Inauguration of Bu-Ali Sina University Geomatic Laboratory through the International Erasmus+ Programme

On June 9, 2020, with the attendance of the University Chancellor, Dr. Yaghoub Mohammadifar and the board of directors and also, at the direct contact with Dr. Ali Mansourian, Professor at the Lund University of Sweden and also the project executor, the Geomatic Laboratory of Bu-Ali Sina University was officially opened through the international framework of Erasmus+ and under the title " EMME: Environmental Management in Middle East: Spatial Approaches".

The project has been executed in the Middle East, particularly in Iran and Yemen, with the financial aid of the EU and the collaboration of 5 European countries (Sweden, France, Greece, Portugal and Lithuania) with Bu-Ali Sina University, Tehran and Imam Khomeini International Universities being the executors of this Project in our beloved nation.

At the inauguration, the Chancellor, Dr. Mohammadifar, emphasized on Bu-Ali Sina University welcoming international research related collaborations and said: "we are looking to develop our mutual scientific endeavors in a variety of scientific areas, as the Geomatic Laboratory is to be used not only by the Department of Civil Engineering, but also by other disciplines, say, Geology, Agriculture, Architecture, Archeology, and Veterinary Paramedics."

Pointing out some of the consequences of decisions regarding some environmental matters, he stressed the importance of more adamant scientific research regarding the matter and further added: "we must not turn the University into a day to day office building and so, we will try to pioneer in the environmental research and in presenting scientific and executive solutions."

Afterwards, attending the meeting virtually, Dr. Ali Mansourian the original executive manager of the project and Lund university professor, added: "the purpose for the project at hand, is to create potential in the infrastructure and the technologies related to spatial data in order to better manage the environment in the Middle East, by not only providing needed instructions through a web-based GIS system for the data to be saved in, but to process and analyze the data to be used by the officials of the environment. " He also advised the university add courses for this program to its curriculum and with expressing his satisfaction and gratitude for the orderly collaboration of Bu-Ali Sina university he said; "I do hope we can organize evermore collaborations from far, not only in the areas related to GIS and measurement, but also, in all of them, and this, is of utmost priority here in the University of Lund."

At the end, he thanked Dr. Mohammadifar and Bu-Ali Sina University for their invitation and announced that in the forthcoming plans for the project, a special visit to Bu-Ali Sina University has been organized that will make possible travelling, meeting and face to face debates among colleagues of the project from other European universities in Hamedan after the restrictions of the covid-19 pandemic has been lifted.

Later, Dr. Yousef Aram, Director of the International Scientific Cooperation Office (ISCO) of Bu Ali Sina University, thanked the board of directors for their perseverance, mainly Dr. Mohammadifar, who among other members did not withdraw a single ounce of effort or assistance from the very start of the project. He also thanked Dr. Mansourian for directing this international mutual project and said to him: "the directors of the project are the EU and the Lund University, an institution among the global top 100, with which we had the honor of executing this international mutual project. We are also proud of Professor Mansouri, a young Iranian scientist presiding among the top professors of the aforementioned university, who utilized a thoughtful approach in order to facilitate the execution of this international project.

At the end, Dr. Hossein Torabzadeh Khorasani, faculty member and project director at Bu-Ali Sina University said: we are currently facing every kind of natural disaster with the exception of volcanic eruption and unfortunately, political tensions and war also exist in the region which doubles the importance of our advance towards utilizing modern technologies such as SDI and GIS in order to direct natural disasters and environmental effects. In addition to describing the different phases of the project, he also stated that we are currently evaluating the possibility of an online teaching system by 12 students from different universities and by the end of this stage in a few months, online and attendance-classes will be held in both national and international levels.

It is worth reminding that the purpose for the execution of this project, would be the empowerment of directors, technicians and researchers of the countries of the region in order to confront environmental challenges through the technologies based on special data. Teaching the directors and technicians of the region the correct utilization of spatial data infrastructure (SDI) and geographical information systems (GIS) and remote sensing (RS) technologies will result in the advancement of sensing environmental disasters, faster decision making during the time of crisis and a more precise assessment of the effects and damages on the ecosystems of the countries of the Middle East.