On January 9th and 10th 2023, we organised a kick-off meeting to launch our project. These two days provided a comprehensive view of objectives, deliverables, and milestones, ensuring a strong foundation for the project’s future. Moreover, this meeting was an opportunity to meet all the partners and get to know each other.
Led by the project coordinator, Marco Mancini from CMCC, the meeting started with a project presentation that set the stage for what promised to be an exciting journey ahead. Iulia Simion, our project officer, took the floor to discuss some managerial aspects of the project (e.g. reporting, finance, costs, grant agreement amendments, and more).
As the meeting progressed, all the project partners had the opportunity to introduce themselves, their respective teams, and their roles within the project. The leaders of the various work packages (WPs) presented their planned activities and tasks and the expected results, along with the timeframes for their completion. This ensured that everyone had a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities.
With the managerial aspects covered, the discussion shifted to the technical and scientific aspects, and a presentation on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) indicators was particularly insightful. Additionally, the leaders of the five pilot projects provided detailed insights into their respective study areas, selected SDG indicators, target users, and expected project outputs.
The second day of the meeting focused on user requirements and institutional uptake. The discussions included stakeholder mapping, partnership creation, and action plan formalisation. It was evident that collaboration and engagement with stakeholders are key components of our project’s success. Moreover, the project’s technological infrastructure, and data processing, visualisation, and deployment were presented to increase the overall understanding of the project’s operational framework.
An open dialogue among the attendees followed, focusing on communication tools to facilitate internal communication, file sharing, and project follow-up.
Summarising, the SDGs-EYES kick-off meeting was a resounding success: with a clear understanding of our objectives, responsibilities, and technical aspects, all the partners were well satisfied and committed to start working together.