NEWS & EVENTS

In September 2025, a third workshop took place in Cyprus, in the framework of the GUARDEN project. The workshop aimed to provide information to the members of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Committee of Cyprus about the project’s outcomes and the potential to use GUARDEN’s tools during their work for the evaluation of the impact of human activities on biodiversity and the environment.

The workshop took place at the Department of Environment, which is a partner in the project and the leading member of the Committee. The participants were representatives of all members of the EIA Committee:

• Governmental Departments: Dep. of Environment, Dep. of Forests, Game and Fauna Service, Water Development Dep., Dep. of Fisheries and Marine Research, Dep. Of Town Planning and Housing
• Cyprus Scientific and Technical Chamber (this is a Technical Advisor to the State and the umbrella organisation for all Cypriot Engineers)
• NGOs: Federation of Environmental Organisations in Cyprus, Terra Cypria

The workshop involved various project partners:

• The project’s objectives (Dep. of Environment).
• A short presentation of the project’s tools as an introduction (Frederick University)
• Presentation of landscape dynamics mapping (DREVEN)
• Presentation of ecosystem services maps and future trajectories (Harokopeio University of Athens)
• Demonstration of the Decision Support Application (DSA) (eBOS)
• Presentation of the Pl@ntNet app (Frederick University)

The participants (many of them policy implementers) were asked to express their opinions and thoughts for future use of AI tools in decision-making procedures or policy-making. They were at the same time asked to complete a questionnaire for the evaluation of the project’s tools.