Guideline for proposing a project

The Planet Action Initiative

Planet Action is a non profit collaborative initiative launched in June 2007 by Spot Image, a world leader in satellite imagery. Since then, ESRI has joined Planet Action as a co-founder and many other organisations have joined and support this initiative in particular UNESCO, Definiens, Digital Globe, CNES (French Space Agency) and NSPO (National Space Organisation Taiwan). Discussions with additional potential partners are on-going.

The Planet Action mission is to provide satellite imagery, geographic information and technology to support local projects acting on climate change related issues.

The Earth Observation and Geographic Information industry can effectively help address climate change issues thanks to:

- extensive Earth observation means and frequent revisit capacities;
- huge image archives (+20 million over 20 years for Spot Image) making it possible to demonstrate climate change impacts along various time series;
- wide experience in analysing and understanding Earth imagery;
- GIS software and extensive users’ networks;
- large networks of scientists, scholars, teachers and researchers.

The Planet Action initiative has two core purposes:

- build capacity to understand and act upon climate change environmental related issues and support projects from the civil society that are engaged in actions;
- educate public about climate change related issues, the benefits of earth observation imagery and GIS, and the role of local NGOs and scientists as they tackle these issues.

 

Eligibility and selection criteria

Planet Action supports projects involved at least in one of the following 5 domains:

- human dimensions & habitation;
- drought, desertification & water resources;
- vegetation, biodiversity & ecosystems;
- oceans;
- ice & snow cover.

To be eligible for support from Planet Action, projects must:

- assess climate change related issues and propose a course of actions;
- deal with at least one of the 5 Planet Action focus areas;
- have a member who resides in the country where the project takes place (at least for the project duration);
- be proposed by a non-profit organisation such as a NGO, a public laboratory or a university (Business organisations do not qualify for direct support);
- confirm that the project has no commercial objective;
- confirm that the project has no religious or ideological content or objective.

The final selection process will consider a combination of additional criteria such as:

- the importance and usefulness of the project for local populations;
- a focus on building awareness, information, training or outreach programmes that will result from the project;
- the solid methodologies supported by staff members or associated teams with an appropriate background for the work proposed.

Steps to submit a Project

An organisation has the possibility of submitting one or several projects. To submit you project please follow the next step:

1. Create an account by clicking here

2. Once you have created an account you will need to login

3. Once you have login please go to Planet Action home page (www.planet-action.org)

4. On the home page you can then click on Propose a project or click here

5. On your right please click Go to form

If several projects are proposed, one application form should be used for each project.

Applications can be submitted all year.

The Application form

The only way to submit a project proposal is to fill an application form after creating an account. The form is made out of 5 tabs that need to be completed before submitting a project. After completing each tab you will have the option of saving and exiting the form to edit it later, or you can click on the next tab and continue filling out the application. Please note, once you have submitted the application you won’t be able to edit it later.

We strongly advise you to provide as many details as possible of your needs:

- If the project needs archived satellite imagery, it is strongly advised to visit the online Spot Image catalogue (Sirius) before completing the application form, in order to verify the existing archive imagery on the area of interest.

- If the project requires new satellite imagery (i.e. images to be acquired in the future), please describe your needs.

- If the project needs GIS piece of software, you are advised to visit the ESRI website (www.esri.com).

In addition, you can upload a photo that can represent your work on the field. This will help the Planet Action team to understand and communicate on the project.
The application form link can be found on the page “Propose a project” on the top right corners underneath the map.

Selected projects

Selected projects will be notified via email. The project contents will be displayed on the Planet Action website.

The Planet Action team will contact the project manager to determine the exact needs and establish an action plan for grant provision and communication purposes.

Selected projects may be allocated in-kind support from the Planet Action partners. This support may include:

- free satellite images of various types, resolutions and coverage of a given area of interest. These images may come from archived imagery and/or from acquisition to be programmed, according to the satellite task load and weather conditions over the area of interest at the requested time. A typical Planet Action project may require 1 to 5 satellite images. Projects that require archived imagery will be favoured, but projects requesting new acquisitions may also be considered depending on the acquisition resource availability. Spot Image has decided to donate 600 SPOT images for the selected Planet Action projects in 2008, equivalent to 2,2 Million km²;
- GIS software, training and books. Through Planet Action, ESRI will provide access to its Conservation Grants program;
- Image analysis software may also constitute a grant.

Selected project teams shall commit before receiving the grants to:

- comply to the licenses attached to the products granted by Planet Action;
- provide relevant information at least every quarter about the project for publication on the Planet Action public web site (including field photos when available);
- provide a PowerPoint presentation, when selection is notified, describing the project, a final report and a PowerPoint presentation containing results, narrative examples, photos, and spatial data about the project to be uploaded in the Planet Action website;
- allow the Planet Action organization and partners to make use of authorized public contents for communication and outreach purposes;
- mention Planet Action sponsorship in project communication.

Planet Action will organise an annual awards ceremony to showcase the most significant Planet Action projects. The first event is planned for end of Spring 2009. Additional information will be available on the Planet Action website later this year.

Join us in fighting the climate crisis! Visit the Planet Action website (www.planet-action.org)!
The Planet Action team looks forward to receiving your project applications.

Propose a project