultural University of Tirana (UBT) and the Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO) are pleased to announce the upcoming training course “Introduction to Remote Sensing and Google Earth Engine”. This course will cover remote sensing fundamentals, with a focus on open-source satellite imagery and essential analysis methods. The course will combine theoretical background, demonstrations, and practical hands-on sessions analyzing imagery with the cloud processing platform Google Earth Engine. Participants will learn how to process satellite imagery and how to use machine learning to make land cover maps. Further, they will learn how to monitor areas over time using change detection methods, and how to assess the accuracy of maps produced with satellite imagery.

The course is organised by UBT and IAMO within the project Establishing a Geoinformation Centre for the Western Balkans (GEO-WB6, www.geo-wb6.net). The project’s objective is to improve the EU accession process regarding negotiating Chapter 11 (Agriculture and Rural Development). Specifically, the project aims to strengthen technical capacities to manage and analyse geodata in agriculture and natural resource management and to strengthen the regional network of geoinformation experts. The course is open to all students, lecturers, researchers and other professionals in agriculture, natural resource management, rural development and related fields who study or work in the Western Balkan and who have an interest in geographic information systems (GIS), spatial data analysis and remote sensing. Participants must be fluent in English and bring their own laptop. Previous experience in GIS is desirable. Full attendance in person is expected for the entire week.

Course Contents:

• Fundamentals of remote sensing – concepts, sensors, resolutions, spectral signatures, etc.

• Preprocessing workflows, including cloud masking, mosaicking, and temporal compositing

• Practical exercises in Google Earth Engine and data visualization in QGIS

• Supervised classification and regression with machine learning algorithms

• Time-series analysis and change detection with LandTrendr

What we offer:

• A state-of-the-art training course free of charge

• Facilitation by experienced international lecturers and researchers

• An official course certificate issued by UBT and IAMO

How to apply:

Please send your CV and a motivation letter to geo-wb6@ubt.edu.al. All submitted documents should be in English language. The application deadline is October 31, 2025. Applicants will be notified of acceptance in the week of November 3, 2025. We are committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse learning environment and strongly encourage women to apply. People with disabilities with equal qualifications are given preference.